"Christianity - Is it Opposed to Science" Part II

Part Two

Christianity Opposes Science

In Part One it was pointed out that the notion of the Church opposing science was not a legitimate assumption.  Further it was seen that a survey of the greatest scientists and scientific discoveries would support the notion that it was not the Renaissance but the Reformation that saw the uptick in scientific discoveries.

In the course of those discussions there still remained several matters to discuss.  Among them are the following.

Answering the Specific Inaccuracies

All Knowledge in Scripture 

No knowing person says that all knowledge resides in the Scriptures.  That is in fact a misrepresentation of the truth that the foundation of all knowledge resides in the Scriptures. That is to say that Scripture does not exhaust all science but merely provides the foundation or the basis of science and knowledge.

Certainly as limiting as is that statement, still there are those of secular mindset who would disagree.  However, the point to consider is that the Scriptures reveal the Divine and the Divine is the basis of all reality, therefore the Divine is the basis of all true science.

Galileo’s Treatment by Pope Urban VII

The argument goes something like, because Galileo embraced the Copernican theory and therefore he fell into disfavor and was banned from teaching.  The facts are quite different.

Pope Urban VII initially supported Galileo but because of political difficulties and court intrigue and threats against his reign as pope, plus a misstep by Galileo in assigning the Popes words to a scientist known as Simplico (often wrong and inaccurate in his science) he fell out of favor and thus was placed under house arrest.

Miraculous Events 

As the result of the Age of Enlightenment, Modernism became popular among scientists and others who pursue knowledge.  Thus there is a belief in truth but that truth  is contained in a closed system.  Therefore, miracles cannot exist for there is nothing outside the closed system. 

Others, generally people of faith believe that the system is not closed but open and that the Divine can interrupt the natural forces and causes of life at any time of His choosing.  This is the Judeo-Christian truth paradigm. 

Conservative Christians Opposes Science

Those how hold to this idea again paint Christianity with a broad brush.  Take for example the question of creation or evolution.  The fact is that Conservative Christianity is far more accepting of variations in belief.  From the Divine start of everything to those who believe God started the processes and then took His hands off, Christianity has a big tent.  Much bigger than that of the secular evolutionist.

Evolution or Intelligent Design

Interesting how militant the evolutionist has become when genuine questions are asked as to the veracity and proof for his theory.  Even while casting doubt upon the evidence for creationism, such people conveniently look past the problem that they cannot answer.  For example,

Decline:  Left on its own every system decays toward chaos and yet the evolutionist postulates that it is exempted from this descent.

Intermediary Fossils:  Of the over 50,000 plus fossils, the evolutionist cannot produce one intermediary fossil.  There is no part monkey, part man. 

Faulty Assumptions:  The evolutionist discounts honest science when it produces data that does not suit the evolutionist's presuppositions and yet is willing to accept the mythical theory of evolution in the place of honest scientific work.

First Causes

Among the various issues that the Modernist scientist with their closed system theory cannot explain is that of first causes.  Assuming for a moment that the “Big Bang Theory” is true, what caused the Big Bang and from where does matter, time, and energy originate. 

While the Big Bang does explain that there was a beginning, closed system science is at a loss as to how or why it happened.  Oh, certainly there are those who place their faith in theoretical mathematics, theoretical physics and the like.  Problem is even if they unravel the Big Bang to some new theory as frequently is the case, they still cannot explain the origin of the universe.

Publically Funded Education

The creationist and intelligent design camp is asking for equal time with the evolutionist.  When ever Creationism is brought up, the evolutionist decries it as indoctrinating kids with a wild myth.  Yet, if anyone remotely suggests that public education refrain from teaching evolution they immediately fall into disfavor.  Teaching both seems to be only fair since it is not just the evolutionist that pays to fund public education.

Background

To see the list of subjects to be discussed in this series see my blog (Christianity – Is it a Faith Driven by Fear?).  Contained within that blog is a reference, 20 Reasons to Abandon Christianity and in that reference is a list which is the springboard from which this subject has been discussed.