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Showing posts with label
Mathematician Rene’ Descartes.
Show all posts
Showing posts with label
Mathematician Rene’ Descartes.
Show all posts
Life today the Real Story written by James m. Joiner 2005
awesome insight, Never published, be the one
The English Physicist, Isaac Newton, (1642-1727), also reduced God
to his own mechanical system. He was as anxious as Descartes to rid
Christianity of mysticism. Newton began with an attempt to explain
the physical universe.
He believed that God was an essential part of
the system. To Newton, nature was entirely passive and God was the
sole source of activity. Thus as with Aristotle he believed God was
simply a continuation of the natural physical order.
Newton was inclined to describe the relationship between the
various celestial and terrestrial bodies in mathematical terms. He
did this so as to create a coherent and comprehensive system. The
notion of gravitational force which as we know, Newton introduced,
drew the component parts of this system together.
Unlike his
contemporaries, Pascal, and Descartes, Newton was absolutely
convinced that he had proof of Gods existence.
Why didn’t the internal gravities of the various celestial
bodies pull them all together into one huge mass? Because they had
been carefully disposed throughout space with perfect distance
between them in order to facilitate life on this planet he believed
there had to be Devine intervention.
He felt that it was not to be
explained by natural cause. He was forced to admit there had to be a
God involved.
He believed that while gravity might have put the planets into
motion that it could not have been done correctly without God’s
help.
He believed that without Divine power it could never put them
into such a motion as they have around the sun; therefore he was
inclined to assign this system to a greater intelligent being.
If for
example, the earth revolved on its axis at only 100 MPH instead of
its 1000 MPH, night would be ten times longer and the planet would be
too cold to sustain life.
He also knew that the daytime heat would
shrivel vegetation. I am sure we all agree it is very rare
occurrences having everything co-mingle perfectly.
It of course has
to in order to create the perfect environment to happen and prosper.
It may be rare but like many of you, I too believe it to have been a
perfectly natural occurrence. You can certainly see the varied
professional opinions out there at the time our country was formed.
There was a tremendous confusion over reality. Just what has changed
anyway?
Like Descartes, Newton had no time for mystery which he equated to
stupidity and ignorance. He too was anxious to rid Christianity of
mysticism. He believed that the doctrine of the Trinity, (father,
son, and Holy Ghost), were false. He believed they were purposely
created by the church to attract converts. What say you? Life Today The Real Story "2005"
James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com
Like Descartes, Newton had no time for mystery which he equated to
stupidity and ignorance. He too was anxious to rid Christianity of
mysticism.
He believed that the doctrine of the Trinity, (father,
son, and Holy Ghost), were false. He believed they were purposely
created by the church to attract converts because it too was being subjected to the new scientific principles.
Once this started to happen the modern period of true skepticism was
irrevocably launched.
Hermann Reimarus, (1694-1768), argued that Jesus just wanted to
found a godly state. He believed that it was when his mission failed
that he had died in despair. He pointed out that in the Gospels;
Jesus had never proclaimed that he had come to atone for the sins of
mankind.
That idea can only be traced back to Saint Paul who is the
true founder of Christianity. We should not, therefore, revere Jesus
Christ as God. He believed that he should be thought of as the
teacher of a remarkable, simple, and exalted Religion.
Once the
scientific method had become the standard, it became difficult for
many people to read the Gospels in any other way. Western Christians
were now committed to a literal understanding of their faith. They
had taken a step back from myth. After all, a story was either
factually true or it wasn’t.
The traditional doctrine of the Atonement, (the reconciliation of
God and man brought about by the death of Christ), which depicted God
demanding the death of his own son presented an unacceptable picture
of God. He was the righteous God, the embittered God, and the angered
God.
His demands for strict retribution purposely filled many
Christians with fear and compelled them not to be sinful.
More and more Christians were becoming embarrassed by the cruelty
of so much of their Christian history. Christians had conducted
fearsome crusades.
They conducted inquisitions, and persecutions in
the name of God. This was a God that is supposed to be all
encompassing, all understanding, and all forgiving.
They were
becoming increasingly enamored with liberty and freedom of
conscience. The bloody reformation for many, proved to be the final
straw.
Reason did seem to be the answer. However, could a God stripped of
the mystery that had surrounded him for centuries be an effective
God?
In the west Christians were on the edge of a more secular age,
though they still adhered to a belief in God. The new Religion of
reason would be known as Deism.
This is belief claiming foundation
solely on the evidence of reason. They believed in the existence of
God as creator of the Universe who after setting it in motion
abandoned it. He assumed no control over life. He exerted no
influence on natural phenomena. He also gave no supernatural
revelation, man that sounds pretty objective.
It had no time for the imaginative disciplines of mysticism and
mythology. It turned its back on the on the myth of revelation. The
new religion also turned its back on such traditional mysteries as
the Trinity. The Trinity had for so long held people captive of
superstition. Instead it declared allegiance to the personal God
which man could discover with his own efforts.
Francoise Marie De Voltaire was the embodiment of the
enlightenment movement. He also described his version of the perfect
Religion.
Wouldn’t it teach much morality and very little dogma?
Wouldn’t it tend to make men just without making them absurd? It
would be a religion that did not make you believe in things that are
impossible. He believed it would be a religion that was not
contradictory.
He believed that it would be a religion that was not
injurious to divinity, and harmful to man. He believed it would be a
religion which did not menace with eternal punishment anyone
possessing common sense?
Would it not be that which did not uphold
its beliefs with executioners? Wouldn’t it be a religion that did
not inundate the earth with blood on account of unintelligible
argument?
It would be a Religion that taught only the worship of one
God, justice, tolerance, and humanity. This all sounds ideal, he has
my vote.
The Churches had only themselves to blame for this defiance. Since
for centuries they had burdened the faithful with an overwhelming
amount of doctrine. Voltaire did argue however, that faith in one God
was more natural and rational to humanity. Voltaire’s problem of
course, was not God but the doctrines about him which offended the
standard of reason. Life Today The Real Story "2005"
James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com
The English Physicist, Isaac Newton, (1642-1727), also reduced God
to his own mechanical system. He was as anxious as Descartes to rid
Christianity of mysticism. Newton began with an attempt to explain
the physical universe.
He believed that God was an essential part of
the system. To Newton, nature was entirely passive and God was the
sole source of activity. Thus as with Aristotle he believed God was
simply a continuation of the natural physical order.
Newton was inclined to describe the relationship between the
various celestial and terrestrial bodies in mathematical terms. He
did this so as to create a coherent and comprehensive system. The
notion of gravitational force which as we know, Newton introduced,
drew the component parts of this system together.
Unlike his
contemporaries, Pascal, and Descartes, Newton was absolutely
convinced that he had proof of Gods existence.
Why didn’t the internal gravities of the various celestial
bodies pull them all together into one huge mass? Because they had
been carefully disposed throughout space with perfect distance
between them in order to facilitate life on this planet he believed
there had to be Devine intervention.
He felt that it was not to be
explained by natural cause. He was forced to admit there had to be a
God involved.
He believed that while gravity might have put the planets into
motion that it could not have been done correctly without God’s
help.
He believed that without Divine power it could never put them
into such a motion as they have around the sun; therefore he was
inclined to assign this system to a greater intelligent being.
If for
example, the earth revolved on its axis at only 100 MPH instead of
its 1000 MPH, night would be ten times longer and the planet would be
too cold to sustain life.
He also knew that the daytime heat would
shrivel vegetation. I am sure we all agree it is very rare
occurrences having everything co-mingle perfectly.
It of course has
to in order to create the perfect environment to happen and prosper.
It may be rare but like many of you, I too believe it to have been a
perfectly natural occurrence. You can certainly see the varied
professional opinions out there at the time our country was formed.
There was a tremendous confusion over reality. Just what has changed
anyway?
Like Descartes, Newton had no time for mystery which he equated to
stupidity and ignorance. He too was anxious to rid Christianity of
mysticism. He believed that the doctrine of the Trinity, (father,
son, and Holy Ghost), were false. He believed they were purposely
created by the church to attract converts. What say you? Li
fe Today The Real Story "2005"
James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com
Mathematician Rene’ Descartes, (1596-1650), had far more
confidence in man’s ability to discover God. Descartes felt that
reason alone could persuade humanity to accept the truths of religion
and morality. He also saw this as the foundation of society.
Descartes used the principles of mathematics to prove God’s
existence. Unlike other philosophers and believers in one God, he
believed there was no design in nature.
He believed that the cosmos
was completely Godless. In fact, the universe was completely chaotic,
and revealed no sign of intelligent planning.
Descartes found evidence of questionability in everything. He felt
that we could not be certain of anything in the external world. He
absolutely believed that we could be certain of our own inner
experience. From the very beginning religion had helped man relate to
the world and to find their role in it.
The deification of natural
forces as had been done by earlier man expressed the wonder and awe
which has always been a part of man’s response to his hostile
world.
Therefore he believed that a sense of mystery was to be
avoided at all costs. This was because to him it represented a
primitive state of mind that civilized man had outgrown.
I think this is very interesting. Descartes would explain clouds,
wind, lightening, and all other natural phenomena, so as to remove
any cause for marvel.
He said, this leads me to hope that if I
explain the nature of clouds, in such a way that we will be better
off. He felt that people would no longer have cause to wonder at
anything that can be seen of them.
He felt they would no longer be
mystified by anything that descends from them. We could then believe
that it is possible to find the causes of everything on and above the
earth.
Descartes was always careful to stay within the rulings of the
Roman Catholic Church. He saw himself as an orthodox Christian. He
saw no contradiction between faith and reason.
He argued that there
was a system that would enable humanity to reach all truth. Nothing
was beyond their grasp. All that was necessary in any discipline was
to apply the method. He believed it would then be possible to piece
together a reliable body of knowledge.
This would then dispel all
confusion or ignorance. He saw as a problem as I do, that Beliefs in
God had now been contained within a human system of thought. He
believed that this was done purposely by organized religion. Life Today The Real Story "2005"
James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com
