Tag: Atoms
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Let’s get ‘Real’
Assuming we’re not hostile to Science for religious or other reasons, we really ought to take on board some of its newest findings, however strange or disturbing some of them might seem to be, especially if we’re at all interested in being ‘real’. Imagine you’re sitting at a table. It has a flat top, and […]
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My Religious Paradigm (2) The sacred books
Continuing this series, I’m asking myself, having been a preacher, what my current religious ‘paradigm’ is, by which I mean, what do I think, and feel, I can reasonably and credibly believe? Religious literature is exactly that and, in my view, must be subject to the same historical and critical scrutiny as all other kinds […]
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Common Sense? III
Let’s say a little more about atoms. The ‘common sense’ view is that they contain protons, neutrons and electrons, all like tiny billiard balls. The protons and neutrons are squeezed into the nucleus, which is like the sun in our solar system, and the electrons that surround the nucleus are like orbiting planets. This is […]
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Common Sense? II
Sometimes, ‘common sense’ is deceiving. Unless we’re willing to look behind appearances, we risk failing to discover deeper realities, and our store of knowledge and understanding is thereby impoverished. Modern science provides some startling examples of this. It’s over a century since the existence of atoms was confirmed, and exploration began into what they might […]
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And Death shall have No Dominion (Dylan Thomas)
This is one of Dylan Thomas’s earliest poems, and one that he loved to speak out loud (loud meaning loud). It’s about what, if anything, is likely to happen to us after we die. There are two Biblical references. One of these gives us the title, and the 1st and 9th lines of each of […]
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The Wonder of Water, a Greek Philosopher, a Scottish Writer
Around two-and-a-half thousand years ago, in a Greek city in what is now Turkey, Thales of Miletus was captivated by the wonder of water, thinking it to be the single substance that was the origin of all things. In those pre-scientific days, this wasn’t such a crazy idea. After all, liquid water can change to […]
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Thales and Water
It’s generally thought that Thales was the first Greek philosopher-cum-scientist. I like the story in which he’s walking along a path with an old lady, pointing up to, and telling her all about, the stars – when he trips and falls into the ditch. The old lady looks pityingly, but scornfully, down at him and […]
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A ‘Picture’ of ‘Ultimate Reality’
Gazing up into the night sky can make us wonder what the ‘reality’ behind everything might be. We tend to think about reality in a ‘material’ way, but our scientists have been telling us that matter is made up of what we call ‘atoms’ that are 99.99% ’empty space’! If such an ‘atom’ were the […]
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What can we say about God?
I’ve written about God being indescribable and, in essence, unknowable. The Bible, however, does have a bit of fun with a God who has legs that enjoy a walk in the Garden of Eden; cheeks that can feel a cooling breeze; and arms and hands that can do a bit of pottery, ribcage surgery and […]
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