Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Theism Undergirds Science
In a recent newspaper article I found the following quote:
The belief in a God who establishes the universe, orders it, and sustains it led to people getting serious about science.
But it goes much deeper than that. The laws of physics are unchanging. And if you don't believe in God, who created and sustains the universe, you have no reason for believing the laws of physics will be the same tomorrow. Just because they've always been the same doesn't mean they'll keep being the same. In other words, no basis for doing science.
In a recent newspaper article I found the following quote:
Historically, he says, it's religion that has motivated people to study science. "We wouldn't have science as we know it today if it weren't for monotheism," he argues, reeling off references to Newton and Mendel and their belief in divine plans. "Dawkins says religion is the root of all evil. Well, even if that were true, it's also the root of all science."
The belief in a God who establishes the universe, orders it, and sustains it led to people getting serious about science.
But it goes much deeper than that. The laws of physics are unchanging. And if you don't believe in God, who created and sustains the universe, you have no reason for believing the laws of physics will be the same tomorrow. Just because they've always been the same doesn't mean they'll keep being the same. In other words, no basis for doing science.
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"And if you don't believe in God, who created and sustains the universe, you have no reason for believing the laws of physics will be the same tomorrow."
Maybe people believe the laws of physics will exist because they always have since pre-historic times.
I don't know whether you take Genesis litterally or not. If not, surely you can see that physics predated religion because it predated humanity and also predated Earth. As such it has a pretty good track record and suggests that it will continue to operate well into the forseeable future...regardless of one's personal beliefs.
Maybe people believe the laws of physics will exist because they always have since pre-historic times.
I don't know whether you take Genesis litterally or not. If not, surely you can see that physics predated religion because it predated humanity and also predated Earth. As such it has a pretty good track record and suggests that it will continue to operate well into the forseeable future...regardless of one's personal beliefs.
Yes, they believe they will remain the same because the laws have always been that way. But that's an assumption. If you don't believe in a God who sustains and orders those laws, there is no valid reason for assuming they will stay the same. You have laws there, hanging in mid-air. In philosophy, this is known as the problem of induction.
The laws of physics predated humanity, but not God.
I hope that clarifies.
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The laws of physics predated humanity, but not God.
I hope that clarifies.
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