J.P. Moreland on the Assumptions of Science

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"The nature of the assumptions of science do not prove the existence of a God very much like the God of the Bible, but in my view, they provide reasons for preferring theism over scientistic naturalism.  The assumptions are at home in a theistic worldview; they fit quite naturally.  If God is himself a rational being, then it stands to reason that he would create a rational, orderly universe.  If he created us, then it naturally follows that he would give us the proper faculties to know and appreciate the inner workings of his world by 'thinking his thoughts after him.'  The existence of objective values makes far more sense if there is an objective Lawgiver than if there is not.

If we begin with 'In the beginning, there was the Logos," then we have reasonable explanations for these assumptions.  But if we begin with 'In the beginning were the particles (or plasma, strings, etc.)," it is hard to see how these assumptions could have obtained...certain naturalistic commitments-e.g, naturalistic evolutionary theory-actually undermine crucial assumptions of science such as the trustworthiness of our faculties for obtaining truth about the world's deep structure."1

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Footnote:
1. J.P. Moreland, Scientism and Secularism: Learning to Respond to a Dangerous Ideology, p. 75-76.

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Comments

VinnyJH57 said…
If God created cats and slugs and rocks, does it naturally follow that He would give them the capacity to understand the inner workings of the world He created? Everywhere we look, we can see things that God created without that capacity.

Man may have greater intellectual capacity than any other creature on earth, but from the perspective of an omniscient, omnipotent being, that cannot be saying much. My dog may be slightly smarter than my cat, but that would not justify him in thinking I desire him—and only him—to think my thoughts after me.
October 21, 2018 at 10:12 AM
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