Re: Carbon 14 Dating Post Mistake

Craig A. Feinstein wrote:

Copernicus said the sun is the center. There were Jewish rabbis who
condemned his theory as heretical as well as Christians. And their
arguments against this were all theological, not scientific, i.e., they
brought down verses from Scripture to prove their points. Of course,
now all of the religions have dealt with this, but at the time,
Copernicus' theory really stirred things up. I suspect that the debate
was about more than just physics, but about how G-d created the
universe. The Torah/Bible perspective is that G-d created it for man's
sake and therefore, it is only natural that the earth should be in the
center of the universe. From the scientific perspective at that time,
the sun was the center of the universe, implying that man is not really
so important to G-d, which would have theological implications.

It is NOT natural for the Sun to be where it is not. The cosmos is what
it is, whether or not we wish to be simple minded about it. It is up to
us to use our wits and to do the work to determine the nature of the
world as it can be understood in the context of our capabilities. The
world does not owe us an explanation. We have to go out and get it.


Believe it or not, there are some rabbis who spend their time pondering
such questions. I don't know the answer, but I know that because the
Torah did not directly address these issues when it was given, there is
probably not a straightforward and unanimous answer.

As long as Rabbis consume their energy in pondering such questions they
are less likely to bugger young men or boys. Catholic priests have too
much time on their hands and they do things like that. What is the
virtue to paskan a shaylah (work an an answer to a halachic question)?
It is like chicken soup. It wouldn't hurt.

I do not consider the time I spent sweating blood over Musechta Babah
M'tziah subtracted from my life.

Bob Kolker

.

Relevant Pages

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