[Dialogue] The Grand Design

[jlepps at pc.jaring.my]

Thanks Paul for this fascinating dialogue. It was far more civil than 
some of the exchanges of ideas that often occur on this side of the Atlantic.

IMHO, Dr. Dawkins was quite modest in his claims to certainty about 
things, and Archbishop Williams was quite articulate in defining what 
he did and did not mean by "God." It seemed, though, that Dr. Dawkins 
was objecting to a notion of God that Archbishop Rowan did not 
advocate, and that is an example of what I find objectionable about 
Steven Hawking's book. Of course it would be silly to expect 
physicists to be experts in theology, as it would be for theologians 
to claim expertise in physics. The two can co-exist quite 
harmoniously with one dealing with value and meaning (why) and the 
other dealing with the nature of reality and its operations (what and how).

John



At 12:40 PM 5/20/2012, you wrote:
>I enjoyed the debate between Richard Dawkins and Rowan Williams on 
>some of these questions:
><http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfQk4NfW7g0>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfQk4NfW7g0
>
>Maybe it adds another dimension...?
>
>Paul
>
>
>
>
>In a message dated 20/05/2012 19:18:12 GMT Daylight Time, 
>LAURELCG at aol.com writes:
>Jack,
>
>The Ground of Being that WAS before the big bang, and the 
>Evolutionary Impulse (Becoming) that started the big bang, is what 
>we've called God. (This I've gleaned from Andrew Cohen.) I agree it 
>is all intelligent, but our tiny brains cannot begin to understand 
>it. IT is the All, in the phrases, "All that is, is good." and "I am 
>One with All That Is." Science is about grappling to understand it. 
>Good scientists are usually in awe of what they're discovering. What 
>else would keep someone looking in a microscope all day every day 
>for years, or whatever laborious process is required in their 
>discipline? Scientists like Bryan Swimme and men of faith like 
>Thomas Berry sometimes collaborate to come up with inspired works, 
>like The Universe Story. This is all just my humble opinion, as is 
>the belief that the church, the cutting edge today, is the 
>evolutionary spirituality movement. Jean Houston is a recognized 
>leader of it and almost invariably ends her internet sessions with 
>"These are the times, we are the people."
>
> From the great central valley of California, the center of the Universe,
>Jann
>
>In a message dated 5/20/2012 10:57:34 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, 
>icabombay at igc.org writes:
>As to the "Grand Design", it is the contention of some that the 
>creative process, that which underlies all, is inherently 
>intelligent and that intelligence can be understood.
>
>
>
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