Reclaiming The Christian Roots Of Modern Science (ppt)

Reclaiming the Christian Roots of Modern Science Ken Yeh November 25, 2008

What do you know about the history of science and Christianity? • Medieval Christians believed that the Earth was

flat, until Columbus proved the Church wrong. • Galileo Galilei proved scientifically that the Earth

revolved around the sun, thus confirming Copernicus’ theory of heliocentrism. • The Scientific Revolution was a triumph of reason

over religion, as the early scientists applied science to undermine the authority of the Church.

The Church and Science at War? The general belief is that Christians have always been opposed to science, holding instead to “antiscientific” views such as:

 A flat Earth  Geocentrism  Supernatural Creation of the Universe

The Church and Science at War? Concludes historian of science Colin Russell in “The Conflict Metaphor and its Social Origins,”

“The common belief that… the actual relations between religion and science over the last few centuries have been marked by deep and enduring hostility… is not only historically inaccurate, but actually a caricature so grotesque that what needs to be explained is how it could possibly have achieved any degree of respectability.” (quoted in Lennox, God’s Undertaker)

John Draper, History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science (1875)

Roman Christianity and Science are recognized by their respective adherents as being absolutely incompatible; they cannot exist together; one must yield to the other; mankind must make it’s choice – it cannot have both.

Andrew Dickson White, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896) In all modern history, interference with science in the supposed interest of religion, no matter how conscientious such interference may have been, has resulted in the direst evils both to religion and to science. swordandspirit.com

E. Thomson, neuroscientist, review of A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom on Amazon.com

“[B]ased on historical evidence, religious thinking *in science* only stunts the creativity and logical thought processes of scientists.” swordandspirit.com

The Flat Earth Myth

The Flat Earth Myth in Textbooks

“[Columbus] felt he would eventually reach the Indies in the East. Many Europeans still believed that the world was flat. Columbus, they thought, would fall off the earth.” America Past and Present (Scott Foresman, 1983), 98.

“The European sailor of a thousand years ago also had many other strange beliefs. He turned to these beliefs because he had no other way to explain the dangers of the unknown sea. He believed . . . that a ship could sail out to sea just so far before it fell off the edge of the sea. . . . The people of Europe a thousand years ago knew little about the world.” We the People (Heath, 1982), 28-29.

Columbus’ Conflict with the Church Andrew Dickson White, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom

The warfare of Columbus the world knows well: how the Bishop of Ceuta worsted him in Portugal; how sundry wise men of Spain confronted him with the usual quotations from the Psalms, from St. Paul, and from St. Augustine; how, even after he was triumphant, and after his voyage had greatly strengthened the theory of the earth's sphericity, with which the theory of the antipodes was so closely connected, the Church by its highest authority solemnly stumbled and persisted in going astray.

Washington Irving

The disagreement with Columbus was over the size of the Earth, not its shape

4,450 km

22,000 km

Early Christian Thinkers on the Shape of the Earth Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Summa Theologica

“Both an astronomer and a physical scientist may demonstrate the same conclusion, for instance that the earth is spherical; the first, however, works in a mathematical medium prescinding from material qualities, while for the second his medium is the observation of material bodies through the senses.”

Early Christian Thinkers on the Shape of the Earth Nicole Oresme (1323-1382), a French Roman Catholic Bishop, proposed several playful paradoxes dealing with a round and rotating earth, including one that established the principle behind changing time zones and the international date line for east-west travels. Oresme’s teacher, Jean Buridan, discussed the rotation of the Earth. All three of these Middle Age thinkers wrote as if the round earth was common knowledge, not something that still needed to be established.

Earth’s Shadow during a Lunar Eclipse Thomas Aquinas: "In [lunar] eclipses the outline [of the earth] is always curved: and, since it is the interposition of the earth that makes the eclipse, the form of this line will be caused by the form of the earth's surface, which is therefore spherical."

Astronomical Observations Johannes de Sacrobosco (1195-1256), an English monk, wrote in his astronomy textbook used for many centuries: “That the earth, too, is round is shown thus. The signs and stars do not rise and set the same for all men everywhere but rise and set sooner for those in the east than for those in the west; and of this there is no other cause than the bulge of the earth.”

Observations of a Ship’s Mast • Sacrobosco also described how the dropping of a ship’s mast below the horizon as it sailed away was another proof of the spherical shape of the earth.

This brief survey of early Christian thinkers shows us that the Church was not against the concept of a spherical Earth, and rather than being ignorant and opposed to scientific knowledge, many Christians thinkers were in fact at the forefront of scientific progress. “Our determination to believe the Flat Error arises out of contempt for the past and our need to believe in the superiority of the present.” Jeffrey Burton Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth

The Trial of Galileo

The Trial of Galileo • The trial of Galileo is much more

nuanced and complex than the simplistic “science versus the church” caricature painted by the popular press. • Charles Hummel, The Galileo

Connection: Resolving Conflicts between Science and the Bible

Popular Myths about the Trial of Galileo • Galileo was tortured and abused by the

Inquisition until he recanted his belief in heliocentrism.

• Galileo was able to prove scientifically that

the Earth moved around the sun.

• Galileo was trying to undermine the

authority of the church through his scientific work.

Galileo’s “prison”: The Villa Medici

Ptolemaic versus Copernican System

Tychonian System

But the Tychonian system could explain all of the observed phenomena

Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, Letter on Galileo’s Theories, 1615 I say that if there were a true demonstration that the sun was in the center of the universe and the earth in the third sphere, and that the sun did not travel around the earth but the earth circled the sun, then it would be necessary to proceed with great caution in explaining the passages of Scripture which seemed contrary, and we would rather have to say that we did not understand them than to say that something was false which has been demonstrated. But I do not believe that there is any such demonstration; none has been shown to me. It is not the same thing to show that the appearances are saved by assuming that the sun really is in the center and the earth in the heavens. I believe that the first demonstration might exist, but I have grave doubts about the second, and in a case of doubt, one may not depart from the Scriptures as explained by the holy Fathers.

Galileo affirmed the need for a conclusive demonstration “Yet even in those propositions which are not matters of faith, this authority [of the Bible] ought to be preferred over that of all human writings which are supported only by bare assertions or probable arguments, and not set forth in a demonstrative way” (quoted in Hummel, The Galileo Connection, p. 107)

Galileo’s “killer proof” that the Earth moved around the sun—presented in his Treatise on the Tides (1616)—was the motion of the tides.

The only problem was, his proof was wrong. Other scientists who considered his argument concluded that it made no sense.

Galileo never intended to undermine the authority of the Church • Galileo’s battle was with Aristotelian scientists • Galileo was trying to prevent the church from

becoming irrelevant in clinging on to an obsolete understanding of the world.

• Galileo promoted heliocentrism in opposition to the

Aristotelian geocentric universe, not against Scripture.

• Galileo saw no conflict between science and theology • Galileo developed an early apologetic for apparent

conflict between science and theology

Galileo maintained his devotion to the Church, even after his trial “I have two sources of perpetual comfort—first, that in my writings there cannot be found the faintest shadow of irreverence toward the Holy Church; and second, the testimony of my own conscience, which only I and God in Heaven thoroughly know. And he knows that in this cause for which I suffer… none, not even the ancient Fathers, have spoken with more piety or with greater zeal for the Church than I.” (quoted in Hummel, The Galileo Connection, p. 124-125)

A Rational Universe A critical component to the rise of modern science is a belief in the rationality of the universe. It was the Christian belief in an infinite, eternal, and personal God who made this universe which gave the fathers of modern science a basis for the rationality of the universe.

A Rational Universe To men like Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Bacon, the creation was orderly and uniform because it was created this way by an orderly and rational God.

Johannes Kepler “The chief aim of all investigations of the external world should be to discover the rational order and harmony which has been imposed on it by God and which He revealed to us in the language of mathematics.” (Defundamentis Astrologiae Certioribus, Thesis XX, 1601)

Isaac Newton “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.... This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all; and on account of his dominion he is wont to be called Lord God…. In him are all things contained and moved.” Principia

Isaac Newton Writes historian John Hermann Randall:

“The whole form of Newtonian science practically forced men, as a necessary scientific hypothesis, to believe in an external Creator” (quoted in Pearcey and Thaxton, The Soul of Science, p. 91)

The Laws of Nature Presbyterian theologian Thomas Derr

“As the creation of a trustworthy God, nature exhibited regularity, dependability, and orderliness. It was intelligible and could be studied. It displayed a knowable order.” (quoted in Pearcey and Thaxton, The Soul of Science)

C.S. Lewis, Miracles

“Men became scientific because they expected Law in Nature, and they expected Law in Nature because they believed in a Legislator.”

Science Revealing the Glory of God Morris Kline, Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty, quoted in The Soul of Science by Nancy Pearcey and Charles Thaxton:

“The search for the mathematical laws of nature was an act of devotion which would reveal the glory and grandeur of His handiwork.... Each discovery of a law of nature was hailed as evidence of God's brilliance rather than the investigator's.”

Johannes Kepler “Since we astronomers are priests of the highest God in regard to the book of nature, it befits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God.”

Nicolaus Copernicus “To know the mighty works of God, to comprehend His wisdom and majesty and power; to appreciate, in degree, the wonderful workings of His laws, surely all this must be a pleasing and acceptable mode of worship to the Most High, to whom ignorance cannot be more grateful than knowledge.”

Johannes Kepler I give you thanks, Creator and God, that you have given me this joy in thy creation, and I rejoice in the works of your hands. See I have now completed the work to which I was called. In it I have used all the talents you have lent to my Harmonies of the World, quoted in Pearcey and Thaxton, The Soul of spirit. Science, p. 23

The Birth of Modern Science Loren Eiseley, Darwin’s Century

“We must also observe that in one of those strange permutations of which history yields occasional rare examples, it is the Christian world which finally gave birth in a clear articulate fashion to the experimental method of science itself.” Nancy Pearcey and Charles Thaxton , The Soul of Science (p. 20):

“Far from impeding the progress of science, Christianity had actually encouraged it—that the Christian culture within which science arose was not a menace but a midwife to science.”

Believers Who Led the Way in Science • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

William Foxwell Albright, archaeologist Charles Babbage, creator of the computer Francis Bacon, father of the scientific method Robert Boyle, founder of modern chemistry John Dalton, father of modern atomic theory Leonhard Euler, mathematician Jean Henri Fabre, chief founder of modern entomology Michael Faraday, founder of electromagnetic induction and field theory William Thomson Kelvin, thermodynamics Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz, co-inventor of calculus James Clerk Maxwell, electromagnetic theory of light Gregor Mendel, father of genetics Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph Blaise Pascal, mathematician and hydrostatics Louis Pasteur, formulator of the germ theory of disease William Mitchell Ramsay, archaeologist

Galileo Galilei “For the holy Bible and the phenomena of nature proceed alike from the divine Word…” “We conclude that God is known first through Nature, and then again, more particularly, by doctrine, by Nature in His works, and by doctrine in His revealed word.”

The Two Books of God’s Revelation Sir Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning, 1605

‘To conclude, therefore, let no man … think or maintain that a man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God’s word, or in the book of God’s works; divinity or philosophy; but rather let men endeavor an endless progress or proficience in both.’

God reveals Himself in 2 ways: Through the Bible (special revelation) and in nature (general revelation)

If the God of the Bible is the God of nature, then facts from both should agree since they have the same Source.

The Testimony of Nature Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature —have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

The Testimony of Nature Psalm 19:1-2 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

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• A tool for resolving conflicts between

science & theology • Hope: • Nature and Scripture are both from God and must agree (all truth is God’s truth) • Strategy: • don’t throw out one and keep the

other (don’t ignore some of God’s revelation)

• keep pursuing both science and

theology until the underlying unity of Nature and Scripture becomes clear

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Nature

Scripture

Science

Theology

Fallibility of Interpretation theologians are not infallible, in the interpretation of Scripture. It may, therefore, happen in the future, as it has in the past, that interpretations of the Bible, long confidently received, must be modified or abandoned, to bring revelation into harmony with what God teaches in his works. This change of view as to the true meaning of the Bible may be a painful trial to the Church, but it does not in the least impair the authority of the Scriptures. They remain infallible; we are merely convicted of having mistaken their meaning.

Points of Application We need to beware of tying our faith too closely to a particular interpretation of nature On the other hand, we must not hold so dearly to a particular interpretation of Scripture that we are unwilling to allow convincing scientific evidence to reform our interpretation.

Points of Application Use the sciences as a tool to discover more about God and the Bible and the beautiful creation. Use the facts of nature (remember, they are from God) to bolster or correct your own biblical interpretations.