Philosophy

Does faith mean "believing in something even though it is not supported by evidence?" Yes, and no, depending on who you ask.

Many people think that the biblical flood of Noah was abandoned because of the evidence. However, history tells a different story. Modern geological thought owes much to a man named Charles Lyell. Lyell, a lawyer, published a book in 1830 called Principles of Geology. Described as a "masterpiece of persuasion", it changed the way people thought about earth's past. According to Lyell, we should only appeal to today's geological processes to explain earth history. However, this approach meant that the global flood recorded in the Bible was automatically ruled out of consideration. Lyell wanted, he wrote, "to free the science [of geology] from Moses". Regrettably, many people have uncritically adopted Lyell's philosophy, without considering how Noah’s flood can help us understand earth history. Lyell changed the way many people think, but his approach was motivated by his anti-biblical philosophy, not an objective study of the evidence. Indeed, it is very difficult to explain earth's history without Noah's Flood.

Christians will quote Scripture as plainly written to justify belief in the events leading up to the crucifixion and the resurrection. However, in regarding the creation account, there is a much greater tendency to give authority to extra-biblical ideas rather than going strictly with the text. This episode uses Genesis chapters 1-11 as a case study for biblical authority.

At a forum on depression a young man said, "I think some people may have an inability to cope and maybe, this might sound a bit extreme, that might be Darwinian theory, the Darwin theory of survival of the fittest. Maybe some of us aren't meant to survive, maybe some of us are meant to kill ourselves."

In 2003, the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to the pioneers of MRI scanning technology. But of those honored for this amazing medical breakthrough, there was a glaring omission.

One of the basic tenets of science is that open-mindedness is critically important, and the evidence should be followed wherever it may lead. But some scientists say that we should not always be so open-minded, and that some conclusions should not be allowed, even if demanded by all the evidence.

Ready for the next step in human evolution? Transhumanism: 'The philosophy that seeks the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of humanity beyond its current form (physically, mentally and socially) by means of science and technology'. Richard and Calvin introduce the subject and discuss how it relates to the origins debate.