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Last Call for “Natural Evil” meet at Biola U, January 26-27

Denyse O'Leary
January 24, 2018
Intelligent Design, Philosophy, Religion, Science
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The Christian Scientific Society

From Christian Scientific Society:

The meeting will take place January 26-27 at Biola University. On Friday night, we will have a debate between David Snoke (me) and Mike Keas on “Are predatory animals a result of the Fall?” (Mike: yes; David: no). This question lies at the core of much of the debate about science and Christianity: could God have had a hand in what we consider to be natural evils? Are they the result of people’s sin, or random forces, not God?

Saturday afternoon, we will have four speakers addressing issues on the general topic of natural evil More.

Christian Scientific Society also notes,

Save the date for the April meeting in Pittsburgh

Dates are April 6-7, at the Twentieth Century Club in Pittsburgh. The theme will be “Quantum Mechanics”. Among others, National Academy of Sciences member Bob Griffiths will be one of the speakers. Bob has lectured and written on the foundations of quantum mechanics for years. We will try to make sure that the talks are accessible to non-physicists!

See also: Christian Scientific Society talks on human exceptionalism (2017) now online

Comments
... could God have had a hand in what we consider to be natural evils? Are they the result of people’s sin, or random forces, not God?
If this Universe is God's creation and that nothing happens but by His will then what other possibility is there than that He has had a hand in it?Seversky
January 24, 2018
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Bob tribune7 – I don’t follow. If everything that keeps order wasn’t in effect, how come there wasn’t chaos? Fair enough. "Everything" was a poor word choice. We live in a reality were the laws are consistent but cruel. Think of entropy for example and the inevitable death of our sun. My belief is that there once was a reality were the laws were consistent but kind, and that we somehow screwed up and lost it. Obviously, this is logically possible if one believe in a Creator who can create ex nihilo. IOW, to address your point, my faith is that the nature that we deal with is not the nature that existed before the fall hence you can't compare this to that.tribune7
January 24, 2018
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tribune7 - I don't follow. If everything that keeps order wasn't in effect, how come there wasn't chaos?Bob O'H
January 24, 2018
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Bob O'H:
If predators were the result of The Fall, how were herbivore numbers constrained if they weren’t being eaten?
There weren't that many and their reproduction rates were very low.ET
January 24, 2018
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Bob --If predators were the result of The Fall, how were herbivore numbers constrained if they weren’t being eaten?-- If the laws of thermodynamics (and everything else that keeps order) are not in effect then all bets are off and we shouldn't even try to imagine. Really, if you routinely bump into God while taking a walk in the morning, well, things really are different. It's a big reason why you shouldn't treat the Bible as a science book. It's also a big reason why you should use science to determine morality. The one thing science tells us definitively is that none of this is going to last.tribune7
January 24, 2018
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Why is animal predation considered a natural evil? Do we consider predation in contemporary ecosystems to be an evil?Dick
January 24, 2018
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If predators were the result of The Fall, how were herbivore numbers constrained if they weren't being eaten? This is a serious question, in the sense that I'm sure creationists have thought about the issues surrounding a pre-Fall ecology, and have an explanation for how it worked (however odd I might find it).Bob O'H
January 24, 2018
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