From: Ellen K. 

I gotta send that to my friend the math genius.   Thanks.   :)

On Sun, 6 Nov 2005 14:25:07 -0500, "Rich Gauszka"
 wrote in message :

>"There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."  
>
>Of course there is the book claiming that a math equation can prove God
>exists
>
>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0761526846/102-5836298-1631369?v
=glance
>
>The Probability of God : A Simple Calculation That Proves the Ultimate Truth
>
>At its core, this groundbreaking book reveals how a math equation developed
>more than 200 years ago by noted European philosopher Thomas Bayes can be
>used to calculate the probability that God exists. The equation itself is
>much more complicated than a simple coin toss (heads, He's up there running
>the show; tails, He's not). Yet Dr. Unwin writes with a clarity that makes
>his mathematical proof easy for even the nonmathematician to understand and
>a verve that makes his book a delight to read. Leading you carefully through
>each step in his argument, he demonstrates in the end that God does indeed
>exist.
>
>
>
>
>"Ellen K."  wrote in message
>news:u1lsm11pa0jstsc6rrd1s62c5istgucqu7{at}4ax.com...
>> Re intelligent design, I saw the following quote from George Gallup
>> recently:
>>
>> "I could prove G-d statistically.  Take the human body alone -- the
>> chances that all the functions of an individual would just happen is a
>> statistical monstrosity."
>>
>> On Sat, 5 Nov 2005 08:49:57 -0500, "Rich Gauszka"

>> wrote in message :
>>
>>>Uh Oh.  Some in the religious right might not like this
>>>
>>>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051104/ap_on_sc/vatican_science
>>>
>>>
>>> VATICAN CITY - A     Vatican cardinal said Thursday the faithful should
>>>listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion
>>>risks turning into "fundamentalism" if it ignores
scientific reason.
>>>
>>>Cardinal Paul Poupard, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture, made
>>>the comments at a news conference on a Vatican project to help end the
>>>"mutual prejudice" between religion and science that
has long bedeviled
>>>the
>>>Roman Catholic Church and is part of the evolution debate in the United
>>>States.
>>>
>>>The Vatican project was inspired by     Pope John Paul II's 1992
>>>declaration
>>>that the church's 17th-century denunciation of Galileo was an error
>>>resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."
Galileo was condemned for
>>>supporting Nicolaus Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around
>>>the
>>>sun; church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the
>>>universe.
>>>
>>>"The permanent lesson that the Galileo case represents
pushes us to keep
>>>alive the dialogue between the various disciplines, and in particular
>>>between theology and the natural sciences, if we want to prevent similar
>>>episodes from repeating themselves in the future," Poupard said.
>>>
>>>But he said science, too, should listen to religion.
>>>
>>>"We know where scientific reason can end up by itself: the
atomic bomb and
>>>the possibility of cloning human beings are fruit of a reason that wants
>>>to
>>>free itself from every ethical or religious link," he said.
>>>
>>>"But we also know the dangers of a religion that severs
its links with
>>>reason and becomes prey to fundamentalism," he said.
>>>
>>>"The faithful have the obligation to listen to that which
secular modern
>>>science has to offer, just as we ask that knowledge of the faith be taken
>>>in
>>>consideration as an expert voice in humanity."
>>>
>>>Poupard and others at the news conference were asked about the
>>>religion-science debate raging in the United States over evolution and
>>>"intelligent design."
>>>
>>>Intelligent design's supporters argue that natural selection, an element
>>>of
>>>evolutionary theory, cannot fully explain the origin of life or the
>>>emergence of highly complex life forms.
>>>
>>>Monsignor Gianfranco Basti, director of the Vatican project STOQ, or
>>>Science, Theology and Ontological Quest, reaffirmed John Paul's 1996
>>>statement that evolution was "more than just a hypothesis."
>>>
>>>"A hypothesis asks whether something is true or
false," he said.
>>>"(Evolution) is more than a hypothesis because there is proof."
>>>
>>>He was asked about comments made in July by Austrian Cardinal Christoph
>>>Schoenborn, who dismissed in a New York Times article the 1996 statement
>>>by
>>>John Paul as "rather vague and unimportant" and
seemed to back intelligent
>>>design.
>>>
>>>Basti concurred that John Paul's 1996 letter "is not a very clear
>>>expression
>>>from a definition point of view," but he said evolution
was assuming ever
>>>more authority as scientific proof develops.
>>>
>>>Poupard, for his part, stressed that what was important was
that "the
>>>universe wasn't made by itself, but has a creator." But he
added, "It's
>>>important for the faithful to know how science views things to understand
>>>better."
>>>
>>>The Vatican project STOQ has organized academic courses and
conferences on
>>>the relationship between science and religion and is hosting its first
>>>international conference on "the infinity in science, philosophy and
>>>theology," next week.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

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