www.arky.org
Museum
for Truth
Apologetics
by Bruce Malone
www.arky.org |
Virtual Museum |
Search for Truth |
Bible & Apologetics |
Reality - 1 by Bruce Malone |
|---|
|
America's culture is post Christian in nature. This does not mean that there are no Christians in our country or that Christianity is devoid of influence in our culture. However, Christianity is no longer the primary influencing philosophy. One need only reflect upon the primary authority used to justify actions to understand that this is true. America's founders centered their discussions of almost every topic on what scripture taught. Although not every founding father was a believing Christian, they all recognized the unique authority of the Bible. One study conducted by the university of Houston found that 92% of the most important American quotes from 1750 to 1790 were either direct or indirect references to Biblical teachings.1 Yet today, if a person were to state that his viewpoint were based on Biblical teaching he would be meet with either a blank stare or open ridicule. What has replaced scripture as the primary source of knowledge? Science now equals truth
Science is a powerful tool which has helped mankind develop the technological marvels of our modern age. However, few people understand the limits of science. Science is the careful repeated observation of the world around us in order to understand its operation. Most people are under the false impression that science can prove what has happened from the beginning of time, predict what will happen eons into the future, and explain everything in between. This false conception of the capability of science is primarily caused by false philosophic ideas, such as evolution, which has masqueraded as true science for over 150 years. Understanding how truly limited science is should help put the discipline is perspective. 
Science Can Never Prove the Past There are vast differences in opinion between equally qualified scientists over what has happened in the distant past. For instance, there have been at least 30 different theories on what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and all of them are unprovable. The Bible and the philosophy of evolution differ profoundly on the history of life's development, the cause of the fossil record, and the age of the universe. All of these subjects deal with events of the past which can never be absolutely proven by scientific experimentation. Scientists operating from a creation perspective and those operating from an evolutionary perspective both use science to support their viewpoint. Wise men from both camps will admit that science cannot prove what has happened in the past. Science Can Never Predict the Future with Certainty The wiser the scientist, the more tentatively he draws his conclusions and the more carefully he extrapolates his data. Science can predict what may happen if all the variables are known, but seldom are all the variables known. This is the very basis of new scientific discoveries and frequently changing theories. The only constant in the universe is change. Furthermore, science has nothing to say about the existence of anything outside of the physical time/space universe. If a Biblical God exists, He created both time and the universe. Therefore, He is outside of that which He created and fully capable of changing the course of future events. Science Can Not Show How Things Should Be Science merely observes and makes tentative predictions. It can make no comment on happiness, purpose, or fulfillment. It knows nothing of love, hate, faith, honor, or virtue. Science is totally silent on these most important of all human characteristics and can provide no guidance concerning the existence of right and wrong. Yet each person has an inborn and overwhelming sense of how things "ought to be". Furthermore, most of us realize that things are not as they should be. Science can not explain why there seems to be so much wrong with this universe in which we live. Once again, only the Bible explains these issues 1. David Barton, The Myth of Separation, A revealing look at what the Founders and early courts really said, Wallbuilders Press, 1992. |