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An essay on science and religion
the influence of religion on science
An essay on science and religion
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Some Creationists and Darwinists have the debate regarding dinosaurs and theories about their existence, their demise and how humans may or may not have coexisted. Creationists believe in the theory of divine creation as told in the book of Genesis. This theory is thus tied to the Christian faith and has been deemed as a fairytale by some Darwinists. Darwinists refute the claims of Christian fundamentalists with theories of human evolution using scientific theories and natural observation. Why is it that at times it can seem as though science and religion cannot exist together? Religion is a process of faith and science is formed on a process of research and trial analysis. The two theories consistently admonish the other rather than finding areas of common understanding. Can the story of Noah and the arc account for the exclusion of dinosaurs and can faith allow readers to accept the existence of fossils?
Documented in the holy bible are individuals who were said to have lived well into their hundreds. An example of some of these individuals include Adam, Abraham, Noah, and of course, Methuselah. Like the turtles of today, human’s lifespans were increasingly longer then. Turtles and other amphibians with protective shells and/or epidermis can live to be over 200 years old. In addition to their long lives, their bodies grow at a much slower pace. Their organs do not break down or become less efficient with age. As Natalie Angier notes the lungs, kidneys and liver of century old turtles are indistinguishable from the organs of a teen turtle. (Angier) Most female amphibians reach sexual maturity much later in life than their mammal counterparts. The ecological development of reptiles is also instinctively tied to their environment....
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... Genesis. The sediment from the flood enveloped them and due to the massive weight of the water fossils were created. There is room for reason and religion, science and creation. The mythology of one person is similar to the mythology of those around them. The mechanism and approach are the same. It is up to the reader to find their mythology within themselves and follow their bliss.
Works Cited
Angier, Natalie. “All but Ageless, Turtles Face Their Biggest Threat: Humans.” The New York
Times 12 Dec. 2006 Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
Frías-Alvarez, Patricia. "UV-B Radiation Severely Affects Embryo Development In The
Mexican Axolotl." Animal Biology 60.3 (2010): 299-318. Academic Search Premier. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
Hedley, Joanna. "Metabolic Bone Disease In Reptiles: Part 1." Companion Animal 17.6
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The most common mythological theme across different cultures is the creation of humankind because everyone has always questioned how the earth was created and so forth. Creation myths are “usually applied to a mytho-religious story which explains the beginning of humanity, life, the earth and the universe as being the result of a deliberate act of supreme beings or being” ("Creation myths," 2007). Individuals from different cultures believe in a higher power known as God and they believe that the higher power is the creator of earth, animals and humankind, however each culture believe in different Gods but they all believe that God is the creator and that is the universal theme across different cultures.
Each of their gods made the mountains, stars, animals, humans, oceans, moon, and the planets. The only thing that was not made by all three was the sun, because that is Begochiddy. So in the stories that the tribes had made their gods not only breed creation but, in two of the stories they caused destruction and chaos through thievery and impatience which are the same traits that people have in today's world. The communities must have thought that the gods looked like humans and acted like humans but, also have supernatural powers to help create the world around
In conclusion, it is possible for science and religion to overlap. Although Gould’s non-overlapping magisterial claims that creationism doesn’t conflict with evolution, it doesn’t hold with a religion that takes the biblical stories literally. Moreover, I defended my thesis, there is some overlap between science and religion and these overlaps cause conflict that make it necessary to reject either science or religion, by using Dawkins’ and Plantinga’s arguments. I said earlier that I agree with Dawkins that both science and religion provide explanation, consolation, and uplift to society. However, there is only conflict when science and religion attempt to explain human existence. Lastly, I use Plantinga’s argument for exclusivists to show that such conflict means that science and religion are not compatible. It demands a rejection t either science or religion.
In the society today, there are mysterious stories that awakens in the people the inquisitive urge to discover the truth. Many of these stories date back hundreds of years. Most people do not think about how long ago it was because, as the mysterious stories become modernized with the time, so does the story itself. Some of the most known mysterious stories are creation stories. Creation stories have been told for generations, are from different cultures, and show remarkable similarities reflecting beliefs and values common to all people. Such stories however, may differ in many ways, revealing a lot of differences between cultures. Among the creation stories, the most popular ones are Genesis and Popol Vuh. These two stories share a lot of
Myths – as they are known to most of the world – give insight into the pasts of various countries and religions as the people saw them. They have been used to explain phenomenons in nature or describe the tales of courageous and important men and women throughout history. Creation myths in particular define how the Earth itself was created, along with the universe, heavens, hell, people, and creatures that exist today. Genesis of Christian mythology, for instance, tells the story of how the single deity God spoke and formed everything from day and night to man and woman. Various African creation myths, such as with the Yoruba, explain the creation of the Earth through at least a couple gods working together and all life sprouting from a seed. But all share a common themes, such as a form of chaos or nothingness before life is created. Joseph Campbell notes that “... the idea of an absolute ontological distinction between God and man – or between gods and men, divinity and nature - first became an important social and psychological force in the near East, specifically Akkad, in the period of the first Semetic Kings, c. 2500 B.C.,” showing another similar trait – a god or set of gods exists to create in each story (626). Joseph Campbell makes a comparison of how both Genesis and the Book of the Dead of Egypt share the same idea of their bodies belonging to their god in some way, or being reabsorbed into them at death (630-631). Others, like the Japanese and Iroquois creation myths, claim the Earth was once covered entirely of water before land was formed. Adam and Eve of Genesis and Izanagi and sister Izanami of Shintoism provide examples of myths that share both a passive and active pair of people who eventually create the Earth's population. In any case, certain popular creation myths, some closely tied to prominent religions, share more common characteristics than others. An entire sub-study, called comparative mythology, gives insight into this subject.
Although, they are different in every region, cosmogenic myths have many universal elements that are seemingly essential to the genre. The archetypal creation or origin myth contains four ideas that create a foundation for subsequent cultural dogma: primeval chaos, dualism, creation through sacrifice, and conjecture. They can start out very simply, and grow more complex as they are affected by time. They may be distorted, as they are passed down by oral tradition. And then later, when they are written down the meaning may change. But none of that will matter because, without the proper context one cannot understand the true implications of cosmogenic myths.
Myths are based on religion, supernatural beings or creators/gods or demigods, and explaining natural phenomena.
Mythology is the study of a compiled group of stories that describe the culture’s practices and past experiences. Mythology is a valuable aspect of every culture. It communicates the culture’s truthful everyday experiences or fabricated details of past events, roles, and traditions such as family, sexuality, art, religion, philosophy, laws and marriage. A culture’s collective group of stories help communicate loyalty, ethical and rational teachings, and social models. Ancient Greece and Egypt are two cultures that we’ve studied in this course so far that I will discuss the Creation Myth associated with each culture.
In the beginning there was only darkness. For many millions of years this darkness remained. There were no stars, no sun, and no earth. But one day something very special happened. The darkness created light. It was a very small amount of light but it was just enough. The light became the husband of the dark. After a long while both the light and the dark became bored. The light began to insult the dark and the light replied with equally harsh insults. "You are not as beautiful as I!" said the light. "Ha! You are much uglier than I!" said the dark.
The strange Greeks’ creation myth compares but also contrasts with the twisting storyline of the Iroquois’ creation myth. From creating the world from a piece of dirt and a turtle’s back, to giving birth to the earth, sea, and sky, these myths both include interesting stories and tales. The characters of the Greek creation myth are somewhat similar to those of the Iroquois’ myth, however, the story and explanations of them both differ greatly.
Mythology is defined two ways: a collection of myths, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition (Oxford Dictionary) and as the study of myths (Oxford Dictionary). Myths are stories that are based on tradition and have significance to a culture. They are sacred tales that explain the world and a person’s experience. Some myths may have factual origins, while others may have fictional origins that explain religion or natural phenomenons. Many philosophers and scientists all over the world have tried to answer the questions that truly can’t be answered: what is the universe and how did it all begin, who am I, where did I come from, and why am I here? Myths and mythology try to provide people with heroic figures such as gods and goddesses—representing a person, place, or thing in a past, present, or future event—to help explain natural phenomenon’s and control civilization giving people a grasp on some type of reality.
The Big Bang theory is a theory that states that the universe originated as a single mass, which subsequently exploded. The entire universe was once all in a hot and dense ball, but about 20 million years ago, it exploded. This explosion hurled material all over the place and all mater and space was created at that point in time. The gas that was hurled out cooled and became our stellar system. A red shift is a shift towards longer wavelengths of celestial objects. An example of this is the "Doppler shift." Doppler shift is what makes a car sound lower-pitched as it moves further away. As it turns out, a special version of this everyday life effect applies to light as well. If an astronomical object is moving away from the Earth, its light will be shifted to longer (red) wavelengths. This is significant because this theory indicates the speed of recession of galaxies and the distances between galaxies.
Many people have tried to reconcile the differences between creationism and Darwinism but few have succeeded. Any religious debate is seen as a very sensitive subject and the discussion about the foundations of certain religions generally becomes difficult. Darwinism, in relation to religious beliefs can become controversial; some say they can coexist and some say they cannot. Darwinism was not intended to be anti-religious, but religious activist have criticized the belief since On The Origin of Species was published in 1859. Common ground between the two subjects is a very rough place, but it can be achieved. Reconciliation between the subjects has been achieved but few are standing by it because even the compromise is controversial.
All in all, every culture and religion has their personal beliefs on human civilization and how the earth was produced. The most frequent belief modern day of the first humans, is the story of Adam and Eve. There is a plethora of theories, but none that are one hundred percent accurate. If you ask me, scientist will never know how earth came about and they will never identify who the first humans were. Every “story of creation” is a myth.
Since the dawn of intelligent man, humanity has speculated about the origins of the universe.