Re Science and God

Peter B. Juul wrote:

>
> The author of this article puts forth a strawman argument of almost
> criminal proportions. He rants on and on about Collins' final
> conversion at the foot of a waterfall, completely ignoring the fact (a
> fact he has himself relayed to us) that Collins did not convert ONLY
> because he saw this waterfall.
>

I would have to say the event that brought me back to God's love, after
twenty years ardently rejecting it, was at least as foolish looking to
someone who might try to belittle it. I was simply looking at a
billboard, with a picture of a hungry man.

I really feel pity for these people, I wonder if they can ever sense
the depth of poetry and the rich connotive power of language. Could a
sunset ever cause them to recall a lost childhood friend, or a
breakfast overlooking the ocean? What shallow, prosaic lives they must
lead if they cannot understand how a chance circumstance could resonate
in the mind and spirt of another. I am thankful I do not inhabit their
world.

Daryl

"darylgene@aol.com" <darylgene DeleteThis @aol.com> writes:

> I would have to say the event that brought me back to God's love, after
> twenty years ardently rejecting it, was at least as foolish looking to
> someone who might try to belittle it. I was simply looking at a
> billboard, with a picture of a hungry man.

And I have myself been there as well. In my case it was a peculiar
weather phenomenon - but just at the right time and place to give
deep meaning to me specifically.

I don't much argue against Harris' lack of understanding of the power
of a sudden epiphany (can they be un-sudden?). That is to be
expected. I complain, because Harris himself mentions Collins'
relation to the writings of Lewis, but totally ignores this, when he
finds something that seems to him ridiculous.

You can always grap a single event in a line and paint it
ridiculous. It's a ridiculous notion that Isaac Newton thought of the
whole theory of gravity because he saw an apple fall to the
ground. It's about as ridiculous as Einstein figuring out E=MC^2 while
trying to put bubbles into beer.

Life is made up of single ridiculous moments that our brains
feverishly try to turn into something meaningful. Sometimes it works.

--
Peter B. Juul, o.-.o "Well," said Aslan, "I suppose we could try lasers."
The RockBear. ((^))
I speak only 0}._.{0
for myself. O/ \O