{"id":24298,"date":"2014-06-06T09:54:31","date_gmt":"2014-06-06T13:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=24298"},"modified":"2014-06-06T09:54:31","modified_gmt":"2014-06-06T13:54:31","slug":"prometheus-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/06\/prometheus-sin.html","title":{"rendered":"Prometheus’ Sin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

There is a sample chapter<\/a> from P. Z. Myers\u2019 book\u00a0The Happy Atheist<\/a>\"\"<\/em> on the Random House website<\/a>. The chapter\u2019s title is \u201cPrometheus\u2019 Sin,\u201d<\/a> and it opens with these words:<\/p>\n

Why are science and religion in conflict? Because changing ideas and new knowledge are sacrilegious.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"The the dichotomy<\/a> that is Myers\u2019 premise, as it is explored in the chapter, is dubious.<\/p>\n

Martin Luther is allowed to be a spokesperson for religion, supposedly opposed to new ideas and knowledge. But why is Copernicus not also allowed to be a spokesperson for religion? He was every bit as devoutly religious as Luther was.<\/p>\n

Columbus was also devoutly religious, and a pioneering explorer \u2013 and one who held a view of the world that we today can no longer hold<\/a>, and who \u201ccooked the books\u201d on his calculations in order to make the case for his famous expedition.<\/p>\n

Real life, real people, real science, and real religion are messy, with edges that blur and realities that burst the bounds of stereotypes like those held by P. Z. Myers and many other atheists of his sort.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a sample chapter from P. Z. Myers\u2019 book\u00a0The Happy Atheist on the Random House website. The chapter\u2019s title is \u201cPrometheus\u2019 Sin,\u201d and it opens with these words: Why are science and religion in conflict? Because changing ideas and new knowledge are sacrilegious. The the dichotomy that is Myers\u2019 premise, as it is explored […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":24301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,85],"tags":[870,871,2124,2188,4388,7060,8592,10169,10886],"class_list":["post-24298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atheism-religion","category-science","tag-atheism-religion","tag-atheist","tag-conflict","tag-copernicus","tag-happy","tag-martin-luther","tag-p-z-myers","tag-religion","tag-science"],"yoast_head":"\nPrometheus' Sin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There is a sample chapter from P. Z. Myers' book\u00a0The Happy Atheist on the Random House website. 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