Jd wrote:
>
> What I can't accept is the notion that men just began wondering about
> the origins and development of life here on the planet, in the last
> couple of hundred years. This seems to be the postion of a few folks
> here, and they probably would still be believing Al invented the
> internet if it weren't for all those conservatives out there who knew
> the history of the whole thing.
>
> That which cannot be proven is a matter of faith. By biblical
> definition, faith is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
> of things not seen". We Christians know God created everything and
> therefore, do not have to wait for biochemists to invent another
> theory.
>
May I hazard the wild speculation that *one* of the reasons for the
relative lack of public speculation about the development of life
centuries ago in European countries was that 'God did it' was a
sufficient damper on the curiosity of many people, and that organised
religion wasn't terribly keen on people offering alternative explanations.
Fairly obviously, in a situation where the bulk of the population were
told what to think, thinkers may be cautious about publicising their
ideas to a wider audience.
Dave W.