(V):

> I do admit when it comes to physics and the nature of the universe,

We are approaching a level of technology that will make us rethink the origins of life and our relationship to the traditional view of God. There are several research groups who are trying to create an artificial cell. The idea is that if a cell is genetically engineered from the ground up, it could synthesize proteins and chemical substances with medical applications. These research groups are recoding the DNA of those cells and rebuilding the mitochondria, intracellular DNA, etc. It is not a matter of whether they will succeed but rather when. One of these days (probably in the next 10-20 years) we will see the first examples of artificial life. Humanity as the creator of life will make us reexamine how we see God as the only creator of life. This research will pose even greater challenges to traditional religion than things like cloning and stem cells have done. We also have the search for life outside our planet. Scientists have already discovered organic molecules and aminoacids in meteorites. One of these days we will find a bacterion or some primitive unicellular organism. I think religion can cope better with that. God made life outside Earth, why would god limit himself to one planet? We can cope with that, but humanity making artifical life is a different problem entirely. It will be interesting to see how our cultures cope with that.

> But you do have recorded in the Bible something of interest. How did Moses manage to see events that were caused by a volcano before theey arrived? Psychic senses?.. a throw back to animal senses?? God??? A mix?

I think the problem is the same as with most of the Bible. There is no proof of the historical existence of Moses. The historicity of Moses cannot be proved by archaelogical or cross-cultural analysis. The closest I have seen historians come is the excavations of the Hebrew quarters near the delta of the Nile. From what I saw in a documentary, the Hebrew quarters were not very different from the rest of the living accomodations among working-class Egyptians. However, there is no direct link to Moses. His existence (like that of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Saul, David, Solomon, Jesus, etc.) is a matter of faith.

>> "In doing so the complete absorption of stoicism into Christianity took place, and the denial of its Greek and Roman origins plunged western culture into obscurantism"

> Yes, but we have now thanks to the internet and such old fashioned things as libraries...

When people think of the Dark ages they assume that western culture somehow stopped. That is far from the truth. What obscurantism did is throw away aspects of Graeco-Roman culture that were not in line with the Christian dogma of the times. It does not mean that there was no cultural or philosophical development. It just meant a shift in what was acceptable in late Roman culture. Of course, Graeco-Roman philosophy survived in the libraries and translations of the Arabs. Moslems had a very open view in those days, and they preserved many Greek and Roman texts. Wester culture "rediscovered" (or rather reintegrated) that Graeco-Roman culture during the Renaissance. Today of course we have studied, analysed and superseded Graeco-Roman philosophy.