In the book, “Life Is a Miracle” by Wendell Berry there is a lot devoted to the theories and polocies of man in things such as materialism, Imperialism, Reductionism and so forth. The portion of the book that stood out the most to me and which I will focus mainly on is the chapter entitled, “Reduction and Religion.” Reductionism according to dictionary.com is defined as, the theory that every complex phenomenon, especially in biology or psychology, can be explained by analyzing the simplest, most basic physical mechanisms that are in operation during the phenomenon. In conjunction with religion we are then forced to concider our very basic and core beliefs. These beliefs are challenged and we must choose to deal with it in several ways. We can manipulate what we belive to fit what our own science has proven, we can ignore science and deem it witchcrafts and the devil’s sorcery, or we can investigate further, with faith in what we know to be true, faith that God works through the laws of the universe and know that there is an answere but perhaps we have yet to extend our field of knowledge to that point. The idea is that we must come to a point where we find balance in all aspects. When considering the science of nature and our religious or cultural beliefs fiinding balance is essential for the progression of both. As stated in the book, “Without care, we are stuck with what we’ve got: sciences that spread their effects upon the world as if the world were no more than an experimental laboratory and arts and “humanities” as unmindful of their influence as if the world did not exist.” While when speaking of either science or humanity, the other is seemingly never mentioned they are indeed intertwined and feed directly off of eachother. Socialy needs stimulate studies and work in the scientific industry while scintific breakthroughs have a profound moral impact on society. With evolution in medicine and chemistry come contriversal topics such as abortion, contraception, cloning and stem cell research. Along with that also comes very needed advances in the sustanance of societies inflicted with disease or plagues, such as the tsetse fly. ;-) Without these advances society would suffer severly. Often we encounter situations in which we have received the light and knowledge pertaining to a certain topic or situation and trying to share that and convey it becomes a daunting task. The author explains the emotion in a very interesting way by stating, “These outcries certainly express knowledge, and precisely too. They communicate knowledge. But the knowledge they convey cannot be proved, demonstrated, or explained; it cannot be taught or learned. These utterances are not “self-explanatory.” They are as far as possible unlike what we now call “information.” One either does or does not know what they mean. The idea of explaining them to someone who does not know is merely laughable.” We see in the book of Job in the bible his attempt to convey his spiritual sentiment yet from an exterior view it could possibly come across as quite odd and perhaps even disturbed. He states, “ I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though…worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God…” (19:25-26). With the innability to express ideas and feelings intolerance prevailes and seperation occurs. In conclusion I would like to reaffirm the necessity for a balance between science and religion. Berry points out that “Science can function as religion only by making two unscientific claims: that it will eventually know everything, and that it will eventually solve all human problems.” On the same token we know that the workings of the Lord are governed by the same laws that govern the universe. Though the general population would have these two topics be placed on separate shelves they indeed can placed together and used to support eachother. It would be a shame for one to lose their testimony over science and likewise lose science over a falsly based testimony.
In the book, “Life Is a Miracle” by Wendell Berry there is a lot
ReplyDeletedevoted to the theories and polocies of man in things such as
materialism, Imperialism, Reductionism and so forth. The portion of
the book that stood out the most to me and which I will focus mainly
on is the chapter entitled, “Reduction and Religion.” Reductionism
according to dictionary.com is defined as, the theory that every
complex phenomenon, especially in biology or psychology, can be
explained by analyzing the simplest, most basic physical mechanisms
that are in operation during the phenomenon. In conjunction with
religion we are then forced to concider our very basic and core
beliefs. These beliefs are challenged and we must choose to deal with
it in several ways. We can manipulate what we belive to fit what our
own science has proven, we can ignore science and deem it witchcrafts
and the devil’s sorcery, or we can investigate further, with faith in
what we know to be true, faith that God works through the laws of the
universe and know that there is an answere but perhaps we have yet to
extend our field of knowledge to that point. The idea is that we must
come to a point where we find balance in all aspects.
When considering the science of nature and our religious or cultural
beliefs fiinding balance is essential for the progression of both. As
stated in the book, “Without care, we are stuck with what we’ve got:
sciences that spread their effects upon the world as if the world were
no more than an experimental laboratory and arts and “humanities” as
unmindful of their influence as if the world did not exist.” While
when speaking of either science or humanity, the other is seemingly
never mentioned they are indeed intertwined and feed directly off of
eachother. Socialy needs stimulate studies and work in the scientific
industry while scintific breakthroughs have a profound moral impact on
society. With evolution in medicine and chemistry come contriversal
topics such as abortion, contraception, cloning and stem cell
research. Along with that also comes very needed advances in the
sustanance of societies inflicted with disease or plagues, such as the
tsetse fly. ;-) Without these advances society would suffer severly.
Often we encounter situations in which we have received the light and
knowledge pertaining to a certain topic or situation and trying to
share that and convey it becomes a daunting task. The author explains
the emotion in a very interesting way by stating, “These outcries
certainly express knowledge, and precisely too. They communicate
knowledge. But the knowledge they convey cannot be proved,
demonstrated, or explained; it cannot be taught or learned. These
utterances are not “self-explanatory.” They are as far as possible
unlike what we now call “information.” One either does or does not
know what they mean. The idea of explaining them to someone who does
not know is merely laughable.” We see in the book of Job in the bible
his attempt to convey his spiritual sentiment yet from an exterior
view it could possibly come across as quite odd and perhaps even
disturbed. He states, “ I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though…worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God…” (19:25-26). With the
innability to express ideas and feelings intolerance prevailes and
seperation occurs.
In conclusion I would like to reaffirm the necessity for a balance
between science and religion. Berry points out that “Science can
function as religion only by making two unscientific claims: that it
will eventually know everything, and that it will eventually solve all
human problems.” On the same token we know that the workings of the
Lord are governed by the same laws that govern the universe. Though
the general population would have these two topics be placed on
separate shelves they indeed can placed together and used to support
eachother. It would be a shame for one to lose their testimony over
science and likewise lose science over a falsly based testimony.
i read this whole book
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