Could any academic field be worse than Bible studies/theo in general?

[Duals21]

OK. Obscurantism is the deliberate evasion of clarity. Are you proposing that everyone who has worked in theology has opposition to the spread of knowledge as his/her goal? Just because you don't agree with their conclusions does not make it obscurantist. Technically, a refutation of (for example) the cosmological argument for the existence of God is theological exercise. Is that refutation obscurantist?

[MidGe]

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Are you proposing that everyone who has worked in theology has opposition to the spread of knowledge as his/her goal?

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Yes

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Technically, a refutation of (for example) the cosmological argument for the existence of God is theological exercise. Is that refutation obscurantist?


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Yes, in the sense that it gives some credence to the position being refuted. You may as well include the refutation of the existence of unicorns as a academic pursuit, going on your argument. Surely with all the non-sense to refute, it would considerably enlarge the number of academic subjects and/or faculties.

[Duals21]

If someone gave me a reasoned position on why unicorns exist, I would very much find the refutation of that position to be necessary. What value is there in closing our minds to rational arguments? If we just close our minds, and proclaim that we are unwilling to engage in reasoned discourse with people of faith, then we are just as ignorant as people who find the inerrancy of the bible beyond reproach.

[MidGe]

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If we just close our minds, and proclaim that we are unwilling to engage in reasoned discourse with people of faith, then we are just as ignorant as people who find the inerrancy of the bible beyond reproach.

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Not when the refutations have been made ad hominem and are still not accepted by those that are close-minded. we got to move on, dude, academia, can and should drop anachronistic courses. It is too expensive in terms of human intellect use and it may be supporting the very obscurantists by giving them a veneer of legitimacy.

[yukoncpa]

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If someone gave me a reasoned position on why unicorns exist, I would very much find the refutation of that position to be necessary.

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People are always giving reasoned positions on why fairy’s exist, or UFO’s or alien abductions, or big foot, the Loch ness monster, etc. The first few times, the refutation may be fun to read, but after that, I certainly wouldn’t call the ad nauseam refutations, “necessary”.

[Duals21]

Do you mean the refutations have been made ad nauseum? I am confused. If I am misunderstanding what you are saying forgive me, its 3:00 AM here. But, the refutations of any one theological argument are not particularly convincing. Unless you study theology, I doubt you would even be familiar with them. Theology is not the justification of Christianity, or any religion. It is a form of reasoned discourse that deals with questions that are important to a lot of people. There are TONS of philosopher and scientists etc. who are way smarter than I who choose to believe in some definition of a God. I do not agree with them, but to say that they shouldn't have the right to ask those questions in an academic setting is absurd. I don't subscribe to the theory psychoanalysis either, but I don't think College level psychology should consist of the indoctrination of one view over another. People need to be allowed to make up their own mind, and that process is valuable in itself.

[yukoncpa]

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There are TONS of philosopher and scientists etc. who are way smarter than I who choose to believe in some definition of a God.

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Hi,
I thought we were talking about Jesus Christ and the town of Nazereth. I've stepped in here and apparently mispoken. My take is this ( as an agnostic/deist): I would love it if a fair and just God existed. I don't mind people debating such a God, or any creator God for that matter. Jesus is not fair or just in my mind, and there is plenty of refutation of his histriocity.

[MidGe]

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There are TONS of philosopher and scientists etc. who are way smarter than I who choose to believe in some definition of a God.

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If you say so! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I was not making a judgment on your intellect.

I am also certain that there are many more that choose not to do so.

[cbh]

Is astrology an academic field?