Science Fiction or Science Fact:
Theism as the Foundation for Modern Science
Science Fiction or Science Fact?
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Modern Mythology
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What is Theism?
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Where Did Science Come From?
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Integrating the Truth
Modern Mythology
Galileo Galilei
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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.
Christopher Columbus
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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.
Church and Science in Conflict
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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?
Re-writing History
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The conflict thesis is recent in origin
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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
Galileo Myth
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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
Aristotlean Science
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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
Flat Earth Myth
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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)
Recovering the Origins of Science
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The history of science shows that theism is
primarily responsible for the rise of
experimental science.
Science is clouded in modern mythology
Recovering the Origins of Science
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Scientists are reclaiming the theistic history of
science
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“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)
What is Theism?
Theism is a Worldview
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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.
Three Basic Worldviews
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Theism
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Naturalism
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Transcendentalism
Theism
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There is a God
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There is nature
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The two are separate
and distinct, and both
are real
Naturalism
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There is no God
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There is only nature
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God is an illusion
Transcendentalism
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There is only God
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There is no nature
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Nature is an illusion
Grand Metaphysical Stories
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Theism
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Naturalism
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Creation - God made nature out of nothing
Evolution - Nature made itself out of nothing
Transcendentalism
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Reincarnation - God made nothing - nature is an
illusion - all are part of God
Where Did Science Come From?
Law of Causality (Cause-Effect)
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An effect cannot be quantitatively greater than
its cause
An effect cannot be qualitatively superior to its
cause
1st
ca
1st
Cause
Cause-Effect Constraints
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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
What Culture Founded Science?
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China?
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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
What Culture Founded Science?
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Greece?
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Some Greeks were careful observers of nature
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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
What Culture Founded Science?
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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
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Aristotelian method - induction of principles from
phenomenon, then deduction of explanations from
principles.
Experiment is superfluous
Some technology, little science
What Culture Founded Science?
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Islam?
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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.
What Culture Founded Science?
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Western Christian Culture?
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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.
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).
Summary of Science History
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Natural philosophy begun by Greeks - 4th
century BC
Aristotle emerges as premier natural
philosopher - 3rd century BC
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Platonism and atomism are competing natural
philosophies - 3rd century BC
Islamic world adopts Aristotle - 9th century
AD
Summary of Science History
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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
Scientific Method
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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
Scientific Laws
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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
Theism vs Naturalism: Which
Aligns Better with the Laws of
Nature? Biogenesis
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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
Theism vs Naturalism: Which Aligns
Better with the Laws of Nature?
Thermodynamics
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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)
Scientific Pioneers Were Christians
From Rodney Stark, sociologist, Baylor University
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Italic type indicate a Protestant
Bayer, Johann (1572-1625)
Borelli, Giovanni (1608-1679)
Boyle, Robert (1627-1691)
Brahe, Tycho (1546-1601)
Briggs, Henry (1561-1630)
Cassini, Giovanni (1625-1712)
Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543)
Descartes, René (1596-1650)
Fabricus, David (1564-1617)
Fallopius, Gabriel (1523-1562)
Personal Piety
Devout
Conventional
Devout
Conventional
Devout
Conventional
Conventional
Devout
Devout
Devout
Scientific Pioneers Were Christians
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Fermat, Pierre (1601-1665)
Flamsteed, John (1646-1719)
Galilei, Galileo (1564-1642)
Gassendi, Pierre (1592-1655)
Gellibrand, Henry (1597-1663)
Gilbert, William (1540-1603)
Graaf, Regnier de (1641-1673)
Grew, Nehemiah (1641-1712)
Grimaldi, Francesco (1618-1663)
Guericke, Otto (1602-1686)
Halley, Edmund (1656-1742)
Harvey, William (1578-1657)
Conventional
Devout
Conventional
Devout
Devout
Conventional
Conventional
Devout
Devout
Conventional
Skeptic
Conventional
Scientific Pioneers Were Christians
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Helmont, Jan Baptista van (1577-1644)
Hevelius, Johannes (1611-1687)
Hooke, Robert (1635-1703)
Horrocks, Jeremiah (1619-1641)
Huygens, Christiaan (1629-1695)
Kepler, Johannes (1571-1630)
Kircher, Athanasius (1601-1680)
Leeuwenhoek, Anton (1632-1723)
Leibniz, Gottfried (1646-1716)
Malpighi, Marcello (1628-1694)
Mariotte, Edme (1620-1684)
Mersenne, Marin (1588-1648)
Devout
Conventional
Devout
Devout
Devout
Devout
Devout
Conventional
Devout
Conventional
Devout
Devout
Scientific Pioneers Were Christians
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Napier, John (1550-1617)
Newton, Isaac (1642-1727)
Oughtred, William (1575-1660)
Papin, Denis (1647-1712)
Paracelsus (1493-1541)
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
Picard, Jean (1620-1682)
Ray, John (1628-1705)
Riccioli, Giovanni (1598-1671)
Roemer, Olaus (1644-1710)
Scheiner, Christoph (1575-1650)
Snell, Willebrord (1591-1626)
Devout
Devout
Devout
Devout
Skeptic
Devout
Devout
Devout
Devout
Conventional
Devout
Conventional
Scientific Pioneers Were Christians
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Steno, Nicolaus (1638-1686)
Stevinus, Simon (1548-1620)
Torricelli, Evangelista (1606-1647)
Vesalius, Andreas (1514-1564)
Vieta, Franciscus (1540-1603)
Wallis, John (1616-1703)
Devout
Conventional
Conventional
Devout
Conventional
Devout
Later Scientific Pioneers Who
Were Christians
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Scientist
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Charles Babbage (1792-1871)
Louis Agassiz (1807-1873)
James Young Simpson (1811-1870)
Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) (1824-1907)
Joseph Lister (1827-1912)
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)
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William Ramsey (1852-1916)
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Discipline Founded
Magnetic Theory
Computer Science
Glacial geology, ichthyology
Gynecology
Genetics
Bacteriology
Energetics, Thermodynamics
Antiseptic surgery
Electrodynamics, statistical
thermodynamics
Isotopic Chemistry
Integrating the Truth
Integrating the Truth
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Truth corresponds to reality.
Reality is that science is largely theistic in
origin
Reality is science but also is more than just
science.
Scientific Limitations
All truth
Scientific
truth
Scientific Limitations: Examples
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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)
However, Science is Encouraged in
the Bible: The Dominion Mandate
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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
Integrating the Truth
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If God made everything, then he also made
you and me
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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?
We Are Not Perfect
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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?
We Are Not Perfect
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“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
Jesus Is God’s Only Provision
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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
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“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
Jesus Is The Only Way To God
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“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
Truth is a Person: Jesus
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Pilate asked Jesus just before his crucifixion:
“What is truth?” (John 18:38)
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life; nobody can come to the Father without
me.” (John 14:6)
Jesus said, “Every one that is of the truth
hears my voice.” (John 18:37)
Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and
the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32)