Category: Religious Knowledge Systems

Stephen Prothero: God Is Not One

February 6, 2015

“Are all religions simply different ways up the same mountain? Or is the key to religious tolerance found in better understanding differences? In “God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World,” New York Times best-selling author and religion scholar Stephen Prothero argues that persistent attempts to portray all religions as different paths to the same God overlook the distinct problem that each tradition seeks to solve. Delving into the different problems and solutions that Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Yoruba Religion, Daoism and Atheism strive to combat, provides a guide to the questions human beings have asked for millennia—and to the disparate paths we are taking to answer them today.”

Dr. Gupta: When religion and medicine meet

January 28, 2015

Dr. Gupta interviews Joel Osteen.

He started by telling the story of his own mother, Dodie Osteen, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer back in 1981. She was told “there was no treatment that could be given to her.”
It was liver cancer, and she was just 48 years old. Osteen told me, “She prayed, she believed, and she quoted scripture. Thirty-something years later, she’s alive.”
Osteen is describing a sort of faith healing or at least the power of prayer, and it is an issue that deeply divides the medical community.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/21/health/gupta-religion-medicine/

Online Book: Science, Evolution, and Creationism

January 27, 2015

Here is a copy of an online book published by the National Academy of Science Institute of Medicine discussing the differences between the approach taken by scientists when discussing evolution and the approach taken by those who espouse creationism. It’s a relatively short book but you can also click beneath the link to download my shortened version.

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11876&page=R3

Science and Creationism

Oprah Winfrey suggests atheists must believe in God if they experience awe and wonder

January 27, 2015

“Oprah Winfrey has caused a stir among atheists by suggesting that non-believers cannot experience “awe” and “wonder”.

In an interview with American swimmer Diana Nyad on her show Soul to Soul, Winfrey questioned her guest about whether she could claim she was an “atheist in awe”.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/oprah-winfrey-suggests-atheists-must-believe-in-god-if-they-experience-awe-and-wonder-8884013.html

Different Bible Translations

January 27, 2015

Here is a link to a great website that compiles a bunch of different Bible translations. What’s fascinating is to compare the same verse from the different translations and interpretations to see varied the texts can be. How important is language when it comes to communicating ideas particularly with something as important as religion?

Here is a link to a famous passage from the Bible, John 3:16

http://www.biblestudytools.com/john/3-16-compare.html

Depending on which translation you chose to read, you would come away with very different ideas about what God expects of people.

Here’s a link to the main site.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/compare-translations/

All of this raises interesting questions about what the job of translators and interpreters is. Are they supposed to translate literal words? Are they supposed to communicate meaning even if some words have to change? How are you supposed to know the choices they made are accurate or true?

Here is a handout I made on this topic

Compare and Contrast John 3 16

How Critical Thinkers Lose Their Faith in God

January 22, 2015

“Religious belief drops when analytical thinking rises.

“Why are some people more religious than others? Answers to this question often focus on the role of culture or upbringing.  While these influences are important, new research suggests that whether we believe may also have to do with how much we rely on intuition versus analytical thinking.”

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-critical-thinkers-lose-faith-god/