Were Adam and Eve meant to pursue science?
Offline I often see debates regarding scientific accuracies of the bible. If someone believes in biblical innerrancy why does science matter? Is a pursuit of science not a distraction from God's purpose?
I believe there is some precedence here with the Amish for example. A sub-sect of Christians who have separated themselves from modern living and chosen a life that does not focus on non-biblical pursuits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish
"There is generally a heavy emphasis on church and family relationships. They typically operate their own one-room schools, and discontinue formal education at grade eight"
Luke 10:38-42
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. - William S. Burroughs
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The Ahmish are perhaps the only religiously oriented group on Earth that I have any respect for at all. For the most part: they keep their mouths shut, they stick to themselves, and they don't preach to the masses or try to dictate government policy. If all people involved in religion were like the Ahmish, I probably wouldn't have much problem with religions.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
"Anabaptist people, such as the Amish, believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordnung
That's why I am asking this question. It seems to me if you are reading the bible literally, should you not be living life as an Amish or along those lines?
Is there a biblical argument or evidence that supports a literal interpretist to puruse goals of modernization?
Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. - William S. Burroughs
I think you've misunderstood what it means to be Amish. They don't necessarily reject modernity. They use some modern technology. Amish people want to live independently and not have their way of life disrupted by technology.
There are twists of time and space, of vision and reality, which only a dreamer can divine
H.P. Lovecraft
School subjects are reading, writing, arithmetic, English, and (in some districts) German. No sciences or music.
Motorized vehicles are not to be owned or driven. The Amish may request a neighbor to drive them, or may hire a driver and rent a car.
The Amish may not travel on an airplane.
Electricity is not allowed in the home. Electrical energy is allowed in community dairy barns, but only generator power (not grid power).
Word processors (powered by generator or DC) are allowed for school and church administrative use. Only non-electric typewriters are used in the home.
This is not simply separation but an active choice to not join the modern world. If I choose not to teach my children science that is not separation but rejection. I do agree they do afford themselves some modern luxuries but they are accepted at arms length.
Arguing the degree of seperation or level of rejection was not the point. Obviously these people see some value in isolating themselves from modern luxuries which they see as distractions from the values the bible desires.
Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. - William S. Burroughs
You're grossly mischaracterizing it. It's not a rejection of the modern world or even technology. In fact they've adopted some modern technology more than we have.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10506342
It's a rejection of American society. They place their families and communities, and the maintenance of their agrarian lifestyle (where a science education is pretty useless anyway) above technological advancement.
There are twists of time and space, of vision and reality, which only a dreamer can divine
H.P. Lovecraft
I often see debates regarding scientific accuracies of the bible. If someone believes in biblical innerrancy why does science matter? Is a pursuit of science not a distraction from God's purpose? - Neptewn
I asked a question and supported it with an example. Here's a quote from a Professor who was born in an Amish family and has written a number of books regarding Amish society.
"The Amish do not want their children exposed to the 'wisdom of the world,' for they are repeatedly taught in their preaching services that 'the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God' (I Cor. 3:19). The 'world' is educated, and to the Amishman, 'worldly education' leads to sinfulness, manipulative powers, and moral corruption. To the Amishman, the grossest distortions of education are perpetuated by the scientists, who have invented the theory of evolution and who have made bombs to destroy the world. Such ends are held to be contradictory to the Bible." - John A. Hostetler
John Andrew Hostetler was born to an Old Order Amish family in the Kishacoquillas Valley.
Dismayed by inaccurate popular essays on the Amish, Hostetler published Amish Life (Herald Press, 1952) and The Amish (Herald Press, 1995), books still in print at his death, whose combined sales approached 850,000 copies at that time. He received his Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University in 1953 for a dissertation entitled The Sociology of Mennonite Evangelism which was subsequently published by Herald Press.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Hostetler
I am having difficulty seeing how I created a gross mischaracterization.
Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. - William S. Burroughs
Okay, well first of all I don't want you to misinterpret what I'm saying. I'm not saying Amish people are progressive or that they're not to some degree luddites. But you're quoting a book written more than half a century ago by an apostate. 60 years ago in any small American community who wanted their children to be subject to outside influences? Practically nobody.
Did you ever meet any Amish people? Did you know that a lot of Amish people are actually encouraged to leave their communities and see what American culture is like so that they can reject it based on their own experience. Go look at an Amish community. The people use solar panels and electric fences and cellphones. It's not that they reject modern society. They reject our culture and they did that before we had most of this technology.
I get the thesis. Amish people are fundamentalists and they reject modernity, so shouldn't other religious people reject modernity. But they don't necessarily reject modernity, it's jut that they want to live their lives working on a farm and going to church. If they adopt a bunch of technology they wont work on a farm because machine labor will replace them. And if they become scientists they wont go to church they'll be in a fucking lab or something. And even if I didn't think it was a misrepresentation of Amish people, not everyone who's religious wants to spend all their time working on a farm and going to church.
There are twists of time and space, of vision and reality, which only a dreamer can divine
H.P. Lovecraft
The Amish use modern dentistry and healthcare, for example.
How many Amish Dentist and Doctors are there? None. That's my point. Studying a pursuit such as Dentistry requires one to be subject to non-biblical pursuits and boarders on materialism, I assume. I can see the biblical support for this line of thinking but is there support for the contrary?
Arguing if they would use a flash light or a phone is not the point. Would they invent it, or pursue inventing it, or even care if it's invented? Is there any biblical precedence for pursuing an education or furthing technology?
Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. - William S. Burroughs