08/05/2024
DO CREATIONISTS DENY SCIENCE?
That's the suggested "slur" evolutionists aim at those who believe in Creation.
"Oh, they're burying their heads in the sand," chortle some while others just bluntly sack a Creator God and say "science is all we need."
I rather like the sensible ans measure approach of
Dr Jonathan Sarfati writing in CREATIONEXTRA in March 2024.
He explains the following...
Evolutionists often claim that Creationists deny science. But what science do Creationists deny? And what does history say?
FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE
Before discussing science, we should wonder why it even works. Science requires an orderly universe, but why should it be orderly in the first place? Evolution can't explain it.
However, the Bible teaches a Divine Lawmaker - the God of Order, not confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) - made the universe. God gave mankind dominion (Genesis 1:28), implying we are meant to study the creation and find out how it works.
University, a medieval church invention, first laid the foundations of science. Its pioneers were often clergymen, what we might call natural philosophers (natural philosophy was the old term for science).
A few centuries later, the Reformation led to the rediscovery of a more objective understanding of Scripture which was transferred to nature. Science historian Peter Harrison wrote, "The Bible and its literal interpretation have played a vital role in the development of Western Science.
SPECIFIC
SCIENCES
Let's explore several scientific branches to see if creationists deny them.
ASTRONOMY
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) discovered the three laws of planetary motion. He also invented the refracting telescope used by modern astronomers, and discovered how eyes focus incoming light.
He said his scientific work was "thinking God's thoughts after him."
CHEMISTRY
Robert Boyle (1627-1691) overturned the pagan-Greek view of four elements: fire, water, earth and air. Instead he proposed the modern scientific definition: a substance that can't be broken down into anything simpler.
Boyle discovered that gas volume is inversely proportional to pressure (i.e. the smaller the volume of gas the higher the pressure).
He also wrote books defending Christianity.
PHYSICS
Albert Einstein's three scientific heroes were Faraday, Maxwell and Newton.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867), a member of a very Conservative sect (the Sandemanians), pioneered electrochemistry (important for electroplating) and magnetic induction (vital for electric generators).
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) hugely contributed to thermodynamics, and his electromagnetism equations were foundational for Einstein's relativity. Maxwell rejected Darwinism and affirmed Noah's Flood.
Sir Isaac Newton (1642/3-1727) discovered the laws of motion, gravity, and cooling, and the spectrum of light. But he wrote more about Scripture than science.
SCIENTIFIC MATHEMATICS
Newton also co-invented calculus. Other outstanding creationist mathematicians included Blaise Pascal (1623-172), discoverer of probability and hydraulics, and Leonhard Euler (1707-1783), who probably discovered more mathematics than anyone else.
SO, CREATIONISTS ARE HARDLY LIKELY TO REJECT PHYISICAL SCIENCES, HAVING PLAYED A HUGE PART IN DISCOVERING AND DEVELOPING THEM.
Well, maybe it's biology that Creationists reject.
WRONG!
But we'll follow this up tomorrow with the second part of this revelation that there would probably have been no modern science but for the genius and hardwork of Christians who knew that behind everything there is an orderly Creating Mind called GOD!