Conservative and "fundamentalist" Christians often the criticize the scientific world view for its failure to consider their viewpoint; scientists are closed minded. This critique is incorrect.
Faith is "a belief that does not rest on logical proof or evidence"1, see Heb 11:1. Faith is thus immune to evidence. No scientific claims made, evidence collected, or logic applied can ever be expected to dissuade someone of their faith-based notions. Faith itself is considered evidence of things not seen. This argument is transparently false; faith that the Sun is a horse-drawn chariot driven across the sky doesn't make it so.
Openminded, on the other hand, is defined as "having or showing a mind receptive to new ideas or arguments".2 Science is malleable. As new evidence and ideas are tested and verified, scientists change their minds. Conservative Christians label this provisional nature of science a weakness. It certainly doesn't help that some philosophers question whether an objective reality exists and if anything can be known at all.
In Biblical times, the world's best thinkers knew the Earth was flat and the sky supported by pillars (see for example Job 9:6 and Psalms 75:3). Copernicus, Galileo, Columbus and others demonstrated otherwise. Without their foundation for a spherical earth and a heliocentric solar system, the ability to launch weather, communication, and digital television satellites would be impossible.
Scientists change their mind for good reasons. That doesn't mean they can't fool themselves or be fooled by others. Science, unlike faith, is self-correcting. Self-delusion and fraud will not stand the scrutiny of reasoned testing and evidence.
1. faith. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faith
2. openminded. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved April 22, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/openminded
A place for science-based answers to questions posed in the Answers In Genesis newsletter with the express intent to avoid the "Flock of Dodos" problem in science communication. I'm just adding my voice.
About Me
- Brandon C. Nuttall
- I am a geologist by training and profession. I have a Bachelors Degree in Geology and have worked for 30 years in petroleum geology and stratigraphy. The opinions expressed on this blog are mine and are not necessarily those of my supervisors or employers. Additionally, the mistakes in this blog are mine. I am not going to adopt the "mistakes were made" position of plausible deniability.
1 comment:
Brandon,
In your post you said, “Faith is thus immune to evidence.” I noticed that you gave the second definition of “Faith” listed on Dictionary.com. The first definition is, “confidence or trust in a person or thing.”
If we have confidence or trust in something, can’t that be the result of evidence? In other words, faith isn’t necessarily independent of the evidence but rather the product of evidence. So the “faith” we have in our theories (yours and mine) is the result of our confidence in the evidence.
BTW, in the original language of the New Testament (Koine Greek), the same word is used for “believe” and “have faith.” It can be translated either way. In our English Bibles, we translate it according to our preference in English; no such distinction was made in the Greek.
You also said, “Faith itself is considered evidence of things not seen” (your paraphrase of Hebrews 11:1) but next you said, “This argument is transparently false.” By taking it out of context, you are destroying the actual meaning of the verse. You might reread the entire chapter of Hebrews. It is by our belief in God that we know about things we didn’t see. We know, for example, that God created the universe (v. 3) even though we didn’t see it. In verse 7, we see that Noah believed God and built the Ark in preparation of the “things not seen as yet.”
Now you exercise a similar faith in your theory. You have “faith in things not seen.” You believe you are correct in your understanding of the formation of rock layers even though you didn’t see them being formed.
I wasn’t born a Christian. The Bible didn’t appear in my lap one day and beguile me into believing it. Mine is not a blind faith. I considered the evidence and believed it to be true. And it is because I believe God about the things I could verify that I also believe (have faith in) Him about the things I can’t see.
God Bless!!
RKBentley
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