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Christian Faith and Modern Science by Howard Taylor Howard Taylor - Brief CV: Chaplain to Heriot-Watt University and teaches there: – Moral and Social Philosophy – Philosophy of Science and Religion • Previously: – Parish Minister in West of Scotland - 17 years – Visiting lecturer at ICC and before that GBC and BTI • Two modules: – Christian Faith and Contemporary Thought (BE305) – Christianity and Modern Science (This module - BE304) – Author of several small books/booklets – 16 years in Malawi, Africa • Minister, Theology lecturer, African Language teacher • Maths and Physics lecturer: University of Malawi – Degrees from: Nottingham, Edinburgh and Aberdeen • Married with three grown up sons and two grandsons and one granddaughter • Web: www.howardtaylor.net What is it all about? For millennia philosophers and theologians have attempted to address such questions as: a Is the universe eternal or did it begin? b Why does nature have a rational structure? c Is there any purpose to human existence? c What is life? d Can the experiences of consciousness and selfawareness be reduced to the properties of the brain or they imply the existence of a soul? It is in the latter part of the 20th century that some scientists have tried to get to grips with these most fundamental of fundamental questions You may have thought about these topics before or they may never have occurred to you Here is something for you to do: Using the Bible and/or the Christian Faith and/or other religious views as your authority try to write a few lines on each of these topics If you are ignorant of any or some or even all the areas then write that fact down and don't worry! Now repeat the exercise but this time write what you believe modern scientists or philosophers might say Again if you have no idea don't worry - the purpose of this module is to teach you these things Models for considering the relationship between science and religion: •.Conflict •.Independence •.Dialogue •.Integration -(I prefer to say mutual illumination) The above are the models taken from Ian Barbour’s writings Books that are particularly relevant to these models are: • Ian Barbour: When Science Meets Religion, pages 7-38 • Alister McGrath: Science and Religion, chapter entitled: Religion Ally or Enemy of Science? Worldviews and Science Under each of these headings there are many sub sections not mentioned here • The material universe is an illusion Only the spirit or mind is real (Some versions of Eastern Religions and Idealism.) • The material universe is all that there is – the whole story (Materialism.) • Theism Both the material and the spiritual are real and interact (However the spiritual gives rise to the material world Deism says that apart from Creation there is no interaction.) With which worldview does science fit most comfortably? We now consider some words of Bertrand Russell in his Introduction to his History of Western Philosophy All definite knowledge belongs to science; all dogma as to what surpasses definite knowledge belongs to theology But between theology and science there is a No Man's Land, this No Man's Land is philosophy Almost all the questions of most interest to speculative minds are such as science cannot answer, and the confident answers of theologians no longer seem convincing …(The questions are:) Is the world divided into mind and matter, and, if so what is mind and what is matter? Is mind subject to matter, or is it possessed of independent powers? Has the universe any unity or purpose? Is it evolving towards some goal? Are there really laws of nature, or we believe in them only because of our innate love of order? Is man what he seems to the astronomer, a tiny lump of impure carbon and water impotently crawling on a small unimportant planet? Or is he what he appears to Hamlet? (next slide) Is he perhaps both at once? Is there a way of living that is noble and another that is base, or are all ways of living merely futile? If there is a way of living that is noble In what does it consist, and how shall we achieve it? Must the good be eternal in order to deserve to be valued, or is it worth seeking even if the universe is inexorably moving towards death? … To such questions no answer can be found in the laboratory … The studying of these questions, if not the answering of them, is the business of philosophy Hamlet: What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, How infinite in faculties, in form and moving how Express and admirable, in action how like an angel, In apprehension how like a god: the beauty of the World, the paragon of animals; and yet to me, what Is this quintessence of dust? Bertrand Russell: Philosophy's Unanswerable Questions • According to Bertrand Russell , not only are these questions (that are unanswerable by science), the most interesting they are the most important.(See also History of Western Philosophy page 789) • Without belief in ‘theology’ (ie God who speaks a Word), Russell says they have no answer • As an atheist he had to hold the paradoxical view that: – The most interesting and important questions for humans have no answers 10 – All that philosophy can is to discuss them • John Polkinghorne sees ‘Divine Action’ and miracle not as God suspending laws of nature nor God adding/subtracting new mass and/or physical energy, but as God implanting information (Word) into physical systems This ‘input’ is possible because of the open structures revealed in quantum physics (micro level) and chaotic dynamics (macro level) • Keeping in mind what is said above, go on to read Unit 10 • It cannot be summarised easily with Power Point However it is important 221 Unit 10 deals with the following subjects: :God comes into our world - Israel and Jesus :The witness of Jewish History :Incarnation of God in Space-Time :Divine and Human in One Person :Our Union With Christ :Christ the Cosmic Saviour :The Christian Hope Also see my article: The Nature and Origin of the Bible at: 222 www.apologetics.fsnet.co.uk/bible.htm Read handout: ‘The Gospel according to science’ by physicist Paul Davies and ponder the points below: He believes we must use science to find moral values • Does he indicate what he means by goodness? • As well as good he believes humans commit much evil 223 There is an underlying assumption that the survival and future happiness of our species is the final goal of goodness and morality If, as he says, we evil things, why should our survival be a `good’? Even if it is the case that our survival and happiness are good things, does that belief follow from science? If not science then what? Our desires? Do our desires determine what is ‘good’? What about competing desires? 224 ‘The Gospel according to science’ by physicist Paul Davies - continued • He wonders how science can be used to give us moral values – Does he give any indication of how this might be possible? – If not, why you think he fails (and is bound to fail) to find a solution to his problem? • Can we get an `ought’ from an ‘is’? 225 Read handout: ‘Michael Ruse and reductionary illusions.’ by John Byle • Michael Ruse’s theory is that there is no real ‘good’; it is just a helpful illusion that helps preserves our species by making us behave more co-operatively – He believes that morality comes from our genes that trick us into thinking that co-operation is objectively ‘good.’ – He believes, then, that understanding morality can be reduced to understanding our genes – He has a reductionist view of morality Note the ways in which John Byle shows that this theory refutes itself and therefore cannot 226 be true The Problem of Evil • Two kinds of evil: – Moral Evil • Why people behave badly? • Is God to blame for creating us with the capacity for evil? • Why does He not stop us doing evil? – Natural evil • Why are there natural disasters - such as earthquakes etc which surely cannot be blamed on us? 227 The Problem of Evil • Intellectual problems for all world views – For the theist: • If God is good and powerful why is there evil and suffering? – For the pantheist: • If the natural world (which contains evil) is part of God, does that mean that God Himself is partly evil? • If the natural world is eternal, does not that mean that evil is eternal and there is no salvation? • Does it make sense to say we should try to escape the cycle of re-incarnation when we have already had an infinite time? 228 In response pantheism often denies the existence of evil: saying that the way things are is the way `things are meant to be´, and giving us advice on how to cope with suffering in ourselves and others 229 The Problem of Evil • Intellectual problems for all world views (cont) – For the atheist: • If the atheist challenges the theist saying ´Why does evil exist?, is he not acknowledging the existence of good? • How does he distinguish good from evil? • If he does distinguish good from evil does not that imply the existence of an objective goodness? – an objective goodness which is independent of our private opinions and biology? 230 Christian responses to the problem of Suffering and Evil • Pain is a necessary by-product of nature • All things, including evil finally contribute to the goodness of the whole • Eg: Our love and courage are strengthened 231 God is not indifferent to suffering: In all our affliction He too is afflicted The Cross brings into focus God’s suffering with and for us The resurrection of Christ is God’s final answer to evil, suffering and death Evil is temporary Eternity, where justice, love and truth prevail, is a reality 232 Christian responses to the problem of Suffering and Evil -cont • God purpose was to create and redeem human beings so that they would good for the sake of goodness rather than just for a reward 233 So in this world, pain and happiness exist side by side God shares all our suffering and ultimately triumphs over it Pain exists but is defeated in the end Good people as well as bad suffer but the good are eternally rewarded in another world that they cannot yet see Ultimately goodness, love and mercy reach fulfilment in the context of evil and pain A famous book on this subject is: CS Lewis's `The Problem of Pain´ 234 • Unit 11 carries the discussion of evil and suffering further, considering: Evolution and the Fall Where and when is the Golden age from which we have fallen? The meaning of the Fall ♦Alternative non-Atheist World Views Deism Pantheism Panentheism Biblical World View 235