Science Fiction or Science Fact : Theism as the Foundation for Modern Science

1. Science Fiction or Science Fact: Theism as the Foundation for Modern Science

2. Science Fiction or Science Fact? • Modern Mythology • What is Theism? • Where Did Science Come From? • Integrating the Truth

3. Modern Mythology

4. Galileo Galilei • Galileo challenged the earth-centered cosmology of the day. • The Church believed Galileo was in error and contradicted the teaching of Scripture. • Galileo was placed under house arrest by the Church.

5. Christopher Columbus • Columbus sought a trade route to the Indies by sailing west rather than by the Cape of Good Hope. • Everyone but the enlightened few believed the world was flat. • The leaders of the Church and intellectuals of the day warned that he would fall off the edge of the world or be destroyed by dragons.

6. Church and Science in Conflict • Science and religion are at odds with each other • When the church got out of the way, this was when science flourished. • Science is rational and naturalistic • Faith is subjective (even irrational) and superstitious. • Is this how it really went?

7. Re-writing History • The conflict thesis is recent in origin • Andrew Dickson White - “A History of the Warfare of Science With Theology in Christendom” (1898) • Most historians of science have repudiated it • The dominant view among historians is the compatibility of science with religion

8. Galileo Myth • Galileo was not battling the Church • Galileo was cantankerous, and a difficult person • Galileo was battling Aristotle (lack of empiricism) • Thomas Aquinas wed Aristotle with theology • Ptolemy’s cosmology was wrong (geocentric) • Rejecting Ptolemy was equivalent to rejecting the Church

9. Aristotlean Science • Define a matter • Consider the difficulties involved by reviewing generally accepted views on the subject and suggestions of earlier writers • Present your own arguments and solutions Note the lack of experiments required in this framework

10. Flat Earth Myth • Only the ignorant since Archimedes believed the Earth was flat. • The popular astronomy text of the day was “Sphere” written by John of Sacrobosco • Columbus had miscalculated the distance to the Orient. • Isaiah 40:22 It is He that sits upon the circle (sphere) of the earth….(written 800 BC)

11. Recovering the Origins of Science • The history of science shows that theism is primarily responsible for the rise of experimental science. • Science is clouded in modern mythology

12. Recovering the Origins of Science • Scientists are reclaiming the theistic history of science • “Science and Christianity: Conflict or Coherence?” - Henry F. Schaefer (2003) • “Modern Physics and Ancient Faith” - Stephen Barr (2003) • “For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Lead to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery” - Rodney Stark (2003)

13. What is Theism?

14. Theism is a Worldview • Everyone has a worldview. • It is the way you look at the world (weltanschauung). • A philosophical framework for filtering and categorizing data and experiences. • Defines the nature of reality according to that person. • First principles.

15. Three Basic Worldviews • Theism • Naturalism • Transcendentalism

16. Theism • There is a God • There is nature • The two are separate and distinct, and both are real

17. Naturalism • There is no God • There is only nature • God is an illusion

18. Transcendentalism • There is only God • There is no nature • Nature is an illusion

19. Grand Metaphysical Stories • Theism • Creation - God made nature out of nothing • Naturalism • Evolution - Nature made itself out of nothing • Transcendentalism • Reincarnation - God made nothing - nature is an illusion - all are part of God

20. Where Did Science Come From?

21. Law of Causality (Cause-Effect) • An effect cannot be quantitatively greater than its cause • An effect cannot be qualitatively superior to its cause 1st ca 1st Cause

22. Cause-Effect Constraints • The first cause of limitless space is infinite • The first cause of endless time is eternal • The first cause of boundless energy is omnipotent • The first cause of infinite complexity is omniscient • The first cause of love is loving • The first cause of life is living • Causality Law’s Conclusion: The First Cause of the Universe must be an infinite, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, personal, volitional, holy, loving, living being

23. What Culture Founded Science? • China? • Chinese intellectuals pursued enlightenment not explanation. • Taoism conceived the universe as chaotic without natural laws. The universe simply is and always was. • No motivation for science • Some technology, but no scientific tradition

24. What Culture Founded Science? • Greece? • Some Greeks were careful observers of nature • Archimedes, Aristotle, Euclid • Greek philosophers, while usually not firm believers in the gods, were influenced by the general Greek worldview • Greek gods could not account for a lawful universe. • The universe is eternal undergoing a repeated cycle of progress and decay

25. What Culture Founded Science? • Inanimate objects transformed into living creatures with aims, emotions, and desires. This squelched the pursuit of physical explanations in favor of mysticism. • Deduction not experiment produced final knowledge • Aristotelian method - induction of principles from phenomenon, then deduction of explanations from principles. • Experiment is superfluous • Some technology, little science

26. What Culture Founded Science? • Islam? • Picked up philosophy where Greeks left off. They expanded on Aristotle rather than innovating. • Muslims assimilated and adapted others’ thought to Islam, but generated little original thinking. • Allah not a lawful creator, but frequently intrudes in the world as he sees fit - determinism • Some technology, little science.

27. What Culture Founded Science? • Western Christian Culture? • Rich institutional, intellectual tradition - universities • Aristotle expanded, questioned, and rejected • Deduction verified by observation • Science is a logical and natural product of Christian doctrine. • Technology and experimental science.

28. What Culture Founded Science? “The rise of science was not an extension of classical learning. It was a natural outgrowth of Christian doctrine: Nature exists because it was created by God. To love and honor God, one must fully appreciate the wonders of his handiwork. Moreover, because God is perfect, his handiwork functions in accord with immutable principles. By the full use of our God-given powers of reason and observation, we ought to be able to discover these principles” (Rodney Stark, For the Glory of God, 2003, p. 157).

29. Summary of Science History • Natural philosophy begun by Greeks - 4th century BC • Aristotle emerges as premier natural philosopher - 3rd century BC • Platonism and atomism are competing natural philosophies - 3rd century BC • Islamic world adopts Aristotle - 9th century AD

30. Summary of Science History • Aristotle widely available to the West - 11th century AD • Universities founded - 13th century AD • Experimental methodology developed at Oxford - 13th century AD • Aristotle repudiated - 17th century AD • Birth of modern science - 17th century AD

31. Scientific Method • Francis Bacon (1620) as a Christian started from the Law of Causality in his common day living experiences to develop the scientific method • First: Make an Observation about a phenomena • Second: Make a guess or working hypothesis regarding the phenomena • Third: experiment to falsify your guess (if falsified, then start over; if not, it becomes a theory) • Fourth: after much more experimentation, the theory becomes a law of nature

32. Scientific Laws • Gravity Coulomb’s Law • Causality Ohm’s Law • Thermodynamics (zeroth, first, second, third) • Motion (first, second, third) • Conservation of Momentum and Angular Momentum • Conservation of Mass Kirchoff’s Law • Boyle’s Law • Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle • Ideal Gas Law • Law of Biogenesis

33. Theism vs Naturalism: Which Aligns Better with the Laws of Nature? Biogenesis • Law of Biogenesis: Life can only come from life in terms of causality • Theism: God created mankind with life • Naturalism: Over long periods of time different animals evolved into greater/larger forms of life but the original life was caused by spontaneous generation

34. Theism vs Naturalism: Which Aligns Better with the Laws of Nature? Thermodynamics • 1st Law of Thermodynamics: energy (matter) cannot be created or destroyed • 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: the amount of available energy is decreasing as things tend to go a disordered state • Theism: God created everything with the greatest amount of potential energy but things are going downhill ever since and accelerated because of the sin of mankind • Naturalism: There are ups and downs in thermodynamics of the earth because of the energy from the sun (earth is an open system)

35. Scientific Pioneers Were Christians From Rodney Stark, sociologist, Baylor University Italic type indicate a ProtestantPersonal Piety • Bayer, Johann (1572-1625) Devout • Borelli, Giovanni (1608-1679) Conventional • Boyle, Robert (1627-1691) Devout • Brahe, Tycho (1546-1601) Conventional • Briggs, Henry (1561-1630) Devout • Cassini, Giovanni (1625-1712) Conventional • Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543) Conventional • Descartes, René (1596-1650) Devout • Fabricus, David (1564-1617) Devout • Fallopius, Gabriel (1523-1562) Devout

36. Scientific Pioneers Were Christians • Fermat, Pierre (1601-1665) Conventional • Flamsteed, John (1646-1719) Devout • Galilei, Galileo (1564-1642) Conventional • Gassendi, Pierre (1592-1655) Devout • Gellibrand, Henry (1597-1663) Devout • Gilbert, William (1540-1603) Conventional • Graaf, Regnier de (1641-1673) Conventional • Grew, Nehemiah (1641-1712) Devout • Grimaldi, Francesco (1618-1663) Devout • Guericke, Otto (1602-1686) Conventional • Halley, Edmund (1656-1742) Skeptic • Harvey, William (1578-1657) Conventional

37. Scientific Pioneers Were Christians • Helmont, Jan Baptista van (1577-1644) Devout • Hevelius, Johannes (1611-1687) Conventional • Hooke, Robert (1635-1703) Devout • Horrocks, Jeremiah (1619-1641) Devout • Huygens, Christiaan (1629-1695) Devout • Kepler, Johannes (1571-1630) Devout • Kircher, Athanasius (1601-1680) Devout • Leeuwenhoek, Anton (1632-1723) Conventional • Leibniz, Gottfried (1646-1716) Devout • Malpighi, Marcello (1628-1694) Conventional • Mariotte, Edme (1620-1684) Devout • Mersenne, Marin (1588-1648) Devout

38. Scientific Pioneers Were Christians • Napier, John (1550-1617) Devout • Newton, Isaac (1642-1727) Devout • Oughtred, William (1575-1660) Devout • Papin, Denis (1647-1712) Devout • Paracelsus (1493-1541) Skeptic • Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662) Devout • Picard, Jean (1620-1682) Devout • Ray, John (1628-1705) Devout • Riccioli, Giovanni (1598-1671) Devout • Roemer, Olaus (1644-1710) Conventional • Scheiner, Christoph (1575-1650) Devout • Snell, Willebrord (1591-1626) Conventional

39. Scientific Pioneers Were Christians • Steno, Nicolaus (1638-1686) Devout • Stevinus, Simon (1548-1620) Conventional • Torricelli, Evangelista (1606-1647) Conventional • Vesalius, Andreas (1514-1564) Devout • Vieta, Franciscus (1540-1603) Conventional • Wallis, John (1616-1703) Devout

40. Later Scientific Pioneers Who Were Christians Scientist Discipline Founded • Michael Faraday (1791-1867) Magnetic Theory • Charles Babbage (1792-1871) Computer Science • Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) Glacial geology, ichthyology • James Young Simpson (1811-1870) Gynecology • Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) Genetics • Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) Bacteriology • William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) (1824-1907) Energetics, Thermodynamics • Joseph Lister (1827-1912) Antiseptic surgery • James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) Electrodynamics, statistical thermodynamics • William Ramsey (1852-1916) Isotopic Chemistry

41. Integrating the Truth

42. Integrating the Truth • Truth corresponds to reality. • Reality is that science is largely theistic in origin • Reality is science but also is more than just science.

43. Scientific Limitations All truth Scientific truth

44. Scientific Limitations: Examples • When science said there were 1100 stars, the bible said that the stars could not be counted (Gen 15:5) • When science said the earth was flat, the bible said that earth was round (Isaiah 40:22) • When science said to take blood out of person when they are sick, the bible said that life is in the blood (Lev 17:11)

45. However, Science is Encouraged in the Bible: The Dominion Mandate • Gen 1:28 Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it • Indicates human stewardship under the Creator • Science: Discovery of Truth • Engineering: Applying the Truth • Humanities: Interpreting the Truth • Commerce: Implementing the Truth • Education: Transmission of the Truth

46. Integrating the Truth • If God made everything, then he also made you and me • The creation is not greater than the Creator • We are made with personality including the ability to communicate • He has communicated with us • He made us to know him personally. • What keeps us from knowing God personally?

47. We Are Not Perfect • We are sinful and separated from God, so we cannot know him personally or experience his love • “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23. • Are you perfect?

48. We Are Not Perfect • “For the wages of sin is death” (spiritual separation from God) (Romans 6:23) • Though we continually try to reach God by our own efforts, such as a good life, philosophy, or religion, we can’t

49. Jesus Is God’s Only Provision • Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through him alone we can know God personally and experience his love • He died in our place • “But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8) • He rose from the dead

50. Jesus Is The Only Way To God • “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me’” (John 14:6) • God reaches down to us. • It is not enough to know these truths