Jarett Van Tine continues his article on how to teach our students about biblical creation in a secular world. Start of with Part 1 here.
Let’s examine the
principle for determining truth conveyed by many public school science classes
– again, the principle being that the only way a person can know something is
true is if it has been “proved” through observations and tests using the five
senses. The first reason we should not believe this principle is because
it contradicts itself: the principle is supposedly true, yet there is no way to
prove it through observations and tests using one’s five senses. So,
based on their own criterion for truth, it has to be false! Scientists
(secular) are forced to assume the principle, or better, accept it by faith, in
order to employ it as the standard of “what’s reasonable to
believe.” But then who are they to judge us Christians for embracing our
doctrines by faith?
Furthermore, the principle
conveyed in our students’ science classes is unable to verify as true
parts of reality that we all take for granted on a daily basis. For
example, how could a scientist prove by this principle that he is not
living in a dream world? This may seem weird to think about, but there is
no way for a scientist to prove that he hasn’t been taken captive by
aliens, induced into a permanent coma, and hooked up to a machine that creates
an alternative dream world for him to experience as if it were reality (cf. The
Matrix movie). Someone may object, “That’s ridiculous – of course I
am not living in a dream world!” The point, however, is that there is no
experiment or test that someone can perform that would be able to prove
that the world he is living in is a false one. To insist, therefore, that
the only way you can know something is true is if you can prove it through
observations and tests is absurd. Here again the (secular) scientist must
have faith – but faith in what?
Ultimately, by suggesting – as so
many public school science classes do – that reliable knowledge can only be
derived from our sensory experiences is to exalt humanity rather
God. Rather than relying upon ourselves to determine what is or is not
true, we must first and foremost look to God. Only by placing our faith
in His good and kind character can we begin to trust our sensory experiences
because we know that He is not a mean God who would give us these our five
senses if they did not correspond to reality. Back to the last example:
so as Christians we know that the world we live in is not just a dream, not
because we can “prove” it via our senses, but because we know that the God who
loves us has given us reliable capacities to make observations that, by and
large, correspond to what is actually true. Both Christians and
secular scientists must have faith, the major difference being that Christians
actually have Someone reliable to place it in.
This brings us to my next point,
namely, that the only real basis for scientific investigation lies in a
Christian worldview. As Jason Foster, a member of our congregation,
so aptly put it, “The Christian view that all things were created and are held
together by Jesus Christ (Col 1) formed the basis for scientific investigation
of the natural world, because the idea that creation was created by a sovereign
and rational God made the creation a legitimate object of study.”
Science, therefore, can be a great thing when used in the service of
Christianity rather than as a basis for denying it. That is to say,
Christian students should be taught to use the scientific method to prove
and/or understand better what the Bible already says is true.
As I mentioned above, having
attended public schools my entire life, I know personally the kind of angst,
doubt, and faith struggles that can be raised by science classes not rooted in
Scripture or a Christian worldview. This entry is, in large part, the
culmination of those struggles and God’s intellectual guidance amidst
them. I have, of course, only scratched the surface of the issues
raised. But I hope that my initial responses to the truth criterion (i.e.
empiricism) employed by (secular) science teachers, textbooks, and adherents are
helpful for equipping parents and students to hold strong to our Christian
beliefs. Feel free to email with questions. For further research,
check out following resources (testing everything against the Word ):
Creationism in Public Schools: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed Movie – Make it a Blockbuster night with your family!
Grand Canyon Flood Theory: http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/GrandCanyon.html
No comments:
Post a Comment