His Holiness Kirill Gundayev (1946- ), Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias inside a spacecraft mockup having a discussion with a cosmonautics specialist… THIS is what we believe about the interface of science and religion. Break out the bottles, raise a glass, and cheer! Not only is there no conflict between Faith and Reason… there NEVER has been.
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Read this:
Note this:
In comparison, 13 percent of the teachers said they “explicitly advocate creationism or intelligent design by spending at least one hour of class time presenting it in a positive light”. These are mostly the same group of teachers (about 14 percent) who personally reject the idea of evolution and the scientific method, and believe that God created humans on Earth in their present form less than 10,000 years ago. That 14 percent included teachers’ personal beliefs, regardless of whether they taught these in the classroom.
Creationism/Intelligent Design and Theistic Evolution are antipodes apart from another.
Here’s one definition of Creationism:
Creationism is the religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being. However, the term is more commonly used to refer to religiously motivated rejection of certain biological processes, in particular much of evolution, as an explanation accounting for the history, diversity, and complexity of life on earth.
On the other hand, Theistic Evolution, in its broader sense, is the idea that evolution is valid; it’s simply the actions of the natural processes set in motion by the Creation. Unfortunately, whenever one speaks of it, followers of Materialist Scientism scream out that you‘re trying to bring Creationism to the table. Nothing is further from the truth. I believe that what science has to tell us is valid… what theology has to say to us is valid, too. They aren’t speaking of the same topic, so, they’re not in contradiction to one another. Theistic Evolution is held by all major legitimate Christian bodies (Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Reformation Protestantism), whilst Creationism/Intelligent Design is held mainly by Sectarian nutters. This is another reason why we shouldn’t have close relations with Sectarian groups and individuals, for what they teach is in direct opposition to what we hold, in not only theology, theodicy, and faith, but also in our attitudes to the Creation, how it came about, and what our attitudes about it should be.
Scientists who held the Orthodox faith did, and do, contribute much to mainstream science. That’s as it should be. There’s no contradiction at all between the Faith and Science… both do teach Truth, after all. Truly, a good deal of the “problem” is due to the fact that the Sectarians have contaminated religious discourse in North America… they don’t hold the Classical Christian view at all. The conflict is between Scientism and Creationism/Intelligent Design… something else entirely. REAL scientists don’t hold the former… REAL Christians don’t hold the latter… so, where’s the beef?
Let’s follow His Holiness! He’s an avid follower of the space programme, and recently visited one of the main centres of cosmonautic research in Russia. When he said that he wanted to go into orbit… he was quite serious. Didn’t Senator John Glenn go into space at an older age than Patriarch Kirill is? I think that it’s COOL that His Holiness is interested in all sorts of things that aren’t “religious”… that’s the kind of leader that we need in our times! Wouldn’t it be something to see His Nibs in a spacesuit climbing into a Soyuz capsule? Don’t count him out… he’s a pip, ain’t he?
Science and Religion are complementary… every person of good sense knows that. As I said, what’s the beef?
Barbara-Marie Drezhlo
Saturday 29 January 2011
Albany NY
Voices from Russia 
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