Should EVIDENCE undermine FAITH? [View all]

Does it matter if there are scientific inaccuracies in holy texts? Does it matter if the Prophet Mohammed did not know about genetic mutation or that Jesus did not understand natural selection? In fact one might ask the question, if there is any empirical evidence, of the existence of Jesus, or Moses or the Prophet Mohammed? As archaeological and other evidence emerges from the fragments of the far past, answers are not quite as clear cut as Holy Scriptures would have us believe. Of course, biblical scholars have long known that the scriptures are vastly different from the original offerings, with some texts discarded completely, others mistranslated and many have been edited and revised several times.

Science, as with archaeology, has come along and burnt a huge hole through religious beliefs in how the universe was created, how mankind came into being and how conception occurs. Science offers an uncomfortable truth to some with faith. After all, science tries to impose objectivity onto nature, by looking at the way the universe is and then testing these assumptions to come up with a model as to the nature of reality. This has to be objective, which is of course the big difference between fact based and mythology based belief.

Looking at the holy books of all faiths we see a collection of legends, fables, allegories, parables, and mythology and myth makers. However is this really a problem? Have these narratives not developed out of necessity? Biblical historians would claim that these stories were necessary at the time they developed, became tradition and then were passed down through the generations. An example of this could be the Exodus. There is no archaeological evidence to suggest this was an actual historical event, however it does not make the allegory any less important. After all it tells us the narrative of a people under constant foreign occupation and always being the underdog within the region they inhabit. The story of the Exodus gives this people a reason to believe that despite being the underdog they can be emancipated / rescued from their situation by a liberating God and that they can have their own land. A message and affirmation of self –identity for a repressed community.

People believe in Adam and Eve as fact, however we know that evolution is a scientific fact and not some conspiracy dreamt up by scientists to do the poor religious folks down. People believe in Noah’s Ark as fact, however we know that Noah’s Ark would not be terribly feasible based on the cubits given in the bible. The levels of methane gas produced by the dung of the animals within that confined space would have gassed them all to death! But does that reality matter? Should archaeological based evidence and scientific theory be the measure of truth when it comes to the matter of faith? Is it wrong to impose ascetic perceptions on holy text? After all, does it matter if holy texts are true or untrue? Does it matter if faith is based on fact or mythology? Is it that for faith, belief and fundamental truths within a faith construct, that the metaphor and the allegory develops a shared identify is more important that the fact based evidence offered by science? It seems so for many after all.