About Me

My photo
I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Is Science Compatible with Faith?

Science was made possible by the discovery of a rational universe, perceived by a rational mind, using rational modus operandi. Induction, deduction, experimentation, measurement, repeatability, theory, and hypothesis make science possible. The Eastern religions don't believe in a rational universe, but in Maya or that the universe is a figment of our imagination or that it isn't really real. It was the Christian worldview of fifteenth-century Europe that really got the scientific method off to its debut. Sir Francis Bacon is considered the father of the scientific method.

All of the early great scientists (Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus, Newton, Pascal, Bacon, Maxwell, et al., were all Christians). In fact, science owes its existence to Christianity. But the ironic thing is that now science seems to be thinking that religion, in general, is the "enemy" and incompatible with the scientific method.  Every system of thought begins with some presupposition that cannot be proved.

All worldviews require presuppositions and so-called "natural science," as opposed to the supernatural, does too. In fact, it takes more faith to believe a naturalistic universe without any intentional design than it does to simply believe in a supreme being. The evidence is in favor of a deity but people are not willing to take the leap of faith in the direction of the faith because of moral issues, not intellectual problems. They don't believe because they don't want to believe, not because they can't. "Even though he performed many miracles there, they would [not could] not believe in him" (John 12:37, NIV).

Be sure to note that he who believes science conflicts with the Bible understands neither. Einstein said, "Religion without science is blind; science without religion is lame."

NB:  SCIENTISTS WHO BELIEVE THAT SCIENCE IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRUTH OR KNOWLEDGE DON'T REALIZE THAT THERE ARE DOMAINS OUTSIDE THE PROVINCE OF SCIENCE SUCH AS ETHICS, HISTORY, AND PHILOSOPHY.  THEY ARE BETTING THE FARM THAT THE ONLY WAY TO TRUTH IS SCIENTIFIC EMPIRICISM:  BOTH POSITIONS REQUIRE FAITH AND ARE BASED ON SOME PRESUPPOSITION THAT CANNOT BE PROVED.   Soli Deo Gloria!

No comments:

Post a Comment