Christianity IS reasonable

In a recent article by another examiner the claim was made that the Bible is 'hostile to reason'. However, most of the Christian theological presuppositions used to aid early 'science' are still used to aid science today. Scientific investigation rests on assumptions about the world, and without these assumptions science would not be a guide to the way the world really is. Essentially, scientists need faith in the reliability and order of nature. Alfred North Whitehead says that this faith in the possibility of science rests on certain habits of thought, such as the lawfulness of nature. These thoughts came from Christian theology and philosophy; any other beliefs are insufficient for science.

One assumption that science uses as derived from the Bible is that nature is real. This may seem like a pedantic statement, but taking a look at other worldviews immediately shows a glaring contrast with this Biblical idea. Hinduism treats the physical world as illusion (maya) and emphasizes Brahman (the true reality behind our deceptive physical world). How can any religion or philosophy that emphasizes the physical universe as an illusion possibly rely on science for accurate predictions? The Biblical idea of creation shows that a real world does exist and subject and object can be distinguished.

Any society that holds science in regard must also hold nature as valuable enough to try and discover the truth behind it. This value can be found in Christianity. God repeatedly calls his creation good and tells Adam and Eve to be stewards of the creation. In this respect it is easy to see that the material world does have value and that it was made for us to work in. Unlike pantheism, it is important to note that God and His creation are separate. If this was not thought to be the case it would be considered sacrilegious to inspect nature and dissect the god(s) within nature to determine the truth. The monotheism of the Bible freed man to inspect nature without fear of punishment from the gods in nature.

Another Christian assumption is the idea that nature is intelligible. This stems from the idea of a rational God creating a world that humans can understand and find truth in (a rational God, and orderly world). Christianity teaches a single God, this means a created, contingent world and a coherent nature. It had to be a reasonable universe for Adam and Eve to understand it and care for it. The idea of order in nature doesn't just depend on a single God, but also the character of that God. The God revealed in the Bible is dependable and trustworthy so his creation must also be dependable. This also gave rise to the idea that the universe could be interpreted by rational minds. Copernicus used this theory in discovering a better cosmology than Aristotle's or Ptolemy's. An evolutionary standpoint leaves a whole in the intelligibility of science. Why think that our brains are reliable to find out truth if they were created by random processes? Why think that nature is dependable, orderly, or regular based on an evolutionary or atheistic standpoint?

The intelligibility of nature also allows us to participate in the work of God (albeit imperfectly), such as tempering the effects of sin and helping mankind. This shows the moral motivation for a Christian to do science.

Other Christian presuppositions are the concept of divine voluntarism, that God's will is free, and that humans are finite and fallible and this means that so is science. Muslims believe that Allah cannot be understood; Allah is so transcendent that humans cannot even begin to fathom Him. This view creates problems for science, especially since Allah created the universe. If Allah is not rational or reasonable enough to understand then why think anything He created would be? Looking into Allah's creation to understand the working's of Allah would also be heretical in nature! All these presuppositions are implicit in science and lead the Christian to expect a real, rational world in which truth can be discovered.

The other examiner claims that 'Americans need more knowledge of science', but if this is true they would soon find out that modern science is running on the borrowed capital of Christian theology and philosophy. Science needs some sort of epistemology (a theory of how we know things) guaranteeing that the human mind is capable of finding out truth. Historically that guarantee came from the Christian doctrine that we were created in the image of God.