Durham, England
http://satireandtheology.blogspot.com/2008/08/annihilation.html
This short posting will present another example of how similar words are used differently in my related PhD/MPhil theses fields, of philosophy of religion, and empirical theology and social research methods/statistics. As usual with my blog postings I am mixing it up between the various academic disciplines I am studying. My last post dealt more with Biblical studies with some philosophical theology.
Blackburn explains that in philosophy, causation is the relation between two events. It holds that when one event will determine and necessitate the second event, it is causation. When the first event occurs, the second must occur by necessity. Blackburn (1996: 59). Jaegwon Kim writes that causation is the relation between cause and effect, which can be an event, or state of an object. Kim (1996: 110).
In Reformed theology as God is infinite, omnipotent, and omniscient, he is reasoned to be the cause of all things. Philosopher Louis P. Pojman explains that within determinism or hard determinism, an outside force causes an act and no created being is responsible for his or her moral actions, while for compatibilism or soft determinism, although an outside force causes actions, created beings are responsible where they act voluntarily. Within hard determinism an outside force would be the only cause of human actions, while with soft determinism an outside force would be the primary cause of human actions and persons the secondary cause. Pojman (1996: 596). I hold to soft determinism and therefore:
God causes all things, including human actions.
Human beings cause human actions.
Human actions are not forced or coerced by an outside force.
Theological concepts of predestination found in Ephesians 1 and Romans 8 work well with the philosophical concept of cause. God causes the elect to follow Christ, and by moulding their hearts in regeneration through the Holy Spirit, simultaneously has elected persons to freely choose God. Therefore persons although predestined, are not coerced or forced to believe.
With the unregenerate, God wills everlasting punishment by not electing persons, and the unregenerate freely choose to sin with a corrupted human nature, and therefore although caused and determined to reject God, persons are not forced or coerced by God to sin and reject God. The unregenerate are simply allowed to exist with a corrupted nature and choices and are judged and punished accordingly.
Within social research methods and statistics, causality is the concern with making causal connections between variables (the attribute in terms where cases differ), rather than the mere relationships between them. Bryman (2004: 537, 545). A relationship between variables would examine the association between two variables, where the variation in one variable coincides with the variation in another. Causality would be looking for what causes the connections between the variables. Bryman (2004: 537, 543). In a questionnaire/survey a variable could be age and another variable could be income. The connections between the statistical findings from the variables would be examined to see what has caused the similar results with the two variables.
BLACKBURN, SIMON (1996) Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy Oxford, Oxford University Press.
BRYMAN, ALAN (2004) Social Research Methods, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
POJMAN, LOUIS P. (1996) Philosophy: The Quest for Truth, New York, Wadsworth Publishing Company.
KIM, JAEGWON (1996) ‘Causation’, in Robert Audi (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
End
Thanks to Odd Facts in my satire and theology links for the following:
Black and white twin sisters
If a woman is of mixed race, her eggs will usually contain a mixture of genes coding for both black and white skin.
Similarly, a man of mixed race will have a variety of different genes in his sperm. When these eggs and sperm come together, they will create a baby of mixed race. But, very occasionally, the egg or sperm might contain genes coding for one skin colour. If both the egg and sperm contain all white genes, the baby will be white. And if both contain just the versions necessary for black skin, the baby will be black.
For a mixed-race couple, the odds of either of these scenarios is around 100 to one. But both scenarios can occur at the same time if the woman conceives non-identical twins, another 100 to one chance.
This involves two eggs being fertilised by two sperm at the same time, which also has odds of around 100 to one.
If a sperm containing all-white genes fuses with a similar egg and a sperm coding for purely black skin fuses with a similar egg, two babies of dramatically different colours will be born.
The odds of this happening are 100 x 100 x 100 - a million to one.
Black and white twins: Daily Mail
Black and white ravens (Thanks, Mom)
Please have a look at my previous article. I spent much time on it.
