Slide 1

Has Science Disproven God?Tom Rudelius

Science flies men to the moon, religion flies men into buildings. - Victor StengerI am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. Richard DawkinsThe argument is finished. The debate is over. Weve come to a conclusion. Naturalism has wonGo to any biology department, go to any neuroscience department, go to any philosophy department people whose professional job it is to explain the worldno one mentions God. - Sean Carroll [1]

Some Say Yes

Do not be afraid to be free thinkers. If you think strongly enough, you will be forced by science to the belief in God. Lord KelvinThis most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being. Isaac NewtonWhen thus reflecting I feel compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligent mind in some degree analogous to that of man; and I deserve to be called a theist. Charles Darwin [2]There are proportionately as many atheistic truck drivers as there are atheistic scientists. Richard Bube [3]Some Say No

Strong scientism: There are no truths apart from scientific truths.Weak scientism: There are truths apart from scientific truths, but such truths are inferior. There are virtually no limits to science.Began with success of natural sciences in the early 1800s [4]Science vs. Scientism

Continued with logical positivism /verificationist principle of 1930s-1960s: anything that cant be checked by your five senses is meaningless.1966- Time magazine asks, Is God Dead?

Strong scientism and the verificationist principle are self-defeating. [5]Weak scientism is still too stringent-art, politics, law, history, philosophy, ethics lack the reproducibility necessitated by the scientific method. [6]Logical positivism is dead, or as dead as a philosophical movement ever becomes. John Passmore [7]I suppose the most important [defect]was that nearly all of it was false. A.J. Ayer (one of the foremost supporters of the movement) [8]

The Death of Scientism

Both theistic and atheistic philosophers have started to question whether or not our thoughts can be considered rational if they are solely products of unguided naturalistic processes. [9]Men became scientific because they expected Law in Nature, and they expected Law in Nature because they believed in a Legislator. In most modern scientists this belief has died: it will be interesting to see how long their confidence in uniformity survives it. C.S. LewisNeither model can be said to be more real than the other. Stephen Hawking on young-earth creationism vs. standard big bang cosmology [10]The Birth of Science

The resultswere clear cut. There was no difference between those patients who were prayed for and those who were not. What a surprise. Richard Dawkins [11]It is inconceivable from a scientific perspective that God could continue to intervene without introducing some material trace of his actions. Lisa Randall [12]Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any god there. - Nikita KhrushchevGod of the Gaps: Continuation of Scientism in the Public Sphere

God is not competing with science any more than Henry Ford is competing with the laws of internal combustion and engineering with a Ford Galaxy motorcar. John Lennox [13]Christian Response

C.S. Lewis famously pointed out that Gagarin looking for God in outer space would be like Hamlet looking for Shakespeare in his attic.If God exists, then he must be outside the natural world, and therefore the tools of science are not the right ones to learn about him Francis Collins [14]The only way we can know whether or not our story has an author is if the author writes information about himself into it. [15]

Christian Response (cont.)

God has not merely written information about himself into the storyhe has come himself!That Jesus' followers (and later Paul) had resurrection experiences is, in my judgment, a fact. What the reality was that gave rise to the experiences I do not know. - skeptical NT scholar E.P. Sanders [16]It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesuss death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ. atheist NT scholar Gerd Ldemann [17]

The Word Became Flesh

Why do you think God has stayed relatively hidden, rather than revealing himself through science or by showering us with miracles?Do miracles contradict science? Why or why not?Almost all scientists adopt a methodological naturalism when doing research-that is, they do not appeal directly to the supernatural in any theories. What bearing does this have on the issue of scientism?

Questions for Discussion[1] Carroll, Sean. The Great Debate: Has Science Refuted Religion?[2] Miller, Kenneth R. Finding Darwins God. New York: HarperCollins, 1999. [3] Schaefer, III, Henry F.. "Scientist and their Gods." Institute for Religious Research. 1 Oct. 2010. . [4] Hayek, F.A., The Counter-Revolution of Science. [5] Moreland, J.P. and William Lane Craig. Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview. 2003. Pg. 157. [6] Hutchinson, Ian. Monopolizing Knowledge. Belmont, Mass.: Fias Publishing, 2011. [7] Passmore, J., 1967, Logical Positivism, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Volume 5), P. Edwards (ed.), New York: Macmillan, 5257.[8] Ayer, A.J. Men of Ideas. Interview with Brian Magee, 1978.[9] Keller, Timothy. Noah and the Reasons of Faith: Faith as Understanding. Sermon, 1994.[10] Hawking, Stephen, and Leonard Mlodinow. The Grand Design. United States and Canada: Bantam, 2010. [11] Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. New York: Mariner Books, 2007.[12] Randall, Lisa. Knocking on Heavens Door. 2011.[13] Lennox, John. The Veritas Forum, Duke University, 2012.[14] Collins, Francis. The Language of God. 2006.[15] Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God. New York: Penguin Group, 2008.[16] Sanders, E.P. The Historical Figure of Jesus. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.[17] Ldemann, Gerd. What Really Happened to Jesus? trans. John Bowden. Louisville, Kent.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995, p. 80.References