Presentation

The Infinito Journal begins a new important serie


The “Jornal Infinito” begins a new important serie. With impartiality we chose the best among the scientists and critics to make up the serie. They will speak by themselves. The holism is one of our goals. We will put together all the parts that are related with it. If you want to discuss the texts, do it by using the addresses below:
- jornalinfinito@yahoogrupos.com.br
- ceticismoaberto@yahoogrupos.com.br
- noosferaII@yahoogrupos.com.br and our forum.


Vera Filizzola


EVOLUTION VS CREATION

INTRODUCTION:

Many people may read the words above and think I’m playing with Old Testament bible scriptures. In fact it’s not a game, just an attempt at introduction. Stories such as this one are told in bible classes, are read aloud by pastors in their pulpits before stunned audiences, and have a certain role to fulfill. They unite man’s desire to discover his origins and to understand what he is doing in a world that doesn’t seem made for him.

The scriptures made their way through the millennia to us with their "divine signature". As a result, our doubts in a certain way were removed without having to make the same mistakes as our biblical “parents”; parents made in the image and likeness of God, Man and Woman who sinned by disobeying and thereby threw their descendents into this valley of tears. The history of our species would still be told this way had we not put a limit to knowledge imposed on us and sought out our own answers.

It is not difficult to begin endless questioning. It simply requires that the first question lead to more questions and these, when answered, produce more doubts than certainties, and consequently more questions. For centuries our western civilization blindly accepted what it was taught by those whose purpose was to spread knowledge acquired through what was called "divine inspiration". It was believed that the whole bible had been written under such inspiration. Consequently for a long time its ideas were unquestionable dogmas and force-fed to those who tried to understand differently.

Although certain they would "sin", some notable individuals resolved to no longer accept what was imposed on them as absolute truth. They began questioning their own nature, based not on what was written, but on what their watchful eyes and genuine interest in understanding told them.

This having been done and amid the rigid, scripture-based knowledge supplied by the Church, a major revolutionary journey into the unknown began. It had the firm intention to unveil, discover and know the unknown as devices to help observe and analyze were becoming available. Endless questioning began, generating doubts that awaited answers, setting in motion what would later be known as Science.

Consequently the beginning of man, idealized by the so-called guardians of divine information, was reexamined in the light of science. It was questioned and to a certain point denied, after first having been rejected by those who believed that no truth existed outside the Church.

It was an uproar which produced results that, as written, expelled man from his privileged position and threw him into the confusion of mere animals, not in the image and likeness of a God, but in the possibilities of a world in constant change. Once again mankind saw himself aborted from the divine plan and thrown naked into the sea of storms, at the mercy of uncertainty and separated from his true dignity in relation to other beings. However, before feeling orphaned and powerless to administer the future, he decided to face the new world populated by animals that came before him and, through studying such beings, search for his own origin amid the debris of the past.

This is how our history of creation, based on science and not dogmatism, slowly came to be written. Given scientific progress, we can dare attempt to rewrite what is already written. But unlike the biblical Genesis, this story has no end...

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Note: Far from being finished, the battle between those who believe in the scriptures and those who look for their own answers is bearing fruit capable of leading the journey toward final answers. As pilgrims seeking truth, we can’t simply close our eyes to one version of the facts at the expense of another. If on one side the unquestionable truth produces dissatisfaction because of its rigidity, on the other side the constant doubt and need for more answers create a mix of anxiety and tension inciting us to search more and give up formulating theories to satisfy our curiosity. Dogmas are self-centered beliefs and have no lack of explanations. But doubts need answers…

Based on the need to observe the unfolding of this battle, putting aside the latest theories, we will begin a series completely focused on ideas related to the origin of life in our world.

What are necessary are good judgment and desire to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Lígia Amorese Gallo