The Veritas Forum: The Language of God (Francis Collins)

"The Language of God: Intellectual Reflections of a Christian Geneticist"
February 4, 2008, at The University of California, Berkeley

Presentation by Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project and director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. Dr. Collins presents a case for harmony between faith in science and faith in God. He also shares about his personal intellectual and spiritual journey from agnosticism, to atheism, and to Christianity.

Followed by an interview conducted by Jasper Rine, Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development at UC Berkeley.

Followed by audience Q&A.

Visit http://veritas.org more recordings and information.

• Category

  Education

[Earthweep]

I noticed something rather odd at about 1:06 into the lecture. Collins reads from a blue screen that "God gifted humanity with the knowledge of good and evil..." That may sound right if you haven't read the Bible lately. But Genesis 2:17 says that God told Adam NOT to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, warning that Adam would die in the day he ate of it. Further reading shows that it was the serpent who "gifted" Eve and Adam, by tempting Eve to ignore the warning.

[JoshuaHults]

Furthermore, a being outside of time and space would be a being that does not need a cause, this seems to fit perfectly with my view on who God is. However i think that none of this even matters, i think the important part is to realize we are all sinners and that Jesus died for us, Its a personal experience not a scientific 1 really, although nothing wrong with defending your faith against those who think science has shut the door to supernatural causes.

[Earthweep]

Okay, electricpens, that makes some sense, since God is supposed to be prescient. The Adam and Eve story is definitely very puzzling, and may not mean quite what it says, because in judging strictly by what it says, what the Serpent said was true, and what God said wasn't true. (Adam and Eve didn't die on that day.)

[neosporran]

I wonder if the AV guy got fired.

[Rpagsis1]

I disagree. I share Dr, Collins faith and had great respect for Hitch. The only person that failed Hitch was himself. It is you who is deluded. Absurd fool!

[electricpens]

Good eye Earthweep, but I think his statement only reveals an interpretation of the creation myth that you may not be familiar with. Some Christians believe the eating of the fruit signifies the beginning of desire and the separation of humanity from God’s natural order. That desire is at the root of all that is sinful, and all that is civilized. In this view, God creates the tree and knows the outcome. But needs humanity to turn away from him to attain their fullest measure and to desire him.

[monsieurouxx]

Wow. I come here. I see its deals with good and evil. Thus, I immediately assume we're dealing with morality, and the way our so-called "morality" is in our genetical pool, as a result of millions of years of evolution ("these who slept with their sister didn't have babies", "these who killed their fellow tribesmen didn't survive").

And yet, all the comments are like genuine, 100%, gold-pure bullshit, with such expressions as "Adam didn't eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil". WUT? LOL!

[sojoyful]

Not a question of being good or bad, imo, the point was being in contention with God rather than in acceptance.

[aethelweard12]

To answer the question on your terms, since there are many interpretations, I suppose we must concede that there must have been an understanding of at least a primitive notion of good and evil before the eating of the fruit. Adam and Eve understood that obeying God was good and eating the fruit, or disobedience was bad, so the furthering of that knowledge beyond what was necessary, the desire to be as Gods was what the tree offered. It would be wrong to suggest that they were robots before.

[Earthweep]

I don't know what Bible you are reading, but in my Bible (the RSV) the two trees mentioned first in Genesis 2:9: the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  It's the 2nd of those trees that God warned Adam not to eat in Gen 2:17. The fruit of this tree contained a mind altering drug. We know this because after eating it, Adam and Eve were embarrassed and afraid because of looking at something completely natural, their own bodies.

[george mathai]

What is science Can it create anything on its own. Can it show the colour of smell, voice. Human beings used the gift of God wrongly and they are paying dearly for the violation.

[george mathai]

God gifted human beings with knowledge of good and evil. Human beings paid for the act of Eve and thus death come to human beings. God made a way and those who accept will be rewarded and those who reject wil be sent to hell for ever.