Ben Stein Holds Court

Just fodder for contemplation: That portion of the Bible that deals with creation was written by fairly uneducated and naive sheep herders whose grasp of physics, elemental partical theory (etc.) was, to put it mildly, limited. If God did indeed "dictate" Genesis to them, do you not think he would have used concepts that they would be able to understand? If you don't think he would, I invite you to explain stator-ring acceleration in detail to a two-year old; let me know how it works out.

If, on the other hand, you are willing to accept that Genesis might have been written using language that was readily understood by those for whom it was originally intended, a couple of things become possible. First, the concept of a "day" could have been used to represent a MUCH longer time period, one that might have been incomprehensible to simpe herdsmen - such as millions of years. Second, look at the order in which things were created; it bears a striking resemblance to the the order in which evolution says it happened. Interesting, no?

From my perspective, it would seem that there is no real discrepancy between Genesis and evolution. Much of the controversy seems to hinge on whether the "day" set down therein is equal to the day as we now know it. I freely admit that I don't know for certain one way or the other, but I believe it was not, for the reasons noted above.

And, how did the Creator actually create? Could the Creator not have established laws under which the universe would operate, and then simply let the system work? It would still be creation. Aren't those who say, "It can't be so!" making an awfully big assumption? They are not in effect saying, "God could not and did not do it this way!"? I cannot speak for others, but I am totally unwilling to place limits upon an entity that is capable of creating the entire universe as we know it. Such an entity by definition has to have powers beyond our imagining.

Once again, just concepts to contemplate. The logical portion of my brain (if such actually exists - I have doubts from time to time) insists that these concepts are both possible and probable. If the world is less than 10,000 years old, as my Rabbi says, then why does it contain fossils that date back millions of years? Did God scatter these around as a "test" for the faithful? A Creator who would play tricks like that on his children should be spanked and sent to bed without supper; it would be a mean and spiteful thing to do. The more palatable choice is the one offered herein: Genesis was written in language that could be understood by its audience, and is not in any way in conflict with any scientific view of evolution.

Walker, that is a well thought out response. You are not alone in your thinking. I think the same way. I just wish others were as accepting.

Greetings,
I once was an evolutionist and believed in millions of years of development. The educational system gave me no other choice. Then I started question the claims of evolution. First I found out that not all scientist support or believe evolution. I even found evolutionists that did not believe in evolution. That was weird. Then I start finding that many of the claims of evolution being taught to day have already been disproven. If you keep reading you will find out the Darwin was a racist to the core, and his theories support racism, hatred, and genocide for the lesser races. Yet we science we find that there are no races but one, the human race. There skin differences, and feature diffences, but these do no define races. In the genome project, it has been settled that all of us humans, are just one human race, with the same roots. That science alone should crush the Darwin doctrine. If you keep questioning what you were taught, you find out you were not told the whole story.When Heckel (SP) was creating is theroy of evolution in the womb the current scientist already new he was wrong back then. The false doctrine, and altered pictures have been shown as fake, yet this is still taught in schools, and other gov't support institutions. You will also find out the fossil record does do support evolution and does not show animals evolving. Some honorable evolutionist with even admit this. As you keep reading you find you have not been told a lot about what is assumed, interpreted and told to you as fact. A similar tactic has been used to attack the Bible. They say it is stories and full of errors. I heard those also. But when I started to look into these claims, even down to the Greek and Hebrew, I could not find the errors. I could only find a precise, well written trustable account of things. I found something that I could not prove false, or could not explain away. I moved from the religion and belief system of a racist error-riddled humanistic evolution, to a more scientific, error free, belief system, and the Creator of all things. I found evolution riddles with hate, lies, envy, and lacking any morals. I found hope, peace, and joy in the one the provides answers, forgiveness. Question what you believe and why you believe it. Test it, prove it, or dump it. I am a happier and better man for it.

How about this? Life is too short to get all excited about things you don't understand. Try to live a long, happy life, and be content. That's all I do. I'm sure when I pass I'll either have a greater understanding of the universe, or I'll not have enough conscience energy to care. End of debate. Next story...

PQQAm's fire-breathing dragon theory is really not even a theory. It is merely an hypothesis, and an untestable one at that.

B K: My comment was made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Calling it a hypothesis is a much more generous term than I had in mind.

I thought Ben Stein was an economist, not a biologist? I'll pass on "what little he knows" and take my science from actual scientists, not wannabes. Thanks!

Good grief, txs_ranger, you didn't understand my post. I believe there is a God. Therefore I believe the bible is His word, not man's. That's what it says, that's what I believe. There are two camps here, and they all center on whether there is a God or not. Neither of us can prove the other wrong and that's where we have to leave it. But I expect, and deserve, the same level of understanding and respect that I am giving you.

Why does God have to just go 'POOF' and make man 10,000 years ago?

Can't he be powerful enough to work his will through evolution? Isn't that a more powerful God?--one that can sit back 10 BILLION years ago (more actually) and design things to come together at a certain point in a certain way?

It is amazing how certain fundamentalists are in their beliefs. Ultimately, their views are almost in lock-step with Muslim fundamentalists.

Ben Stein started his project with lies, based his project on lies, and advertises and hypes his project with lies. He's not only stupid, he's dishonest.

And WDJ, don't quote the bible at me. I've read it through at least seven times and can tell you that it's internal contradictions make Stein look brilliant... You are not going to convince anyone with the words of iron age shepherds who knew nothing of science or (based on their god in the bible) morality.

When I was a kid in Catholic School it was pretty much taught that we could reconcile Darwinism with the Bible as long as we understood that Genesis was written by men in a deeply metaphorical language and not to be taken literally. After all, Darwin himself was a devout Christian and believed that evolution was just the unfolding of God's plan. Have we regressed so much that we expect a book written by men to be the literal truth and not an imperfect attempt to understand the nature of the divine? Why can we accept the Jesus used the launguage of metaphor in his parables, but not accept that the story of Genesis was also written in the methaphoric language of parable? After all, who was around to write down the story of Adam and Eve? Are we really expected to take this is as a literal, eyewitness account? Has everyone gone insane?

I Dare you to watch the movie. I can go to this movie with an open mind. I'm not even sure exactly where Ben stands on this issue. But I can check it out. Are you man enough or Woman enough to challenge what you believe?
Question what you believe and why you believe it. Test it, prove it, or dump it, but don't just believe something because you were taught it over and over and over again with little or no option and told what to believe. Be a rebel, take a chance, I dare you........ :)
See you there....

Mr Stien is right. As a good christian as I am sure that he is, he realises the God created everying in 6 days. People who refute this are only advocating Satanism.

The silly aspect is that there is plenty of room for both science and religion, it's just the silly dogmatic approach that both sides seem to take.

petee
No...most mens interpetation of the Bible is that the world is only 10,000 years old....probably not Gods interpetation....In the beggining God created the heavens and the earth....Now the world was formless.....I've always been puzzeled by the word "NOW" it indicates a space or elapse of time

Soccermom - um, Ben Stein is Jewish.

THIS IS A POORLY WRITTEN ARTICLE. IS THERE A CONTROVSERSY? TOO MUCH DIALOGUE WITH VERY LITTLE SUBSTANCE.

JWM, which version of the bible are you putting your trust in?

There are literally hundreds of versions, with slightly different "translations" throughout the world.

One bible says "Thou shalt not Kill" another says "Thou shalt not Murder" 2 very different and distinct meanings.

Which one is right?

Am I to believe God intended me to be a Vegan or did he simply mean I can't kill other people?

It depends who you ask. (I like beef, so you know which one I'm going with)

The words you choose to believe are inerrant have been changed, repeatedly, over a couple thousand years (mostly in the last few hundred). Sometimes by the church, sometimes by a king, other times by the people charged with making exact copies (accidentally writing in a margin note as part of a passage).

It happens, and because man is fallible, so to are mans works. God does not seem to be in the business of editing paperbacks, (although His creations have gone through some extensive revisions over the last few billion years) and until He does, we're just stuck with an approximations of His words.

Ben Stein is my hero. Even if he is wrong about Darwinism, he is smarter than all of the posters here put together.

Hey, evolution is just a theory, right? Just like gravity!

No one in the sceintific community has EVER said that evolution is a fact, but it is supported by many, many facts. Unlike the existince of, oh say, GOD.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, "Some scientific explanations are so well established that no new evidence is likely to alter them. The explanation becomes a scientific theory. In everyday language a theory means a hunch or speculation. Not so in science. In science, the word theory refers to a comprehensive explanation of an important feature of nature that is supported by many facts gathered over time."

Hooray to Mr. Stein! I'm glad someone had the courage to publicly denounce the faulty "Theory" that is evolution. Unfortunately kids across our great nation are being taught they evolved from a rock.