Faulty Dilemma: God or Science
Faulty Dilemma
A faulty dilemma
is a logical fallacy where only two options are considered in an either or way,
when in fact there are more options available. The atheist notoriously presents
his argument against religion by stating that it is either Science or God not both.
The fact is God and Science are compatible and so God or science becomes a
faulty dilemma.
The foundations of modern science were laid
by Christian Scientists. Men like Sir Isaac Newton, Nikolas Copernicus,
Galileo, Kepler, Lord Kelvin, Blaise Pascal, Robert Boyle and many others were
firm believers in God and the Bible.
“Faraday found no conflict between his
religious beliefs and his activities as a scientist and philosopher. He viewed
his discoveries of nature's laws as part of the continual process of
"reading the book of nature", no different in principle from the
process of reading the Bible to discover God's laws. A strong sense of the
unity of God and nature pervaded Faraday's life and work.”
Jim Baggot, in "The myth of Michael
Faraday: Michael Faraday was not just one of Britain's greatest experimenters.
A closer look at the man and his work reveals that he was also a clever
theoretician" in New Scientist No. 1787 (21 September 1991)
These men firmly
believed in a God who created the physical laws and they believed they were
discovering these laws. So science was seen as a spiritual exercise where men
discovered the laws which God had created. No scientist neither pre-modern nor
modern ever claimed that the laws of nature evolved over time. The space time
continuum came into existence at the big bang and the laws of nature were
already guiding the process. Science does not explain the origin of these laws.
It discovers it, explains it and applies it to everyday life.
It is only God
who can adequately explain the laws of nature. It’s origins, functions and it’s
effects seem to have purpose and they produce effects which are consistent with
something purposefully designed. As humans we design laws to govern the
society. Similarly, God designed the physical laws to govern the universe and
also the moral law to govern humans. Christianity does not contradict science.
It was the work of Christian Scientist which has helped the establishment and
development of the scientific enterprise. Science is consistent with
Christianity and derives the very reason for it’s presence from the creator God
of the Bible.
The main reasons for the atheist rant that
science is incompatible with Christianity are
1. Ignorance
2. Faulty reasoning
3. Naturalistic Bias
4. Fear of accountability
1. Ignorance: Many Atheists are ignorant of
the proofs both scientific and philosophical which point towards the existence
of God.
It is true, that a little philosophy
inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds
about to religion.
~ Francis Bacon
"Atheism is the result of ignorance
and pride; of strong sense and feeble reasons; of good eating and ill-living.
It is the plague of society, the corrupter of manners, and the underminer of
property."
-Jeremy Collier
The fact that it
was Christian scientists who founded modern science and modern universities
prove that science far from being anti-God is and consequence of the quest for
truth, which the bible advocates to be pursued for the glory of God. This was
covered-up by the secular educational establishments. This sort social
conditioning by withholding specific information to favor a particular
worldview is one of the main reasons for ignorance of the right relationship
between science and Christianity.
“This most
beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the
counsel and dominion of an intelligent Being…..All variety of created objects
which represent order and life in the universe could happen only by the willful
reasoning of its original Creator, whom I call the Lord God.” – Sir Isaac
Newton, Principia (1687)
“God in the
beginning formed matter” – Sir Isaac Newton, Optics (1704)
“Atheism is so
senseless and odious to mankind that it never had many professors.” – Sir Isaac
Newton, A short Scheme of True Religion.
“If you gain,
you gain all. If you lose, you lose nothing. Wager then, without hesitation,
that He exists.” -- Blaise Pascal
“Faraday found
no conflict between his religious beliefs and his activities as a scientist and
philosopher. He viewed his discoveries of nature's laws as part of the
continual process of "reading the book of nature", no different in
principle from the process of reading the Bible to discover God's laws. A
strong sense of the unity of God and nature pervaded Faraday's life and work.”
Jim Baggot, in
"The myth of Michael Faraday: Michael Faraday was not just one of
Britain's greatest experimenters. A closer look at the man and his work reveals
that he was also a clever theoretician" in New Scientist No. 1787 (21
September 1991)
I shall be with
Christ, and that is enough. – Michael Faraday
Last words,
answering the question "Have you ever pondered by yourself what will be
your occupation in the next world?", as quoted in The Speaker's QuoteBook
(1997) edited by Roy B. Zuck, p. 108
“If we must not
act save on a certainty, we ought not to act on religion, for it is not
certain. But how many things we do on an uncertainty, sea voyages, battles!”
--- Blaise Pascal
2. Faulty
reasoning: Scientific facts like any other facts are subject to interpretation,
which in turn is based on world view. The right interpretation of scientific
data requires right reasoning. Logical fallacies like faulty dilemma, circular
reasoning, Ad hominem and ad populum arguments should be avoided if one has to
reach the truth. The skeptic’s and the Christian are interpreting the same data
but make exactly opposite conclusions. One of them is wrong and in this book we
will see why the skeptic’s interpretation is filled with logical fallacies and
wrong deductions.
3. Naturalistic Bias: Many skeptics inspite
of posing as unbiased messiahs trying to deliver the world from grips of
religion and superstition have strong naturalistic bias which prevents them
from accepting even the possibility of God.
“I want atheism
to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and
well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t
believe in God and, naturally, hope that I’m right in my belief. It’s that I
hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe
to be like that.” (“The Last Word” by
Thomas Nagel, Oxford University Press: 1997)”
4. Fear of accountablity
"God exist
whether or not men may choose to believe in Him. The reason why many people do
not believe in God is not so much that it is intellectually impossible to
believe in God, but because belief in God forces that thoughtful person to face
the fact that he is accountable to such a God."- Robert A. Laidlaw
The atheist, most of them if not all have
an unhealthy distaste for accountability and judgment. His love for his sin and
resentment of accountability is so much that denial of God is the only thing
that keeps him out of discomfort. More than any other reason, this reality of
accountability and judgment forces many to deny the existence of God, in the
face of sufficient reason to the contrary.
The faulty dilemma of science vs God is a
popular assumption for atheist and secular media. It should be identified and
addressed if any inroads are to be made in bringing atheists to Christ.
Lately Hawking is asking us to choose
between the agency of God and mechanism gravity. John Lennox responds by stating that it is a category mistake to
choose between two different categories, agency and mechanism. The point according to himis is we
can choose both, as these are not contradictory. We need both the agency and the
law of nature to produce something like an aeroplane.
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