Christian scientists, including but not limited to:
Francis Bacon - Scientific method
Galileo Galilei - Physics, Astronomy
Johann Kepler - Scientific astronomy
Blaise Pascal - projective geometry probability theory ( strongly influencing development of modern economics and social science)
Robert Boyle - Boyle's law
Nicolas Steno - Father of Geology
Athanasius Kircher - Invented the Projector, magnetic clock, megaphone.
(One of the first people to observe microbes through a microscope, he was thus ahead of his time in proposing that the plague was caused by an infectious microorganism and in suggesting effective measures to prevent the spread of the disease.)
By the way, Benjamin Franklin, whom you mention, believed in God as the Creator even on his death bed.
"Christianity has a long history of persecuting scientist, even today they fight stem-cell research."
Check you history a little closer. The Roman Catholic Church was the entity doing the persecution even against Christian scientists like Galileo "in the name of Christianity". Their pursuits in the "in the name of Christianity" were so contradictory to the bible that it led to the “Protestant Reform”, where a group of Christians separated from the Roman Catholic Church because the churches practices were against the fundamental beliefs of Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church “claimed” to be Christian yet did not ACT in keeping with that claim.
I could claim to be a doctor, that doesn’t make me a doctor unless I have the schooling and credentials of a doctor. People have open practices, and treated people. When a person dies in a doctor’s care and a following investigation reveals they are not actually a doctor, just pretending to be a doctor. Considering that person just killed someone and doctors are supposed to heal, I would contend the persons actions proved contradictory to their statement. Does this mean that all doctors are fakes? Of course not! There are still real doctors.
Therefore, if a person or group claims to be Christian, yet their actions are contradictory to Christianity, are they really Christians? Probably not. Yet that doesn’t mean there are not real Christians.
Stem-cell research:
Christians actually support ‘adult’ stem-cell research. They oppose ‘embryonic’ stem-cell research. Why? Because they believe a fertilized egg is the beginning of human life. Since Christians don’t believe we should be killing innocent life, they oppose ‘embryonic’ stem-cell research because the research kills a fertilized cell (beginning life) in the name of science. Therefore their actions are in keeping with their claim “all human life is sacred”.
It should also be noted that no benefits have come from ‘embryonic’ stem-cell research to date. Bernadine Healy, former director of the National Institutes of Health (USA), pronounced embryonic stem cell research “obsolete” and pointed out its dangers, such as an embryonic stem cell experiment that caused tumors in a patient. Even President Obama has cautioned, “The full promise of [embryonic] stem cell research remains unknown.”
Yet ‘adult’ stem-cells (used for decades now) can be changed into nerve, heart, bone, and many other kinds of human tissue, and possibly used to treat diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and even spinal cord injuries. Recent breakthroughs allow researchers to obtain adult stem cells easily from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, wisdom teeth, and even fat tissue. Also, they can now “induce” adult skin, bone, and sperm cells to become stem cells.
Christian scientists, including but not limited to:
Francis Bacon - Scientific method
Galileo Galilei - Physics, Astronomy
Johann Kepler - Scientific astronomy
Blaise Pascal - projective geometry probability theory ( strongly influencing development of modern economics and social science)
Robert Boyle - Boyle's law
Nicolas Steno - Father of Geology
Athanasius Kircher - Invented the Projector, magnetic clock, megaphone.
(One of the first people to observe microbes through a microscope, he was thus ahead of his time in proposing that the plague was caused by an infectious microorganism and in suggesting effective measures to prevent the spread of the disease.)
By the way, Benjamin Franklin, whom you mention, believed in God as the Creator even on his death bed.
"Christianity has a long history of persecuting scientist, even today they fight stem-cell research."
Check you history a little closer. The Roman Catholic Church was the entity doing the persecution even against Christian scientists like Galileo "in the name of Christianity". Their pursuits in the "in the name of Christianity" were so contradictory to the bible that it led to the “Protestant Reform”, where a group of Christians separated from the Roman Catholic Church because the churches practices were against the fundamental beliefs of Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church “claimed” to be Christian yet did not ACT in keeping with that claim.
I could claim to be a doctor, that doesn’t make me a doctor unless I have the schooling and credentials of a doctor. People have open practices, and treated people. When a person dies in a doctor’s care and a following investigation reveals they are not actually a doctor, just pretending to be a doctor. Considering that person just killed someone and doctors are supposed to heal, I would contend the persons actions proved contradictory to their statement. Does this mean that all doctors are fakes? Of course not! There are still real doctors.
Therefore, if a person or group claims to be Christian, yet their actions are contradictory to Christianity, are they really Christians? Probably not. Yet that doesn’t mean there are not real Christians.
Stem-cell research:
Christians actually support ‘adult’ stem-cell research. They oppose ‘embryonic’ stem-cell research. Why? Because they believe a fertilized egg is the beginning of human life. Since Christians don’t believe we should be killing innocent life, they oppose ‘embryonic’ stem-cell research because the research kills a fertilized cell (beginning life) in the name of science. Therefore their actions are in keeping with their claim “all human life is sacred”.
It should also be noted that no benefits have come from ‘embryonic’ stem-cell research to date. Bernadine Healy, former director of the National Institutes of Health (USA), pronounced embryonic stem cell research “obsolete” and pointed out its dangers, such as an embryonic stem cell experiment that caused tumors in a patient. Even President Obama has cautioned, “The full promise of [embryonic] stem cell research remains unknown.”
Yet ‘adult’ stem-cells (used for decades now) can be changed into nerve, heart, bone, and many other kinds of human tissue, and possibly used to treat diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and even spinal cord injuries. Recent breakthroughs allow researchers to obtain adult stem cells easily from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, wisdom teeth, and even fat tissue. Also, they can now “induce” adult skin, bone, and sperm cells to become stem cells.