2
points
michelangelodev
Joined 26 karma
- I know you're being facetious, but DNA tests in the Tixtla case said the DNA was too degraded to analyze.
- https://www.saintbeluga.org/
I was a YC founder in 2006 and now work as a data scientist full-time, but on the side I also do Christian apologetics, helping fellow engineers/scientists/mathematicians seek answers to life's deepest questions.
Some cool articles for the HN crowd:
- [published several days ago] Medical miracles in Lourdes, France recognized by the Catholic Church 2018-2025: https://www.saintbeluga.org/our-lady-of-lourdes-immaculate-c...
- My interview of Evan O'Dorney, a three-time Putnam Fellow and two-time IMO gold medalist, who converted to Catholic Christianity: https://www.saintbeluga.org/veritas-part-i-conversion-of-a-p...
- In-depth scientific overview of Eucharistic miracles: https://www.saintbeluga.org/eucharistic-miracles-god-under-t...
- Conversion testimony by Harvard astronomy professor Karin Oberg: https://www.saintbeluga.org/veritas-part-ii-conversions-at-h...
- 4 points
- I'm convinced that Christianity is true, so I don't feel compelled to keep exploring other belief systems. My conviction comes from the intellectual evidence, the witness of other Christians, and the fruits of my own faith life as a Christian. As I mentioned in my previous comment, I believe that ultimately the fruits of a lived faith provides the strongest assurance.
- You're correct that we can't prove the chain of custody for the Eucharistic miracles - this is discussed at the bottom of the article.
In general, there's no airtight "proof" for any miracle, and the best way to determine whether Christianity is true is to live the faith and see what happens. I wrote an article about this:
https://www.saintbeluga.org/the-rosary-the-ultimate-life-hac...
- https://www.saintbeluga.org/
I was a YC founder in 2006 and still do software engineering and data science full-time, but on the side I also do Christian apologetics, helping fellow engineers/scientists/mathematicians seek answers to life's deepest questions.
Some cool articles for the HN crowd:
- My interview of Evan O'Dorney, a three-time Putnam Fellow and two-time IMO gold medalist, who converted to Catholic Christianity: https://www.saintbeluga.org/veritas-part-i-conversion-of-a-p...
- In-depth scientific overview of Eucharistic miracles: https://www.saintbeluga.org/eucharistic-miracles-god-under-t...
- Conversion testimony by the Chief Scientist at NASA JPL: https://www.saintbeluga.org/veritas-part-iii-bellows-of-aqui...
- As a Catholic Christian, I believe that the rays of God's truth shine through all religions to varying degrees, while the Church contains the fullness of the truth.
For example, Jews are the elders of our faith and Christianity is a continuation or fulfillment of Judaism. Jews, Muslims, and Christians all worship the God of Abraham and have some common beliefs.
Our Buddhist brothers and sisters say a lot of good things about detaching ourselves from worldly desires.
But at the end of the day, the Christian faith does proclaim Christ as the one and only Savior, while all other gods are false, and all other religions are inaccurate to various degrees. I do firmly believe this, and I believe that the cumulative evidence points in this direction.
- This article has nothing to do with tech, but I wanted to share this with folks who're seeking answers about life's biggest questions, written from the perspective of a fellow HN nerd.
Some background about me: I majored in CS, did YC many years ago, and currently work as a data scientist at an NYC quant hedge fund. I've been a practicing Catholic for the past 5 years and have worked on this website as a personal side project for the past 2 years.
This article ties together all the other content on the website, and I published it several days ago.
Hope you guys find it useful!
- I have a CS background and work as a data scientist, but my hobby is Christian apologetics:
This is my latest article, just published 2 days ago:
https://www.saintbeluga.org/follow-the-evidence-wherever-it-...
- HN Catholic nerds unite!
I recently published a scientific exposé on Eucharistic Miracles: http://eucharist.info
- Great question. I believe the DNA was too degraded, so no.
- I wrote up a meta-analysis of 5 forensic investigations of Eucharistic miracles, a rare phenomenon that’s been very fascinating to me. The miracles involve consecrated bread turning into human cardiac flesh and/or blood (sounds absolutely insane, I know). They've occurred hundreds of times over the centuries at Catholic parishes around the world, and 5 of them have been finally investigated in the last ~50 years thanks to advances in forensics science and medical tech.
I spent over a year working on this article, doing research and writing on evenings after putting the kids to bed.
Some background:
I participated in one of the earliest YC batches along with another cofounder and since then have held various FAANG and fintech jobs. I’ve been mostly a lurker on HN but have posted occasionally from another account. Starting out as an atheist, I embraced Protestant Christianity and later Catholicism after extensive research into the theology, lives of the canonized saints, and phenomena such as these miracles.
Full disclosure: this article is part of a tiny Catholic apologetics site, and most of you on HN probably don’t share my religious views let alone the conclusions of the article. But regardless of whether you’re a staunch atheist or a devout believer of whatever faith, I think it’s valuable for us on HN to be able to talk freely on the intersection of science & faith, a topic that’s very rarely discussed in tech circles. Many of my friends and family are atheists, so I really treasure this kind of civil open dialogue.
Enjoy and happy reading!
- 4 points
I published the first version of this article in mid-2024, and since then I've significantly expanded it with new content, including:
- materials from recent talks by Harvard astronomy professor Karin Öberg
- findings from archaeology and modern academic biblical scholarship (for the section on the Resurrection)
- an entirely new section on Lourdes
- inline photographs & lab reports on Eucharistic miracles
- links to faith testimonies including my interview with Evan O'Dorney, a 2x IMO gold medalist and 3x Putnam fellow
Regardless of your religious views, I hope you find it interesting. Happy New Year everyone.