Faith Isn't In Retreat

The historical development of science had many individuals working as clerics that made substantial contributions. In the age of feudalism the Church was a refuge for sundry intellectuals that were not aristocrats. Notably in England aristocrats made contributions to scientific advance.

Many people that had little choice besides religious structures were no longer compelled to enroll when secular opportunities developed after the reformation. That was the normal course of social progress. Progress does not always bring good order, decency, justice or right reason although the term progress generally is used to mean 'better' or 'advance'.

Marx had attended a religious seminary, and Stalin received Orthodox Church schooling, and those were two examples of a retreat from faith.

Trotsky's term as General of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War brought him to make many observations about military actions including his own aboard his train h.q. Isaac Deutcher wrote a good biography in three volumes. The godless atheists were an entirely secular flight from Orthodox religion closely associated with the ruling class hierarchy. The Tsar named the Metropolitan now and then.

There is a perennial effort to free Christian ecclesiastical structures from the worldly secular hierarchies that have too often dominated it. Some believe that a priesthood of believers is the right structure with an egalitarian liturgical form. The early friends church in America was something like that, where people met and talked in small groups.

The spiritual war between good and evil is a perennial phenomenon that will continue until the end of days. Christians and philosophically minded Christians have the opportunity to focus upon the Bible and study God's Universe cosmologically speaking without so much trouble from authorities and orthodox opinions on areas not covered in the Bible at all. Average people in the church like average people everywhere have a characteristic of wanting to have a concrete doctrine, method or structure; a religious approach to anything that they can simply repeat without thinking about anything philosophically. That dogmatic approach can perpetuate wrong ideas, yet the social war to liberate society from control by elites and class collectives is also a perennial effort.

There are numerous explanations available for about anything today-many of them wrong of course. The book above cited is a newer publication on computer-enhanced explanations in an age of explanations.

Christians and Jewish scholars of course may dive deeper into contemplation of the meanings and compositions of the Bible-and try to understand better its content meaning. Modern formal logical progress, analytic philosophy and archeological research as well as science generally have enabled a well of additional understanding of the Bible era for those actual interested in understanding.

Contemporary atheists have made an industry of attacking the Bible of course, as if disproving some straw man arguments or refuting the Bible might in some way provide a proof for atheism. It would do that no more than refuting the Ptolemaic System of Cosmology would provide evidence for Quantum Gravity cosmology.

Christians may leave their own concerns about doing the will of God, and having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through faith and the Holy Spirit's grace, to venture into explaining things for secular purposes as if they wanted to be educators in secular settings-however that was more for a time of the past-a distant past, whereas today they might simple provide a good moral environment for education absent of the raving depravity a little, if possible, that seems to be a goal of American leftists in order to reduce population or taxation.

Probably the better course is for inclusion of such philosophical inquiries into the Universe in a curriculum that isn't dogmatic in order to overturn some of the illogical grasps of atheism toward marginalization of faith and people of faith socially. Cosmology is a fascinating topic.

God probably had some practice or practical experience before issuing the process of the eventuation of this Universe. He may have created a trillion trillion to the infinite power of Universes already, and decided to leave this one the way it is for a while without too much direct interference. With practice one develops a calm about tempestuous Universe management I would guess.

Archeologists have discovered huts in Jordan circa 22,000 b.c. Human civilization seems to have arisen in the Middle East and it seems an appropriate place for Jesus to have appeared on Earth to set a new foundation for humanity to function in spiritually until the consumers and producers destroy the world or most of its population in a hundred years or two as some futurists regard as possible from global warming if nothing else.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Beginning-Infinity-Explanations-Transform/dp/0670022756/ref=pd_rhf_ee_shvl3