Darwin’s big idea Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is that all organisms (living things) develop from characteristics, or traits, that are inherited from their parents. Certain traits have survival advantages. Traits with survival advantages enable an organism to cope better in the environment in which it lives. Darwin’s big idea was that over […]
The Catechism, Homosexuality and Child Sex Abuse
My theory is that it is hardly surprising that Catholic clergy are over represented when it comes to sexual abuse of boys. I suggest formal Catholic teaching on the question of homosexuality provides an inkling of why this might be the case. The Catechism is the official teaching of the Catholic Church. In 1992, Pope John Paul II […]
The ideas of fate, predicting the future and pre-destination
Summary: Hunter gatherers appear not to have been pre-occupied with predicting the future. Ideas about fate and pre-destiny arose more strongly after the advent of farming as pleasing God might be rewarded with better harvests. Examines the idea that fortune telling may have been an earlier method of psychotherapy. Analyses ideas of fate and pre-destiny […]
The Middle Age Philosophers
The main philosophers of the Middle Ages were religious thinkers; St Augustine (354- 430 CE) and Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 CE) for Christianity and Averroes ( 1126-1198 CE) for Islam. Augustine was influenced by the thinking of Plato and the teachings of the Neo-Platonist, Plotinus (204–270 CE). He thought that faith and reason could be reconciled […]
Views on the afterlife- including no sex for Christians in heaven
Summary: Jewish views on the afterlife; Islamic views on heaven; Christian views on heaven and hell; Modern questions about life in heaven; No sex in the Christian heaven; Changes in how a person gets to heaven. The Middle Eastern religions- Judaism, Christianity and Islam all believe in an afterlife in heaven. Jewish views on the afterlife […]