I am puzzled too

Submitted by Chayim Yenkel (Canada), Sep 20, 2006 at 11:24

Two passages confused me but I am, as my name suggests, a simple man and no philosopher, nor do I read German.

...On the one hand it presupposes the mathematical structure of matter, its intrinsic rationality, which makes it possible to understand how matter works and use it efficiently: this basic premise is, so to speak, the Platonic element in the modern understanding of nature. On the other hand, there is nature's capacity to be exploited for our purposes, and here only the possibility of verification or falsification through experimentation can yield ultimate certainty. [my emphases]

The New Testament was written in Greek and bears the imprint of the Greek spirit, which had already come to maturity as the Old Testament developed.

It's strange to talk about the "mathematical structure" of matter as if it were inherent in matter, which he then goes on to say by imbuing matter with an "intrinsic rationality." Isn't it we who bring our scientific means to measure matter? "nature's capacity to be exploited" is also very odd. Nature lacks the will and consciousness to resist whatever use the mind has for it.

Why has the pope so degraded the human reason in relation to dumb matter as to destroy his very best reason and proof of the existence of God, i.e. that the very difference between matter and the reason that understands and exploits it suggests another possible imponderable leap into the light of God.

And was the New Testament really written in Greek? I thought that Luke was written in Greek, Matthew in Hebrew and the rest in Aramaic. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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