Scientific Origin of Religion - Essay Example

Weekly Journal Name Course Instructor Date Scientific Origin of Religion The religious awareness is traced back in the upper Paleolithic Revolution. Religion developed alongside various cultural universals that evolved during this period. There is a lot of religion evidence from Paleolithic Cave Art such as the Gargas caves in France that seem to have some religious influence (Harvey 2012). There exists uncertain evidence that Homo neanderthalensis may have performed burial rituals for their dead. The use of burial rituals is the only evidence present to show that the early man practiced religion. The religious mind was what could have enabled the early man to develop religious ideas. Around 5000 years ago, the human brain increased significantly in size in the neocortex which is believed to process the high order cognitive ability which is linked to the development of human religion (Fenner 2009). Robin Dunbar argues that the significant event in neocortex development occurred to the archaic Homo sapiens around 500.000years ago (Harvey 2012). A meme refers to an ideology and a behavioral style which is carried from generation to generation within a culture. Memes are carried to future generation by various means such as writing, rituals, speech, or mimicked themes. It is argued that memes are capable of evolving through natural selection. Nevertheless, I believe that it is not possible to characterize culture in terms of discrete units. According to Young (2004), Dawkins suggested that memes reside physically in the brain but in my opinion, his idea was intentionally ambiguous. Paradigm refers to a discrete ideology or concept pattern. Paradigms set the perspective of clarification and intelligibility. I believe when we cannot view things from other side’s point of view, we bear paradigm blindness. The idea of inventing God rather we being invented by God came to full appearance in the last 2 centuries, but it is traced back to 3 millenniums ago (Murray 2009). Suffering people turn to their God for comfort, but I believe people need God in suffering situations where no visible cause is there to put the blame to. I believe that belief in God Is driven more by suffering than by delight. There is great evidence that people with miserable lifestyles have high a likelihood of belief. There are many theories which explain the origin of religion. For instance, Pierre Bayle argued that religion originated from fear of the future. The Reliability of Ancient Documents There are various methods that have been applied in the assessment of the reliability of ancient documents. There are diverse findings, which comply with the Old Testament in the Bible such as the existence of the Hittite (Fenner 2009). The scribes were considered to be professionals in antiquity and were very careful when dealing with the word of God. Therefore, I believe they could not just hastily write things. According to Harvey (2012), the Massoretic were a group of the Jews who were careful in their copying. Comparison of the present Bible has shown only insignificant deviation from the Masoretic texts. The Septuagint refers to the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It proves that the manuscripts present today are clean copies of the original copy (Fenner 2009). The oldest full Old Testament document is dated 900 AD. We need to understand that the ancient scholars were critical when making these copies. There are around 4000 diverse manuscripts which contain the New Testament (Harvey 2012). Most of these documents were written using papyrus. Referring to the Books of New Testament as unreliable is to let the olden times slip into dimness because they are the most attested for accuracy. The History of Science and Religion There existed a profound gap between science and religion, according to Langdon (Murray 2009). Some ancient scientists were executed by the church for revealing various truths about science. During prehistoric era, people appeared to be more interested in more technical rather than the theoretical wisdom. I believe that the ancient human form of adequate knowledge to face day to day challenges. Astronomy was the first science to emerge and I believe it had a great contribution to the emergence of religion, agriculture, and the calendar. The word scientist originated in the 19th Century from philosopher William Whenell (Young 2004). Before then, earlier scientists were referred to as Natural philosophers. Science is composed of diverse studies such as astronomy, organic chemistry, microbiology, and cosmology. During Aristotle’s time, there existed only three theoretical branches of knowledge which included; Natural philosophy, Mathematics, and Metaphysics. Creation According to Carlson & Longman (2010), creation refers to the idea of matter coming into existence. A creation myth may be religious, traditional, or cultural story which explain the origin of universe. There are many theories explaining the origin of the universe. Many individuals who existed during the ancient days in Greece and Rome assumed polytheism as the origin of creation. According to the biblical account, God created heavens and earth and the universe in six days. The Big bang suggests that the universe is about 13.7 billion years old. It argues that what resulted to the Big Bang is not yet known and various theories have been developed to explain the Big Bang (Carlson & Longman 2010). The Big Bang has various evidences supporting it such as the expansion of the universe; the cosmic background radiation; abundance of elements. Most people view creation as ‘just right’ for human habitation. Some people argue that it happened by chance. However, I believe that God must have made it special for human to live in. the chance Argument lacks I accuracy. It is only 15 billion years since the Big Bang is speculated to have happened. I believe this period is not sufficient for different statistical progressions to work and yield our existence. Chaos, Uncertainty and God Acting In the World Queries have been raised concerning how God interacts with the world. Harry and Jimmy H began explaining these queries by explaining the aspects of the modern cosmology (Murray 2009). Cosmology refers to the physics and chemistry behind the origin of the earth. I believe it is better to view God as one who interacts with the world rather than view him as an intervener. An intervening God is always on the outer surface of what he created, but comes back to accomplish his role. The evidence of God’s action on earth is demonstrated through mind and God’s will but not through assessment of physical and chemical aspects of the world (Murray 2009). I believe the personal God of Christianity is revealed through Good’s self interaction with his creation. Bioethics Bioethics refer to the study of contradictory ethics which as a result of biological and medical advancements (Campbell 2013). Bioethics relate to moral questions that arise in relation to the life sciences. Much of the conflict centers on the unborn fetus. Currently, the debate concerns the use of embryonic stem cells for therapeutic cloning and research. Presbyterians pro-life upholds that human life is sacred and that God made us in his own image, hence; it is forbidden to send blood in the name of scientific research. It is committed to guarding the life of all human beings including the unborn. Conservative Christians believe that life begins at conception and use of human embryos for research is destruction of human life (Dickenson 2012). My personal view is that God is the one who has given us the scientific knowledge so that we can improve humanity. I strongly believe that the use embryonic stem cells for therapeutic use is according to God’s will because it saves lives. To prove that pre-embryos are human beings, religious conservatisms argue that if implanted into a human uterus, the pre-embryo will develop into a fetus. Nevertheless I believe Eugenics is a crime. It refers to the act of eliminating either disabled, or mentally ill people so as to maintain the quality of life. It is God who gives life; therefore, eliminating disabled people is taking God’s role. Also, Invitro fertilization is faced by many ethical and religious controversies. Conservatisms argue that only God has the right to give life (Campbell 2013). Personally, I believe in-vitro fertilization is very significant for it has assisted couples with reproductive complications own their own child. Religion and Environment Over the past three centuries, the human population has risen to almost 6 billion and some scientists predict that it may hit 10 billion before the end of this century. According to Darity (2008), the environment has been negatively affected by the increasing humanity on earth due to depletion of the natural resources and the release of waste materials. Christianity has a significant apprehension for nature and the natural world. A wide range of Christian institutions are involved in environmental movements and current environmental issues. In the Quran, the environment was made sacred in the Islam tradition. Animism is viewed as expansion of human traits to other species. Hinduism scholars believe that ancient approaches to the ordinary environment in theories such as the dharmic ethics, the ayurveda development, and Vedic literature readings (Darity 2008). In Judaism, the natural environment has a major function in Jewish law and other major practices. In Jewish rulings, ecological apprehensions are observed in the Biblical guard for fruit trees. Currently, Jewish environmentalists have undertaken educational and regulation support on issues of biodiversity conservation and global warming. Bibliography Carlson, R, F, Longman, T, 2010, Science, creation and the Bible: reconciling rival theories of origins, Downers Grove, Ill, IVP Academic. Campbell, A, V, 2013, Bioethics, Hoboken, Taylor and Francis. Darity, W, A, 2008, International encyclopedia of the social sciences (2nd ed.). Detroit, Mich, Macmillan Reference USA. Dickenson, D, 2012, Bioethics, London, Hodder Education. Fenner, G, M, 2009, The hearsay rule (2. ed.), Durham, N.C, Carolina Academic Press. Harvey, A, E, 2012, Is scripture still holy?: coming of age with the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich, William B, Eerdmans Pub.. Murray, M, J, 2009, The believing primate scientific, philosophical, and theological reflections on the origin of religion, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Young, M, 2004, Why intelligent design fails a scientific critique of the new creationism, New Brunswick, N.J, Rutgers University Press. Read More