Title: Re: paleonet of Galileo, Michelangelo and the
ghosts of Sa
Hi again,
Sorry, I may be stupid, but why does the
issue boil down to Jesus & truth vs. science & truth?
Am I to understand that one must choose either Jesus OR science, but
that one cannot choose both? Is it an oxymoron to be a Christian
scientist <G>. Sorry, I couldn't resist a little levity. I
am NOT a "Christian Scientist". Please, may I rephrase
the question? Why can't one chose to be both a "reborn"
Christian AND a bona fide evolutionist/paleontologist?
Jesus has a lot of good (and true) things to say about human
relations, but I've never seen any indication that he knew much or
cared much about Nature. Science addresses a lot of issues that
Jesus never really considered. Sure, you can go on a fishing
expedition through both testaments and dredge up the odd statement
about this or that aspect of the natural world, but frankly the only
thing that makes it "true" is context. That is, it's
in the Bible. If you don't accept the Bible as truth, and a
majority of Christians ... never mind the rest of humanity..., don't,
then the conversation is pretty much over.
Taking Prof. Mahaffy's comment into consideration, why is this
germane to a paleontology list? Well, I think it is a pretty
good way to point out to students different ways of arriving at the
truth. A lot of my students arrived in my (college) classroom
with no apparent experience with constructive criticism, critical
thinking, in general, or the structure of knowledge. I think it
is as important to show students how the truth is discovered, as it is
to introduce them to new information.
At the risk of being immodest, I will paste in the comments of a
former student (who is asking for a letter of recommendation ... to
law school) from an email that came to me this afternoon:
Throughout my undergraduate career, I found your teaching
style to be the most effective in actually leaving me with a real
understanding of concepts, rather than just a memorization of facts.
I truly did enjoy your classes the most, and was always fascinated at
your comprehensive knowledge on subjects related to the topics we were
actually studying, and your ability to add greater depth to the topics
by adding such knowledge.
Makes it all worth it, huh?
All best,
Bill
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William P. Chaisson
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627