Christian Belief and Modern Science and Philosophy (Part 2)

3. Gnoseology and Christianity

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Story about picture which our senses make in our mind is older then modern science - it's old like first philosophies.

Every woman or man is happy to see forms and shapes, light and colors, things, animals, other people, or stars. Picture that we can see or hear is preoccupation of thinkers for many centuries, and many philosophical battles were necessary main gnoseology (knowledge) issues to be resolved. Main conclusion, made in German Idealistic Philosophy, main conclusion after centuries of thinking, was that there is being-by-itself, so on, picture that we have (being-for-us), is much different from real estate of things, different from possible picture, but not possible for mankind, our brain and senses. Philosophers were divided on question of possibility of real knowledge - can humans get full possible knowledge, or only less or bigger part of ocean of knowledge, is it possible to know everything about philosophical being and all things and beings at all?

Now days, in XXI century, we can make conclusion that their thinking was wrong is some circumstances, that so, we can change meaning of Gnosticism and agnosticism - our senses and our mind have quit right picture of things, beings and being (that conclusion we can make by acknowledging all subtle, all fine details that we can determine, all small differences and huge amount of knowledge that we have), but that picture is always only part of a being, not in essential meaning, but in quantitative meaning, and in a meaning of unknowledgeable so small, the smallest parts of all things and beings, and of being as the major term (that means that we can know everything, but we still don't know, or, structure of being is so complicated and wide and that's why there is possibility that humans will never reach absolutely gnosis).

Christianity does think just like that - Christian Bible says that "all hairs on your head are already counted (by God)" - that means: human knowledge is good and human being can determine what is good or wrong, and humans have a good picture about world, but only God have absolute knowledge about all things, and about philosophical being. Now, with Christianity, we are somewhere on a half way with Gnosticism and agnosticism philosophers, and with agnosticism of Emanuel Cant!

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When we talk about consciousness, we can even say that even simple living forms, simple animals, like ant or bee, like butterfly, have some sort of consciousness, even if they have not developed reason, mind, but only instinct - in wide rang of terms, we can define consciousness like capability of ordering themselves in wide area of natural reality, in nature. But, really consciousness is not represented even from strong developed, powerful human brain - brain represents consciousness, but only with real, gifted by God, with consciousness of human soul. It can be documented and proofed that powerful human brain couldn't ever make culture, history and civilization without power of real consciousness, without help of gift from God for every man - without help of human soul.

We can see every they people's pets, cats, dogs or birds, while that pets look TV program, sit on sofa, or go to bathroom - that, almost cultural characteristics, pets could never have in natural place for their being, in forest, or in country. Efficiency and exertion of human soul in social environment is so strong, that even animals, pets, can be influenced by human reason.

More than that, human consciousness is binary system, like human being is made by two beings, by two worlds. We can say that consciousness is not only binary system of two synchronized minds, but it is a mirror system! Yes, consciousness in soul and consciousness in mind are mirrored in every moment of time, and only that's why we have one excellent, powerful and cohesive, very fine human reason, and reason like one practical, scientific and philosophical entity!

Let we make things clear. Biological brain is full capable, ready and enough intelligent for consciousness minding, but only capable, ready - biological brain couldn't ever develop cultural forms and social being by itself, even if he do that full capable, but only in mirror mind system with human soul.

In Holly Bible, we can find support for this sentence on beginning of Bible - man was unable to create social life, work and communication, until God did "take soul inside man, through his nose". Interesting, isn't it?

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It's important for us to truly understand how much human brain is capable for intellectual operations that soul makes - synapses in human brain can receive a hundred time more information then woman or man accept in one life time - that means, if man could to live seven thousand years, then he could to memorize all events in such life, in new, dedicated space in brain cells, in synapses of human brain. Brain is truly miracle of biological structure of matter, of biological being; huge parts of brain cell are still undiscovered space for science, and we still don't know all functions of human brain. But, we are witnesses of some weaknesses of our own mind - for example, with time and practice brain becomes slow for changes, inert for fast occasions which brakes standing, routine habit. Then we can ask, why human soul, without weaknesses of biological structure of matter like brain, does not order brain to be, for example, faster for changes, or, for other, more specific and important, games of nature of intelligence? Answer is simple: in synchronization of two intelligences whose make human reason and mind, human brain is window to outside for human soul, he reduces power of soul (soul don't think independent, and soul see only what see our senses, and brain), and soul is more synchronized to brain then brain to soul - that means that weaknesses of brain become weaknesses of soul too, during a human's life time. Higher feelings of human are feelings whose depends to soul, and brain through that way can transfer even physical pain which human body feels, to human soul, all the time while she is connected to human, while human (human body) is alive. Soul must during a life of man feel the beat of human heart, you remember what we said earlier in this essay, aren't you?

For our next chapter, I'll admonish you on fact in this article that picture which receives human soul from human brain and sensors of human body is reduced picture, reduced for essential details - soul can't see other souls or spiritual matter while looks through biological structured eyes, through human brain like physical and biological structure. Human soul sees only part of a picture from picture which potentially can see, like entity without body after death of body, in World of Heaven. That fact is important for discussion about transparency, and about transcendence of human knowledge, another important gnoseology question.

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Modern psychology science takes meaning of substance of human minding, different then traditional philosophy does - philosophers mostly think that there is no time, space and proper method for investigating real nature of human subject of observing and thinking, mostly because everybody of us is subject who observes natural and social being, and everybody know about outer world, without need for investigation inner world, comprehensible by nature of thing. Modern psychology observes inner world, world of human mind and feelings.

When we know that, it's not hard to understand important question for traditional philosophy, even for Emanuel Kant: is object of our observing (anything, perhaps natural, astronomical, biological, social or intellectual, or philosophical being, some part of natural being, assemblies of beings, etc.) transcendent, other way, when we observing, could we ever know really truth about "being-by-itself", or just we can see picture in our human subject of observing, picture that just represents our view on being, but not real true about being itself? What Christianity thinks about that problem?

Now days, in XXI century, when we have more apparatus for observing than ever (satellites, computers, electronic microscopes, shuttles, field accelerators, etc.) and more sciences and disciplines in sciences than ever, when we have better understanding of our brain, hear and sight then ever, with same good reason, we can say that philosophers took to far in that problem. Our picture is better then ever, and we can say that there is no any "being-by-itself" - if we want to go so far with such that idea, why we couldn't ask how kind of subject is necessary for eliminating barrier of that like being? No, that question is not necessary at all - if Kant could be alive today, with this science and this sort of scientific progress, he could be glad to say that object of observing is not transcendent.

But, in this essay we defend idea about inner space of human soul in all human beings. That means that not object, but subject of observing (in restriction to human soul) is (still) transcendent for us - not object of our attention, but subject of observing (human spirit). In that aspect, Christianity says that God nature is transcendent (Holly Trinity is transcendent term in Christianity). Well, man is God-like being, and God observes (much stronger and better than humans) like human subject - that's why we can say that, in philosophical aspect, object of observation is not transcendent, but consciousness in higher definition really is.

Object of observing, like nature, space, social world of humans, is not transcendent, but he is so complicated, deep linked in ocean of facts, object in general term is so deeply complicated for our scientific observation, that I ask myself can we ever resolve or scientific and practical issues of world in which we live. I think, we only can achieve answer on question why we exist, what is purpose of our society and other beings, and we will know why when we discover how - but all, all knowledge about everything, all facts of our world, complete understanding? No, I think not.

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Important question in every philosophical discuss that we must mention is question about causality chain in natural and social world, causality chain in all matters, things and beings, and in philosophical being - Christianity and Holly Bible talks about that question, so we go on further on that.

Some philosophers say that causality chain exist in all forms of events with natural and social beings, and they think that causality exist only as absolute causality, causality in absolute form of that term - we must say that causality really exist in many forms, and that is not matter of discuss - philosophers only discuss is it absolute.

Other thinkers say than human being, human subject, has a free will as part of inner being, and that's why causality is not absolute in Cosmos - people do things through their will. Christianity means just like that - Christian Church teach people that they have their free will, opposite to idea of absolute causality.

Those things are simple and complicated at same time. I will try to proof that free will and absolute causality are not exclusive terms in their mutual relationship - I think that free will is not opposite idea to absolute causality in Cosmos, idea that I like to prefer.

Well, then. First, we must to say in which dimension of time lays free will, and in which dimension of time lays causality and causality chain - free will is aspect of future, which appears in present time (free will want to cause some thing or matter, some aspect, in future, but free will makes action, effects in present time). Opposite to that, causality is aspect of past time - when we analyze causes and consequences we are doing that by looking to a past. Free will acts in present time for events in future, and causality chain is time-dependent analyze of doing in past - we can say that free will makes causality chain.

Even if causality chain is not absolute, when we look events, time of events and consequence of events in past, when we hypothetically allow that some things are causal and some not, we can't claim that there is strictly order in past - event and time of event have just one precise place in past, and all events and times of events are strictly ordered, no matter does we think are they causal or not. That means, absolute causality as matter of time in past time dimension is not impossible, even when we surely now that free will of man exist, but only in present and future time dimension.

So, we can say that our philosophy is not opposite to Christian belief when talks about absolute causality, and we can conciliate with Christianity about existence of man free will, with root deep in matter of human soul.

4. Christianity and Ethics

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Christian ethics is in bases very simple - love other people in community as you respect yourself, and do not do anything that is not good others to do to you. That is general principle, and in old times of Bible Christian community, that principle was not only matter of Christian religion, but matter of Christian community theoretical and practical low. During the time, Middle Age lows forgotten that basic Christian true, and low became everything but not rightful like in early Christianity - equality of people became only principle in religion matters and thinking. That situation lasted for centuries, for long time just near to beginning of French revolution - well known French philosophers, people from philosopher circle known as Encyclopedists, like Voltaire or Russo, proclaimed sentence about "Equality, Brotherhood and Freedom", or, well known principle today, principle which represents foundation of modern low and justice: "All people are equal in front of the law and justice".

Let me take just now. I'm not saying that early Christians knew as much about law like Encyclopedists, or modern law experts - I'm only saying that basic Christian ethics is not explicit, but implicit contained in French revolution theory elements, and in elements in modern civil right and low, in modern civil society. If you do not want to do anything to other people what hurts you, that is very (implicit) similar to equality of people in front of the low. New result of French philosophers is that they principle of equality put in middle of term, theory and practice of state, society, justice, law and international low, not only, like Christians, in religion community relations. And of course, they were surely more explicit.

Equality do not means that every man has same quantity of money or fortune; that is not being of equality - that's why, we can't claim civil society for social inequality like for rightful matter of being of equality - civil society can be surely claimed for other things, and disparity is only appearance of other problems with disparity like final form deep in nature of society. That means, if you are a poor man, you're still rightful equal in front of the law, but, equality has other problems, not like that only fortune of other people.

Ideal situation is only ideal, and law is not always truly guarantied low like in Constitution and other civil law acts - that is not matter of this chapter of this article, but it is matter of this essay in general - equation is simple, and I'll try to explain.

Law definitions in acts, laws and law practice is so complicated, and even Constitution is so complicated, because occasions in human society are complicated, so complicated, that low must be huge, mostly hard understandable to laics, and sometimes unrightfully bad. Human society is a "sui generis" substance in Universe, and scientific and philosophical being of human society is new event, new quality in relation to natural, or living, biological being, even being of assemblies of organisms, even humans. Law is complicated, huge and hard for rightful appliance because human society is huge assembly of terms, links and relations, social roles, and events. And why that? Because, as I'm saying in this article, just only one human being is, as element of human society, like being defined as binary (human body and brain, and transcendent human soul as second being in binary connection), is deep structured, complex and still deep undiscovered - when we brake through in investigations for matters which discuss and argue this essay, when philosophy and science find what is so complex and difficult for understanding inside our human being world, then we will resolve: human being structure as binary structure of two worlds; society like being "sui generis"; finally, question about social world like world of equality and freedom, like place in which meaning of law becomes a complete and fully practice of law!

Question about philosophical being that we discuss here (with fully understanding of philosophical and scientific aspect of Christianity) can to result not only with answers about humans, our inner world, about society, or practical equality of people in front of the law - answers on that important question can stop many wars and crisis, many confrontations and other problems in international relationships. Enough good answer on these questions can resolve term and nature of human being and society, and that's why can resolve many wars too!

For low just as low, for theoretical and practical aspect of justice, my personal opinion is that now is right time for, in generally, different approach to matter: rights are not depending to classes, nations, sexes, citizens or estates - right is singular right which depends to singularity of each person singularly, and that means, that right and justice are not matter of genus, but matter of singularity of every human being. It's hard to explain what that deeply means, and I'll try to do that some other time.

Church and state are separated in modern world, but we still can't claim scientists, philosophers, politicians and other people in publicity whose believes in Christianity, when they say that Christianity principles are basic principles even for modern democracies, in implicit meaning, of course. Really, before two thousand years, new faith offered to us more than new religion principles - Christianity gains principles for many modern features of low and democracy, and we must to resolve only things which Christianity advocacies for centuries - existence of God nature, human soul, Heaven… When we resolve question about being from that aspect, we will stop the wars and crisis…

5. Aesthetics

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Aesthetics is next philosophical science, and we first must say that Christianity has not developed aesthetics criteria almost at all - we must know that Christianity is in first place religion, not philosophy. Christianity on some way talks only about aesthetics of human person, while telling that human is made "like picture of God's countenance". Let we think about it.

Bodies, beings and things in Universe are aesthetics not only by human criteria about single aloof characteristics which different artists and philosophers interpret differently - aesthetic features of things are not matter of parts of things and being or beings and bodies as discrete, specific part of philosophical being - aesthetics features are immanent feature of philosophical being, directly linked to matters of ontology.

Things in Universe, things and beings in planet Earth nature, or even bodies which man created, like cities, houses, bridges, cars, etc., are nice by aesthetics criteria that we can accept after huge, complex observation of huge numbers and sorts of beings. We can simply say that when we find prettiness and beauty, than we think that we loose beauty, and we don't see that prettiness any more; disappointed man in same second see beauty and prettiness again, and metaphysically, we can say, with deep root in matter of philosophical being and ontological structure, that prettiness and bad-looking feeling in our sight in same time, like on spring balance with same ballast of good and in same time bad looking, makes our aesthetics picture.

Energy effect. While time is going on, natural things and things in Universe are getting old on natural way, with other aesthetics with other singular criteria in every moment of time, but with the same main principle about good and bad looking in same time - aesthetics criteria is always present, in every phase, and philosophical being of matter and substance of this world keep worry to make always things to be aesthetics, while that things exist, no matter how that stuff is really old. Aesthetics criteria are matter of being, and this world is aesthetics world.

What about unnatural, about by social effects made things and beings, things that man created? From beginning of our civilization, human beings respect ancestral aesthetics being on many forms, ideas, concepts and solutions, but man's work is always aesthetics - that feature is ancestral by aesthetics features of natural world and being, but structures are absolutely new, with new qualities. Main principle of spring balance of good and bad looking which makes psychological meaning and feeling of beauty is still void. What else is void? Actually, time and energy effects - man's made thing in flow of time became different, but still always aesthetics, like natural being - that is feature of philosophical being of our Universe and world.

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When we discuss about aesthetics of human face, situation is no so simple, like for natural and social world beings, but, main principle like aesthetics as spring-balance of in same time good and bad looking, with our reaction with different opinion in one moment time to another - that is aesthetics of our permanent misunderstanding are things and beings pretty or not - when we think that someone is bad looking person, in next moment we clearly see some beauty on face of that person; so do, when someone is a good looking, in next moment we clearly see some bad looking characteristics on his face. Aesthetics of our world is aesthetics of dilemma in every next second is it something pretty or not, for every possible being, and human face too.

What is specific? Aesthetics of human face is not only aesthetics of characteristic of face, but it is aesthetics of fusion of muscles and shapes of face, with human inner psychology, smiles, feelings, crying, smiling, and all of other psychological features. That mean: inner world in human person makes full complex with physical and biological shapes on human face, through nerve system of brain and nerves under muscles of face. Psychological ascendancy on human face is in real fusion, in compact complex with biological and physical characteristics of face - all of that gives special features to aesthetics of humans, but main aesthetical principle about beautiful and unbeautiful impress almost in same period, moment of time, stays.

There is one more specific feature of human face. I call that feature "impress", or "print" - that is a hard visible feature, visible sometimes on sunny day in summer, or in spring. We can sometimes to see impress on human face when we look good, with Sun in our eyes, while face of a person that we look stays opposite to Sun - it is good if that person is smiling, with a little bit of melancholy.

Impress is aesthetics, but not only aesthetics feature that God gives to face of every human being, hard and only sometimes visible, but really existing. If you can see impress on gold or silver jewelry, on your expensive watch, than you can understand why God puts impress on his highly valuable human persons, by nature of their human being.

When we take all that facts, we can say that human persons are pretty, human face is aesthetics part of human being, but beauty is not main reason for human existence, and not main reason for existing of our civilization. God could make humans prettier, but humans are enough pretty just now, like world in which they live (in meaning of philosophical being, described in this essay) - aesthetics is not the most important philosophical science.

Now we can say, in some accord with Christianity, that God make man "like picture of God's good will about man and his appearance", but not like (certainly absolute perfect) "God's appearance" - we can accept that somehow old Christians had right aesthetical metaphor!

6. Conclusion

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Christianity is powerful religion more than two thousand years, with strong influence in social and political issues through all that time. But, near by religion, social, political and other meanings of Christianity is philosophical and scientific, strong philosophical and scientific meaning. More then in important Christian issue about sin of mankind, more then in all religion issues about world of sin and suffer, about religion true and law about human sins, we find importance in Christian picture about immortal human soul in every human body, in picture of one living God, resident in World of Heaven, with power to create world and Universe, and to make good things in that world - it's important true for every woman or man to know that after death of physical body, human soul with complete consciousness of that person goes to live in eternal World of Heaven, near one living God, creator of Universe.

In second chapter, we discussed about implicit ontology of Christianity, which we make in this essay completely explicit - that is not just simple fusion of sciences from philosophers-spiritualist, and from philosophers-materialist. Binary system of two philosophical beings - one perishable and mortal, and one perfect and eternal - is not simple science of dualists, or spiritualists or materialists. In interpretation in this article, new point of view talks about ontological question, based on Christian religion belief.

In third chapter, we discussed about knowledge of humans, about gnoseology issue. Main theses about possibility of knowledge tells us that we can know things about us world in principle without theoretical borders, but knowledge is even then to huge, to big that we can't reach absolute knowledge maybe ever. Transcendent is subject of knowledge in process of observation, not object - that means: we know about things just on right way, but we still don't know how we really know!

In field of ethics issues, we do not say only that Christian science is in order (on implicit way) with modern principles of democracy, low and freedom - more than that, with foundation of that these in ontology, we can say: postulate (proposition) of thesis about equality and freedom, as well as Christian thesis about love and order between people, lies in nature of dual nature human being, lies particularly in nature of human spirit - even the best low can be useful without human being created by God with deep nature of right and order. All of that represents link from ethics to ontology, to metaphysics of Christianity.

We discussed in fifth chapter about aesthetics. I tried to proof a connection of aesthetical model "spring-balance" with definition of visible part of two-nature philosophical being - connection between aesthetics and ontology lies in nature and ontological definition of visible being. We sad that things and beings, people and animals, are pretty with conclusion of aesthetics of "spin-balance", and, more then that, we can say now that art is possible and nice, because visible being is pretty and nice by definition - more than that, means: every art has foundations in ontology (metaphysics). We can discuss more about that some other time.