[Dialogue] The Grand Design

[PSchrijnen at aol.com]

Indeed John, 
 
You say that well. I think that was the point of the debate: To point out  
that these two academics operate in two parallel universes. Dawkins was  
surprisingly open and charming. he is usually more righteous. In this  debate 
he behaved. The surroundings of the Sheldonian may have helped.
 
Williams is retiring at the end of the year to become the master of a  
Cambridge college. He is a fine theologian, and has played a positive role as  
archbishop in civil life here. I am sure he will be glad to get out of that  
job though. I have enjoyed his book Silence and Honey Cakes frequently. A 
fine  little book about the wisdom of the desert monastics. 
 
Paul
 
 
In a message dated 21/05/2012 22:52:36 GMT Daylight Time,  
jlepps at pc.jaring.my writes:

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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