FAITH AND REASON Sorting out the True Relationships between Faith, Reason, Science & Religion

1. FAITH AND REASON Sorting out the True Relationships between Faith, Reason, Science & Religion Joseph D. Renick idnetnm@gmail.net Grace Church 6901 San Antonio NE Albuquerque, NM March 9, 2012

2. Abstract Since medieval times the common belief in the Western World was that God had created everything and that there was purpose and meaning in His Creation.  But, in the middle of the nineteenth century the Materialistic worldview, a belief system which had been around since the time of the ancient Greek philosophers, began to gain momentum. Scientific advances by Newton in his discovery of the mechanistic workings of the universe (a machine) and Darwin’s theory of evolution as a mechanistic explanation of the origins of mankind (an organism that emerged from the machine), appeared to give credibility to the idea that everything in the cosmos, including life, can be reduced to matter, energy and natural mechanisms governed by physical laws. 

3. According to Materialists, faith and reason are mutually exclusive.  Science -- based on reason -- is objective and provides the only reliable means for gaining knowledge about the true nature of reality. Religionhowever is subjective and a matter of personal preference with no substantive connection to reality.  Some Enlightenment philosophers like Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) argued that while God was Creator of all, He created through natural mechanisms and law where this kind of God (The Master Craftsman) was greater than a God who had to intervene and tinker with his Creation to finish the job (The Cosmic Repairman). Because of these ideas, in the 18th and 19th centuries there was a general movement in thinking among Christian philosophers (theologians) away from Final Cause in favor of mechanism. Within the mechanistic view two different underlying views emerged.

4. One underlying view was that God had created a purely mechanistic world in which He did not intervene and as a creation principle, created by mechanism. In this sense, God could be viewed as more of a Deistic God rather than a personal hands-on God. The other underlying view, the materialistic worldview, was that there was no longer any need or role for a Creator. With the elimination of God from the cosmos there was no longer any basis for believing that there is an ultimate Truth (or if there is such a Truth, it can’t be known), that there are absolute standards of morality and that there is some ultimate meaning and purpose to our existence.  This view was supported by atheistic Enlightenment philosophers of the 18th and 19th centuries. These mechanisticviews only have merit if Darwinism -- or something like Darwinism -- is true. Is Darwinism true?

5. The Church, to a great extent, accepted the growing trends in favor of creation by mechanism rather than creation by Final Cause and the separation of faith and reason inherent in that thinking and in so doing eventually gave up the intellectual high ground it once held.  As secular knowledge increased, knowledge of the divine seemed to become less and less relevant. Eventually, Materialismbecame the dominant worldview in the universities that were once Christian institutions, and from there, the Materialistic world-view spread throughout Western culture. As for the more liberal churches today who officially accept theistic evolution, they are viewed by hardcore Materialists as… contemptible, but useful, idiots.

6.  The Materialist’s goal?  The destruction of the foundations of Theism  How? Show…through science and reason…that there is no longer any place for a Creator in explaining either the workings of the natural world or the nature of humankind.

7. Acknowledging how deeply Materialism is now entrenched in all of the institutions of America and in recognition of its mission of destroying the foundations of theistic faith, what should the Christian church do? Should we be “dangerous”. Should we be a force in our culture to be feared?

8. The Situation in Public Schools On Sunday our children are taught about the things in which their hearts can exalt. On Monday they are taught that the mind should reject those things. “Evolution is the greatest engine of atheism ever invented." (Will Provine, Cornell University) Theheart cannot exalt in that which the mind rejects.

9. Faith and Reason The heart cannot exalt in that which the mind rejects. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you to explain the hope that is within you. (1 Pet 3:15)

10. Framing the Issue (This is how we are supposedto think about faith and reason) TWO WAYS OF “KNOWING” TWO ASPECTS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE SCIENCE RELIGION FAITH REASON FAITH & RELIGION REASON & SCIENCE

11. The Relationship Between Science and Religion …an Upstairs-Downstairs “Dualism” The way it is portrayed (Upstairs) Beliefs & Values Truth Religion Faith Which reflects reality ? (subjective) Truth Facts & Knowledge Science Reason (objective) (Downstairs) Different aspects of human experience Different ways of knowing Produce different results Different Natures (essential being) Ref: Nancy Pearcey, “Total Truth”

12. The BIG Questions What is the nature of reality? Is nature chaotic, senseless and pointless? Or is it rational and ordered ? Does it reflect plan and purpose?

13. The BIG Questions What is the nature of our existence? Where did we come from? Is our existence the result of unguided material causes alone? Or is it the result of the creative work of a transcendent guiding intelligence? The answer defines THE basic Ontological property of our existence

14. The BIG Questions What is the nature of history? Does history wander aimlessly through the ages going nowhere in particular? Or does history progress inevitably according to universal principles of progress toward some perfected state? Or… …is the course of history preordained according to some transcendent plan and purpose?

15. The BIG Questions Is there some Ultimate Truth that underlies reality? Can we come to a reliable knowledge of that Truth and can we know that it is True? Or is this “Truth” simply an abstract construct of the human mind (imagination) that has no actual correspondence to reality? Which worldview -- naturalism or theism -- entails the possibility of knowing Truth?

16. Is blind faith better than reasoned faith? Can we have faith apart from reason? Can we have reason apart from faith? Can we bring reason to stand alongside faith to withstand the “reasoned” challenges to our faith? Apologetics – reasons to believe Faith is the spark that awakens Reason Reason prepares the heart for Belief

17. Is our existence the result of unguided material causes alone or is there a guiding intelligence behind it all? Dualism – two possible answers Where did I come from? Does my existence have any ultimate meaning or purpose? One or the other must be true Both cannot be true How did I get here? Results are universal Answers to these questions speak to the very nature of reality How should I live my life and why does it matter? What will happen to me when I die? Whatever answer may be given to this question, it will have profound implications for the answers we give to these questions. Does science have anything to say on this subject? Does religion have anything to say on this subject? Is science predisposed to give one answer and religion another? Is Materialism predisposed to give one answer and Christianity another?

18. Worldview Analysis Underlying Question Unguided Material Causes Guiding Intelligence Which do we hunger for? No basis for belief in an ultimate meaning and purpose to our existence Ultimate meaning and purpose rest with the Creator Where did we get our ideas about meaning and purpose ITFP? ITFP - In The First Place No ultimate foundation for ethics, no absolute standard of morality Foundation for ethics and moral standards derive from character of the Creator Where did we get our ideas about ethics and morality ITFP? Freewill & Accountability A Judge and Judgment Promise of eternal life No Freewill No Judge or Judgment No hope for eternal life Where did we get our ideas about freewilll, guilt, judgment and eternal life ITFP? No one is watching! God is watching! No one cares! So God created man in his own image (Gen 1:27) ……..and He cares! Peace and Joy Despair Pre-existent in the mind of the Creator A result of our evolutionary past Which is illusion and which is reality?

19. Scientific Materialism – Its Principles Rejects as nonexistent all knowledge claims except those gained from the positive sciences Nature is a closed system of cause and effect relationships There are no causes other than material causes There is no transcendent meaning or purpose to life “Reality” can only be determined by science and reason Moral philosophy must be derived from a true understanding of this “reality”

20. Materialistic Mythology Science and Reason lead to objective knowledge, facts and a true understanding of reality Religion and faith lead to subjective beliefs, a sense of comfort and provide rules for life Science and Religion are eternal enemies

21. Materialism: It’s Fruits Moral Relativism– morality is reduced to personal preference Multiculturalism– all cultures and beliefs are morally equivalent. One “truth” is as good as another…take your pick Postmodernism– rejects all notions of transcendent truth and reduces all ideas to social constructions

22. Robert Jastrow Astronomer From God and the Astronomers, Chapter 8, THE RELIGION OF SCIENCE, p 107. “For the scientists who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak, as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”

23. Founding Scientist “To know the mighty works of God, to comprehend His wisdom and majesty and power; to appreciate, in degree, the wonderful workings of His laws, surely all this must be a pleasing and acceptable mode of worship to the Most High...” Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) Heliocentric View

24. Founding Scientist “When I reflect on so many profoundly marvelous things that persons have grasped, sought, and done, I recognize even more clearly that human intelligence is a work of God, and one of the most excellent.” Galileo (1564-1642) Experimental Physics Mechanics

25. Founding Scientist “Geometry is unique and eternal, a reflection from the mind of God. That mankind shares in it is because man is an image of God.” "The chief aim of all investigations of the external world should be to discover the rational order and harmony which has been imposed on it by God and which He revealed to us in the language of mathematics." Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) Planetary Motion

26. Founding Scientist At the end of his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (London, 1687) Newton wrote: “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being. This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all; and on account of His dominion He is wont to be called Lord God.” Isaac Newton (1642-1747) Mechanics and Calculus Mathematical Physics

27. The Physicists In his famous lecture Religion and Science (May 1937) Planck wrote: “Both religion and science need for their activities the belief in God…” Planck concluded his lecture with the words: “It is the steady, ongoing, never-slackening fight against skepticism and dogmatism, against unbelief and superstition, which religion and science wage together. The directing watchword in this struggle runs from the remotest past to the distant future: ‘On to God!’ ” Max Planck (1858–1947) Nobel Prize (1918) in Physics

28. The Physicists “I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details.” “The theory yields a lot, but it hardly brings us any closer to the secret of the Old One. In any case I am convinced that He does not throw dice.” Einstein letter to Born, 4 Dec 1926. Albert Einstein (1879–1955) Nobel Prize (1921) Physics

29. The Physicists “In the history of science…it has repeatedly been claimed that scientific truth cannot be reconciled with the religious interpretation of the world. Although I am now convinced that scientific truth is unassailable in its own field, I have never found it possible to dismiss the content of religious thinking as simply part of an outmoded phase in the consciousness of mankind, a part we shall have to give up from now on. Thus in the course of my life I have repeatedly been compelled to ponder on the relationship of these two regions of thought, for I have never been able to doubt the reality of that to which they point.” Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) Nobel Prize (1932) Physics

30. Christianity Greek Pagan Philosophy*  God as Creator  The Fall, Law, Redemption  The Incarnation  The Authority of Scripture  Church Age, Eschatology •  Teleological View •  Metaphysics & Cosmology • Properties of matter • Inherent tendencies • Natural Law •  Logical system • - Forms (perception & reality) • - Causes (Proximate & Final) Synthesis of Secular and Revealed Knowledge Augustine (354-430 AD) Logical Synthesis Geocentric View Rational Christian Theology * Aristotle

31. Rational Christian Theology – a Created Order There is an objective reality that exists independent of the opinions, preferences and beliefs of man The objective of science is to discover that reality, not define it The natural world exhibits a rational order The rationality of the natural world and the rationality of the mind of man are the same rationality because -- ……...……………………… they have the same Author Consequently, the natural world is comprehensible to the mind of man and science is possible Modern science arose in Christian Europe -- there, and nowhere else When the founders of modern science -- Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Faraday and Maxwell -- etc, were doing science, they were doing God’s work -- they were walking on holy ground Faith and Reason led to a true understanding of the nature of Reality as a Created Order and from that understanding modern science emerged

32. Two Great Ontological Properties of the Cosmos Contingency -- the universe had a beginning and consequently it must be dependent on a cause other than itself for that beginning Intelligibility – the universe is comprehensible to the mind of man, they have the same rationality For Materialism these are great mysteries For Christianity, they are self-evident truths

33. “TWO BOOKS” The Book of God’s Works The Book of God’s Word Faith and Reason are the “eyes” by which we read God’s Books

34. Summary • We have our existence in a Created Order • There exists an eternal and transcendent Truth • Life has Meaning • All Truth is God’s Truth (Unity of Truth) • There are two Books written by God • Book of God’s Word (The Scriptures) • Book of God’s Works (Nature) Faith and Reason are gifts from God, the “eyes” though which we read God’s Two Books