Furyus George

My fault for not being more clear. There absolutely are theist thinkers that believe extra-dimensionality may help describe God.

Poor choice of puns aside, I'm sure life beyond this three dimensional existence is absolutely stunning.

I didn't expect a very enthusiastic review, and was right. Ross does speak highly, and often, of God, which I'm sure may be annoying to atheists. Much the same as I feel as I'm being condescended to by the likes of Sagan et al. So no offense taken.

I did think the reviewer pooh-poohed the idea of extra dimensions of time, which I found as a real breakthrough in my own thinking on such subjects as prayer.

I should add that while I am college educated, I have very little experience with math, physics and science, beyond personal reading.

Furyus George, prefers faith over knowledge anyway

Mageth

Originally posted by Furyus George
My fault for not being more clear. There absolutely are theist thinkers that believe extra-dimensionality may help describe God.

And I'm sure there are theist thinkers that consider it nonsense, to make the field more complete.

Poor choice of puns aside, I'm sure life beyond this three dimensional existence is absolutely stunning.

First, it was an unintentional pun, not a chosen pun. Second, I suspect you don't really grok how these extra dimensions of superstring theory are described or imagined, or what they are proposed to explain. I'd suggest Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe as a good introduction.

"Life", at least as we know it, is not an aspect of the extra dimensions, is not even proposed as being possible in those extra dimensions except in quite speculative science fiction (including the "science fiction" of Ross' book).

I didn't expect a very enthusiastic review, and was right. Ross does speak highly, and often, of God, which I'm sure may be annoying to atheists.

No; what is annoying to me is him using bad science on his part to try to make some popularist theistic point. Ross is treating science fiction as theology. The reviewer is quite correct to point this out.

Much the same as I feel as I'm being condescended to by the likes of Sagan et al. So no offense taken.

I did think the reviewer pooh-poohed the idea of extra dimensions of time, which I found as a real breakthrough in my own thinking on such subjects as prayer.

The reviewer "pooh-poohed" Ross' misrepresentation of the dimensions proposed by current superstring theory:

I should add that while I am college educated, I have very little experience with math, physics and science, beyond personal reading.

Read Greene's book I mentioned above, if you're interested.

Furyus George, prefers faith over knowledge anyway

Then why the interest in Ross' wild speculation on how a scientific theory (it's not even knowledge; extra dimensions are theoretical, and have not been demostrated outside of mathematics) may be used to bolster your faith? If you depend on faith, such "knowledge" should be unnecessary.

Furyus George

Much snipped...

Because it is interesting stuff! I wouldn't say I read stuff like Ross' to "bolster" my faith as much as I do to try and think about the Bible differently. I am placing all my eggs in Jesus' basket, so to speak, but I still like to ponder how He could die and yet live, how He can personally hear my prayers and so forth.

I've written your book recommendation down, though I admit there are a few ahead of it on my list. Thanks for the title.

Furyus George, just kidding about the pun.

Mageth

Originally posted by Furyus George
Because it is interesting stuff! I wouldn't say I read stuff like Ross' to "bolster" my faith as much as I do to try and think about the Bible differently. I am placing all my eggs in Jesus' basket, so to speak, but I still like to ponder how He could die and yet live, how He can personally hear my prayers and so forth.

My advice, then, is to read/study the science first hand, try to understand it, and think about its possible theological implications yourself before putting much stock into books like Ross'. You don't want to have someone pull the wool over your eyes through a misrepresentation of the science, do you? Especially in this case, since superstring theory is still quite tentative, though it holds promise.

It could turn out that tomorrow, next year, ten years or a hundred years down the road that superstring theory has to be abandoned, and it almost certainly will go through many revisions in any case. So such speculations of its impact on theology are, well, obviously premature. They should be taken with a large grain of salt.

I've written your book recommendation down, though I admit there are a few ahead of it on my list. Thanks for the title.

It's a very good introduction to superstring theory, well worth the read if you want to think about its possible theological implications more. But again, remember that it's no more than speculation. Claims about the extra dimensions possibly explaining where Jesus went when he died and such are no more than science fiction (or science fantasy ) at this time.

ObiKenobi

As do many theists, thats probably why when confronted with the knowledge that their god is logically impossible they just dismiss it because it contradicts their faith. Cause god forbid () that you should ever question things that you are told to believe with no empirical evidence just blind faith, though it makes you even easier to be brainwashed into believing in the unbelievable. Darn that evil knowledge!

Mentalepsy

Anyone...?

Dean Anderson

Of course, this whole "Hell is seperation from God" doctrine/apologetic goes against what the Bible says anyway...

Psalms 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

...so Yahweh is present in hell...

Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

...and Yahweh's power and influence extends into hell.

Queen of Swords

I wonder what happened to the claim that "God cannot be in the presence of sin".

case

Perhaps god has a special fourth personality, Louie. Louie is allowed to be in the presence of sin, just not the father, son, or holy spirit.

Soul Invictus

Hey, am I on your ignore list or something? I'm still waiting for your response to my questions...