Yale Courses - Religion

[Geezer]

YouTube has videos of Yale Divinity courses. Basically, these are videos of various religious courses being taught by various Professors at Yale.

 

These are basically history courses on a wide range of subjects. If you like history, especially religious history, then I'm certain you would enjoy them. Search Yale Religious Courses.

[LogicalFallacy]

In addition to Geezers suggestion, Yale Courses covers many introductory topics with lectures from professors.

 

I've been through Christine Hayes Old Testament course which is brilliant

 

I've been through most of an Introductory Evolutionary course and have started an Introductory Astronomy course.

 

These are all intro courses, but great for giving a broad knowledge of a subject that you can fill in with detailed study.

 

#lifelonglearning

[mwc]

     I've had the Open Yale Courses open in a tab for years now. I think they're what LF is talking about.  I don't believe these have any of the same as the divinity school but they're still good.

 

          mwc

 

[LogicalFallacy]

Yes.. ok they are not the same. My bad.

 

Still great for learning.

 

Here's the evolution one http://oyc.yale.edu/ecology-and-evolutionary-biology/eeb-122 (Us ex creationists need these courses!)

[Christy]

On 10/8/2017 at 4:41 PM, LogicalFallacy said:

 

Here's the evolution one http://oyc.yale.edu/ecology-and-evolutionary-biology/eeb-122 (Us ex creationists need these courses!)

Evolution does nothing to help my case. My parents, and my old pastors, believe in evolution. They do not understand it all but they can not deny it is true. They claim that the Bible provides room for it. They say that god forming Adam from dirt is just a short quick way of saying that people evolved. God is the one that enacted the Big Bang, humans evolved from what formed the earth and God breathing into Adams nostrils was the point God saw the evolution from ape to human as "complete" to his liking and gave him his soul but the actual creature of Adam was already living. So...🤷🏻‍♀️ So once I come out to my parents as a nonbeliever, science doesn't really help me.. I will have to rely only on psychology of religion and discrepancies of text I guess. 

[LogicalFallacy]

1 hour ago, Christy said:

Evolution does nothing to help my case. My parents, and my old pastors, believe in evolution. They do not understand it all but they can not deny it is true. They claim that the Bible provides room for it. They say that god forming Adam from dirt is just a short quick way of saying that people evolved. God is the one that enacted the Big Bang, humans evolved from what formed the earth and God breathing into Adams nostrils was the point God saw the evolution from ape to human as "complete" to his liking and gave him his soul but the actual creature of Adam was already living. So...🤷🏻‍♀️ So once I come out to my parents as a nonbeliever, science doesn't really help me.. I will have to rely only on psychology of religion and discrepancies of text I guess. 

 

Gods forming humans from dirt, clay and blood etc are common themes from the ancient middle eastern religions. This is obviously not a short hand to mention evolution unless those other cultures also had the revealed word of god.... which puts the Christian in a pickle because if multiple cultures received the word of god, but they all vary, which one is correct?

 

The bible explicitly states that Adam and Eve were the first man and woman. You can calculate their creation dates back to about 4,000 BCE. However this is not compatible with evolution - Adam and Eve cannot have been the first man and woman.

 

Here's the pickle - Jesus (And Paul) refer to Adam and Noah's flood, and the exodus as real events. No evidence for any of it, and in relation to Adam and Noah there is direct contradictory evidence, as well as comparative religious evidence against Adam. Why would Jesus, son of an all knowing god refer to events that didn't actually happen as if they did happen?

 

Christopher Hitchens hits this point quite well:

 

 

 

As to the Genesis 1:1 God creating the earth via big bang - check out this thread in the Science section - it gets heavy, but if you are so inclined could be useful against theists arguing that god created the big bang.

http://www.ex-christian.net/topic/74813-attn-baa-beginning-of-the-universe-question/

[bornagainathiest]

3 hours ago, Christy said:

Evolution does nothing to help my case. My parents, and my old pastors, believe in evolution. They do not understand it all but they can not deny it is true. They claim that the Bible provides room for it. They say that god forming Adam from dirt is just a short quick way of saying that people evolved. God is the one that enacted the Big Bang, humans evolved from what formed the earth and God breathing into Adams nostrils was the point God saw the evolution from ape to human as "complete" to his liking and gave him his soul but the actual creature of Adam was already living. So...🤷🏻‍♀️ So once I come out to my parents as a nonbeliever, science doesn't really help me.. I will have to rely only on psychology of religion and discrepancies of text I guess. 

 

There's your lever.  Right there, Christy.

 

Your folks believe in evolution ...but they don't understand it.

I'm guessing the same is true for the Big Bang, right?  So that's two things they don't understand, but that they accept as true.  And they accept them as true by... faith.  See the bind they're in?  

 

Nowhere in science does any scientist accept anything by faith.

It's either demonstrated by experiment or supported by evidence.  Faith plays no part in science.  None whatsoever.  That's the humor of this cartoon.

 

Faith and evidence do not mix.

Even the Bible agrees with this.  Please check out Hebrews 11 : 1 - 3 and John 20 : 31.  Also, think carefully about the examples in scripture where people witnessed the hand of God at work.  In the OT the tribes of Israel saw the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, Mount Sinai and the supernatural demonstrations of Moses' authority.  In the NT Jesus gave Thomas the evidence he needed to believe.  But these accounts cannot be verified you and me with evidence, which is why we are asked to believe them, by faith.

 

So that's how you use this lever.

If your folks believe in evolution and the Big Bang by faith, then you can tell them that they are accepting these things as true on the wrong basis.  Scientific theories must not be accepted by faith.  They must be accepted on the basis of the evidence for them.  If your parents and pastors don't understand how science works then you can drive a wedge in there and lever that crack open.

 

But be careful!

If you want to go down this road the first thing you should is to make that you properly understand how science works.  Otherwise you won't be arguing from a position of strength and you'll be easily caught out.

 

Thanks,

 

BAA.