Without Christianity, science would not be possible
A telescope image released by NASA/ESA shows huge waves sculpted in the Red Spider Nebula. Photo EPA/AFP
Christian Life
Often, Christians are accused of rejecting rational and proven science because they believe in God. However, it is Christianity that makes science possible, Cédric Placentino argues.
“We no longer need Christianity, because we have science today!” According to many, science has brought man to an understanding of the world far superior to what religion could offer. Man no longer needs “religious myths” to explain the world. Now, “neutral” science explains the world to him as it really is.
This is a series about the Christian view of today’s world.
As Christians, we have undoubtedly been confronted with such a worldview that sees us as naive and gullible. And often we have been unable to come up with a good response. Even worse, we ourselves might have believed this kind of narrative.
The idea that science can replace Christianity is misguided. Science is not another worldview, but simply a tool for interpreting the world. It is no coincidence that the overwhelming majority of the fathers of modern science were Christians.
The pagans of the ancient world also believed in evolution. However, people like Charles Darwin had found a scientific language to describe such a belief.
The belief that science could replace Christianity was developed in particular in the nineteenth century, when philosophers believed they had found an alternative to the Biblical narrative, namely the theory of evolution. In reality, this was not a new doctrine. The pagans of the ancient world also believed in evolution. However, people like Charles Darwin had found a scientific language to describe such a belief, even though no observation has confirmed the theory. Evolutionism had become the religion that replaced Christianity.
Axioms
Interestingly, without Christianity, science would not be where it is today. It could develop on Christian soil because Christianity offers coherent reasons to justify the five axioms on which science is based. What are these axioms?
- A real world exists;
- This world is rational and ordered;
- Man possesses reason that can be applied to the world around him. Therefore, he can interpret it correctly;
- Every event (or effect) has a cause (the law of cause and effect);
- The same cause produces the same effect under the same conditions (the law of uniformity).
Evolutionism
Can the theory of evolution justify these axioms? Evolution is the idea that the world has evolved from a primitive, formless state through unknown forces. If this were true, how could evolution have produced a rational and orderly world? How could it have given humans reason to interpret this world and derive scientific formulas from it? If this world is the product of random evolution, how could it have created laws like those mentioned above? And to top it all off, if evolutionism cannot justify that man has reason to interpret this world, how can it justify the belief that this world is real?
Many atheists are beginning to reject evolution altogether because of these inherent problems.
Evolutionary religion is a disaster for science because it cannot prove the axioms on which it is based. These, therefore, appear to be purely arbitrary.
Many atheists are beginning to reject evolution altogether because of these inherent problems. But they don’t necessarily return to the Biblical narrative. Their atheism pushes them to think that the world itself is god. But such a belief destroys science as much as the old theory of evolution does.
Just see: If the world is god, then the world is one. But if everything is one, we cannot distinguish between different things that exist in the world. As a result, all grounds of intelligibility are lost. There is no way to justify the axioms of science on that ground either.
Neutrality
Christianity, on the other hand, can justify these axioms. The Bible affirms that God created this world and that it is real and orderly. God also gave man the ability to interpret this world.
The myth of neutrality has led man to believe that the religious beliefs of the scientist should not influence his observations.
God is not impersonal. He is triune and, therefore, a God of relationships. As such, He has given meaning to this world that man can get to know. It is possible for mankind to discover the laws governing the relationships that exist in this world, such as the law of cause and effect or the law of uniformity.
The myth of neutrality has led man to believe that the religious beliefs of the scientist should not influence his observations. “The facts speak for themselves”, we are told. However, when a scientist observes a bacterium under his microscope, his conclusions will very much be influenced by whether he believes it is the result of evolution or the creation of God.
The scientific atheist does not lack knowledge about God. Instead, he denies the knowledge of the truth.
The Bible teaches that the ethics of the scientist matter. The fear of the Lord is the beginning (or foundation) of all knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). True science is, therefore, rooted in the fear of God. But the fear of the Lord is also the hatred of evil (Proverbs 8:13) and is intrinsically linked to obeying God’s law (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Therefore, science, the hatred of evil, and obeying God’s law are inseparable.
The scientific atheist does not lack knowledge about God. Instead, he denies the knowledge of the truth (Romans 1:18-32). His problem is not intellectual but ethical.
Atheism destroys science. Only a return to the Word of God will allow science to flourish again.
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