03 towards a new apologetic kogarah oct 2014

8/10/2019 03 Towards a New Apologetic Kogarah Oct 2014

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Towards a New

ApologeticThree lectures by Protopresbyter Dr Doru Costache on the AnthropicCosmological Principle and its usefulness for a contemporary

Christian apologetic

Greek Orthodox Youth Fellowship of Kogarah13, 20 & 27 October 2014


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Thinking

AnthropicallyRecapitulating my description: The anthropiccosmological principle is a complex

philosophical and scientific narrative, whichproposes the integration of all aspects ofreality - as perceived by modern culture -namely, human, biological and cosmic. And

because human conscience can no longer beignored as significant in the making ofreality, meaning and purposefulness can nolonger be ignored.


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Back to the Final

Anthropic PrincipleDefinition: Intelligent information-processingmust come into existence in the Universe, and,

once it comes into existence, it will never die out.Observation A speculative principle, based onthe properties of the universe, being endowedwith moral values and implying the existence of

a melioristic universe.Barrow and Tipler, The Anthropic CosmologicalPrinciple 23.


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What does FAP

Entail?What is a melioristic universe? Two answers:A space where the human existence and progress

are possible, and which ensures the permanenceof the human phenomenon

A space that is transformed by the ethicalvalues and technological progress of

humankind

Barrow and Tipler, The Anthropic CosmologicalPrinciple 23.


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Glossing around

FAPTo say that intelligent life has someglobal cosmological significance is to

say that intelligent life will some daybegin to transform and continue totransform the Universe on acosmological scale.

Barrow and Tipler, The AnthropicCosmological Principle 615.


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Glossing around

FAPA summary: Currently there are no signs of the intelligentlifes impact upon the universe. Nevertheless, it is very likely

that in the distant future human beings (or theirdescendants) will be able to fully master and reshape theuniverse. Either the human beings or their descendants willleave the mark of their values upon the universe by way oftechnology, possibly in the form of information technology

in a universe which will survive as information and energy.

Barrow and Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle613-14, 658-77.


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Traditional Orthodox

PerspectivesThe universe is made for humankind (St Gregory ofNyssa, On the Structure of Humankind 2)

God makes and remakes the universe in relation tohumankind (St Maximus the Confessor, The Mystagogy 7; StSymeon the New Theologian, The First Ethical Discourse 2)

The universe takes the form of our inner state (St Symeonthe New Theologian, The First Ethical Discourse 2; JohnMoschos, The Spiritual Orchard 18; apolytikia for hermits)


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God Makes/Remakes the Universein Relation to Humankind

There is a perfect correspondence between the house andits inhabitants

St Maximus the Confessor (seventh century), The Mystagogy

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God Makes and Remakesthe Universe in Relation to

HumankindThere is a perfect correspondence between the house and itsinhabitants

God [] wills that creation serve man for whom it was made,and like him become corruptible, so that when again man isrenewed and becomes spiritual, incorruptible and immortal,then creation, too, [] will be freed from its slavery and,together with man, be made new, and become incorruptible and

wholly spiritual.St Symeon the New Theologian (tenth/eleventh century), TheFirst Ethical Discourse 2.


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The Universe Takes the

Form of Our Inner StateThe house collapses because of the dwellerswhen it saw him leave Paradise, all of the created world which Godhad brought out of non-being into existence no longer wished to be

subject to the transgressor. The sun did not want to shine by day, northe moon by night, nor the stars to be seen by him. The springs of waterdid not want to well up for him, nor the rivers to flow. The very airitself thought about contracting itself and not providing breath for therebel. The wild beasts and all the animals of the earth saw him

stripped of his former glory and, despising him, immediately turnedsavagely against him. The sky was moving as if to fall justly down onhim, and the very earth would not endure bearing him upon its back.

St Symeon the New Theologian, The First Ethical Discourse 2.


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Form of Our Inner StateThe house is remade together with the inhabitantsAbba Polychronius the presbyter told us about another old man in theLaura of abba Peter who quite often went off and wandered about onthe banks of the Jordan, and if he came across a lions den he wouldsleep there. One day he picked up two lion cubs in his cloak andbrought them into the church. If we were keeping the commandmentsof our Lord Jesus Christ, he said to the brothers, these animalsshould really be frightened of us. But because of the sin which affectsus all we seem bound to be frightened of them. The brothers wentback to their cells greatly impressed by this magnificent deed.

John Moschos, The Spiritual Orchard 18.


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Form of Our Inner StateThe house is remade together with the inhabitants

With the rivers of your tears, you have made the barren desert

fertile. Through sighs of sorrow from deep within you, yourlabours have borne fruit a hundred-fold. By your miracles youhave become a light, shining upon the world. O Paul, our HolyFather, pray to Christ our God, to save our souls. (15 January)

O Father Anthony, you imitated the zealous Elijah. You followedthe straight paths of the Baptist and became a desert dweller. Byprayer you made the universe firm. Wherefore, intercede withChrist our God to save our souls. (17 January)


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Drawing WisdomA traditional Orthodox perception of reality presupposesboth the anthropic thinking in general and the FAP in

particularContrary to the current anthropic thinking, Orthodoxyteaches that we already leave marks upon the structure ofthe universe, both as sinners and as saints a situation

which can be described by the global causality of quantumphysics and David Bohms concept of sub-totality (cf. hisWholeness and the Implicate Order, Routledge, 1980)


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A New AllianceRestating my original proposition: Insofaras it discloses the meaningfulness of a

universe conditioned by/toward ourexistence, with or without it beingendowed with theological connotations the

anthropic cosmological principle opens upnew avenues for the dissemination of theChristian worldview and values today.

03 towards a new apologetic kogarah oct 2014

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