Contents

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

The Internet makes me smile. First this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgA2aqGYnt4   

Then this: (though you probably have to have read most of the xkcd archive; sorry, it’s geek humour) http://xkcd.com/442/

And this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

Finally, listen to the song Because the world is round

 SKEPTICO: Science at a tipping point

Alex Tsakiris, host of Skeptiko, is a successful entrepreneur turned science philanthropist and podcaster. In May of 2007 he founded OpenSourceScience.net, a non-profit project for funding controversial science experiments. The effort has earned praise from a wide spectrum of scientists including skeptic Dr. Michael Shermer, and noted parapsychology researcher Dr. Dean Radin. He’s appeared on syndicated radio talk shows both in the US and the UK. Visit this website <http://www.skeptiko.com/ > to listen to many interesting podcasts, such as this. “51. Dr. Julie Beischel Responds to Critics of Psychic Medium Research; Guest: Dr. Julie Beischel of the Windbridge Institute explains her research into the psychic medium phenomena and addresses skeptical claims about the validity of her findings. Download MP3 (56:24min, 26MB)”

   Lisa Williams interviewed on “LifeBites”

The very emotional reactions of those whom Lisa interviews seems to testify to the reality of her psychic powers. As with another TV  psychic programme Sensing Murder, a considerable number of people would need to conspire together, if we were maintain that these programs were fraudulent.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2907076970233433837
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7542527027964439463

REVIEW: Parapsychology and the Skeptics: Chris Carter

Parapsychology and the Skeptics is a critical examination of the arguments of the skeptics. Starting with the history of the controversy, dating back to the scientific revolution of the 17th century, this book reappraises the controversy in light of 20th and 21st century scientific and philosophic developments.

Highly readable and immensely entertaining, the book also provides the reader with some striking anecdotal case studies. Upon finishing this book, the reader will understand the startling nature of the ‘holy war’ that has been fought for three centuries by opponents and proponents of the paranormal.
Read Further  <http://www.parapsychologyandtheskeptics.com/>
Read this highly interesting excerpt

Powers of 10: Zoom from the Micro to the Macro-Cosmos

This is a trip at high speed, jumping distances by a factor of 10. We’ll start with 100 (equivalent to 1 meter), and will increase the size by a factor of 10, or 101 (10 meters), 102 (10x10 = 100 meters, 103 (10x10x10 = 1,000 meters), 104 (10x10x10x10 = 10,000 meters), so on, until we reach the limit of our imagination in the direction of the macro cosmos. Later we’ll return, a little faster, back to the point where we started & continue our trip in the opposite direction reducing distances of travel by factors of 10 into the micro cosmos. We will observe the constancy of the laws of the universe and think about how much the human race still needs to learn... View and explore <http://www.victorzammit.com/FantasticTrip.pps>

“Tansatalk” New Science-Religion Blog in New Zealand.

TANSAA (Theology and the Natural Sciences in Aotearoa Auckland) is a group which meets for discussion, and shared papers in the science/theology area, and is a part of Tyndale Carey Graduate School. The group has been recognized by Metanexus (Metanexus.org) in a program funded by the Templeton Foundation. This gives seed money to local groups of scientists and theologians in many parts of the world. There are now well over a hundred LSIs (Local Society Initiatives) in different parts of the world, including two in Australia. This is the only New Zealand based group.

They publish this important address by John E. Morton: Science and Philosophy in an Evolving Biosphere  Read

Go to: http://tansatalk.wordpress.com

For theological thought

“She'ol” and “Hades” mistranslated “Hell”

HELL. A word used in the King James Version (as well as in the Catholic Douay Version and most older translations) to translate the Hebrew she'ol and the Greek hades. In the  King James Version the word "hell" is rendered from sheol' 31 times and from hades 10 times.  [she'ol and hades both purely and simply mean “the place of the departed spirits” not referring to a place of torment.] This version is not consistent, however, since sheol' is also translated 31 times "grave and 3 times "pit." In the Douay Version sheol' is rendered "hell" 64 times, "pit" once, and "death" once. Read this article which shows that our present pictures of Hell arose in the Middle Ages, and are not Scriptural.

Thomas Merton: “The moral theology of the
Devil.” From “New Seeds of
Contemplation” 1961

The devil has a whole system of theology and philosophy,
which will explain, to anyone who will listen, that created things are evil, that men are evil, that God created evil and that He directly wills that men should suffer evil. According to the devil, God rejoices in the suffering of men and, in fact, the whole universe is full of misery because God willed and planned it this way. Read this whole insightful article

An Essay on Anglican theology by the Editor

The editor, Michael Cocks, writes  as a member of the NZ Anglican church after a life-time in the priesthood. Part of the purpose of this journal is to present the findings and implications of psychic research to clergy and  leading laity, in the belief that Christianity can provide a valid window on to reality, as also can the use of scientific method. His own Anglican church bases its beliefs and teachings on what is called the “Lambeth Quadrilateral” two headings of which read, '(a) The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as "containing all things necessary to salvation," and as being  the rule and ultimate standard of faith. (b) The Apostles' Creed, as the Baptismal Symbol; and the Nicene Creed, as the sufficient statement of the  Christian faith.'

There is no statement that all words of Scripture express infallible truth, and varying theologies justify themselves by appealing to their own  selected Biblical passages. There is disagreement as to the historicity of certain parts of the Bible, and disagreement as to whether or not doctrines are meant to be literal or poetic representations of spiritual reality. There has never been any assertion that scientific method and academic study should not be used to establish likely matters of fact. I interpret this as implying that if any Anglican clergy are in an intellectual straitjacket, it is of their own making.

In the opinion of this editor, (and he speaks for no other member of the
advisory panel) what has been published in The Ground of Faith to date,
implies that Christians need to revise how they see central aspects of their
faith in certain ways:

#that when we speak of “the resurrection of the body” we refer to the
resurrection of the spiritual body as referred to by St Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.

#that when we speak of the resurrection on the “Last day” we acknowledge the belief, pre-dating the time of Jesus, concerning a winding up of the physical order, that there are both many New Testament passages suggesting immediate resurrection (“Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise”) and many suggesting a long delay until a final day of judgment. Perhaps we can conconcile the two beliefs by asking whether it would it be inappropriate to suggest that on the death of the physical body, we are beyond physical time? In Eternity the beginning and the end are said to co-exist. We also need to see whether we are understanding “God” anthropomorphically, or as “Spirit”, and whether we are thinking of a legalistic God or a God of Love.

#With regard to belief in “The Communion of Saints”, psychic research would lead us to considerably expand our understanding of its meaning. Firstly a Wikipedia article describes it in these words:

“The Communion of Saints (in Latin, communio sanctorum) is the spiritual union of all Christians living and the dead, those on earth, in heaven and, in Catholic belief, in purgatory. They share a single "mystical body", with Christ as the head, in which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of all.

The earliest known use of this term to refer to the belief in a mystical bond uniting both the living and the dead in a confirmed hope and love is by Saint Nicetas of Remesiana (ca. 335–414); the term has since then played a central role in formulations of the Christian creed.[1]

The term is included in the Apostles' Creed, a major profession of the Christian faith whose current form was settled in the eighth century, but which originated from not long after the year 100, the basic statement of the Church's faith (William Barclay, The Plain Man Looks at the Apostles Creed, pages 10-12).

The doctrine of the Communion of Saints is based on 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul compares Christians to a single body.”

With regard to this doctrine, psychic research would lead us to expand our concept far wider than baptised Christians, to all children of God within the Cosmic Christ. The views of clergy in this regard will of course vary widely.

This editor, in short, considers that psychic research presents a picture reasonably consistent with Anglicanism as widely understood, but that it much enlarges our understanding.  

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