Defining God Out
Tony Isaac, January 23, 2006
Today's scientific establishment summarily dismisses the possibility of any supernatural role in the creation of the Universe or of life. They say that God is, by definition, outside the realm of science.
Naturalism
This claim is not really science, but naturalism. Merriam-Webster defines naturalism as "a theory denying that an event or object has a supernatural significance; specifically : the doctrine that scientific laws are adequate to account for all phenomena."
This doctrine has consumed today's scientific community. But there are several problems with this claim:
1. Science is not restricted to naturalism. Science is "the state of knowing : knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding." Some kinds of knowledge cannot be tested in a laboratory.
2. Limiting science to the field of naturalism creates an artificial barrier to the pursuit of knowledge. A naturalist says, in effect, "I won't look at any evidence that I can't reproduce in a lab." One might as well say, "I don't believe in any kind of light that I can't see."
3. Since neither creationism nor evolutionism can be tested in the lab, this places the entire debate outside the realm of naturalism!
Faith
Naturalism is a crutch used by the scientific community to easily dispose of debate about a Creator. By simply defining God out, they neatly sidestep some of the most serious challenges to their towering house of cards. This is not science, but faith.
Copyright © 2006 by Tony Isaac