I think I should be more precise. I don't think scientists are combing the
Talmud looking for statements that appear to be scientific fact and trying
to scientifically disprove those statements. However, I do feel that the
scientists are looking for a model of the universe that is totally
contradictory to basic Torah _hashkafa_. That the universe doesn't require
a creator, that life is a result of chance and that there is no soul.
I guess most scientists would disagree with you in regard to Darwin.
Stephen Gould clearly said that evolution is a _fact_ as well as a theory.
My main point is that it's the attitude of these scientists that lead
people to search for 'scientific' explanations of the torah that are
neither science nor Torah. They are threatened by the scientists who claim
that there is no room for the spiritual in the universe. This has nothing
to do with observations.
As for why rabbis don't seem to consider medical theories, perhaps because
the scientific method, with all its rigor and predictions, was never part
of the traditional method of deriving Halachic conclusions. This doesn't
deny the success of modern science, rather it means that it doesn't come
before Torah. For example, we don't go to forums such as Bible Review
(which claims to offer a 'scientific' approach to learning Torah) in order
to resolve Halachic disputes. Rather, we learn under rabbis who are part of
an unbroken chain that goes back to the time Moshe Rabbenu received the
Torah at Mount Sinai.
Also read what the Ramchal wrote about this. See the Appendix of Rabbi
Aharon Feldman's The Juggler and the King for an explanation of why there
are 'science facts' in Torah literature.
Ari Haviv
haviv@worldnet.att.net