{"id":6636,"date":"2010-02-09T06:01:15","date_gmt":"2010-02-09T11:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/09\/christian-worldview-is-there-a-place-rjs\/"},"modified":"2012-05-15T20:26:00","modified_gmt":"2012-05-16T01:26:00","slug":"christian-worldview-is-there-a-place-rjs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/09\/christian-worldview-is-there-a-place-rjs\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Worldview – Is There a Place? (RJS)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ve given my point of view on this blog on many occasions. Today I would like to put a slightly different point of view up for consideration. I had an e-mail conversation with a friend last week about intelligent design and the place for the Christian worldview in the academy in general and science in particular.\u00a0 He supports intelligent design research and inquiry \u2013 but his faith does not hinge on evidence for design. He respects Francis Collins and his stand, and appears comfortable with the general evolutionary tree of life including common descent. But there is a significant issue that goes beyond \u201cproof\u201d of God or of design. The issue is one of consistent worldview and approach to intellectual life.<\/p>\n

I will put some of our correspondence (with permission) up for consideration, so you get his words directly, not just my interpretation.<\/p>\n

\n

A major problem in the whole area, I feel,\u00a0is the different assumptions about who has the burden of proof. \u00a0Origin of Life advocates seem to put the burden on skeptics. \u00a0As long as some hypothesized mechanism might conceivably get around whatever issue is raised, then the skeptic has been defeated, even if no evidence is available to back up the proposed mechanism. \u00a0I think they [the naturalists] feel this is fair, since they believe that naturalistic scenarios have proven so successful in science that anyone who doubts a naturalistic scenario must prove rigorously that no natural explanation can possibly work, or else it is reasonable to fall back on a naturalistic explanation, even if it is highly speculative.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

I am uncomfortable with this, since it would be easily extended to the origin of the universe, and \u00a0to the life of Christ as well, which, interpreted naturalistically, would require that we believe his reported resurrection was due to fraud or error, since this is theoretically possible and is a naturalistic scenario. \u00a0 In this way,\u00a0the Christian worldview is excluded not just from science, but from history, and then from all intellectual discourse.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

More after the jump. As you read \u2013 consider this question:<\/p>\n

What place does Christian thinking have in the academy? How does this thinking distinguish itself? In the sciences, in the social sciences, in biblical studies?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

On the other hand,\u00a0if miracles are a live option in history, then they are a live option as an alternative to naturalistic explanations in science. So, I take the viewpoint that if origin of life researchers find good evidence for spontaneous origin of life, then I will be willing to accept this idea and I wouldn\u2019t see this as being in conflict with my faith, since God can choose to create life through the laws of Chemistry, if He wishes. \u00a0But for me to believe in naturalistic explanations even if the evidence doesn\u2019t support them commits me (I feel) to interpreting the world naturalistically as a basic assumption regardless of evidence. \u00a0To be consistent, then, I would then need to apply the same approach to history as I do to science. \u00a0This would be the end of my Christian faith, as it would require me to abandon belief in a supernatural explanation for Jesus\u2019 life, if a naturalistic explanation is even remotely possible. \u00a0 After all, this is what we do with the origin of life, and other puzzles in the sciences.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In another message:
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The difficulty for me comes in deciding whether a Christian worldview is a contender in the academic setting.\u00a0 Science and other knowledge, such as historical knowledge, cannot be severed from each other. \u00a0Thus,\u00a0the methods of scientific inquiry spill over into other areas, including historical inquiry. \u00a0And this inquiry is now comprehensive \u2013 it seeks to understand all of human experience, including historical and religious. \u00a0Thus,\u00a0a scientific-historical inquiry into the origins of Christianity must, following this reasoning, seek a natural explanation of Christ and the origins of the church. \u00a0Likewise, it seeks to understand our religious experiences and why we believe in God and Christ through a natural process, such as evolutionary forces. \u00a0This implies, by methodological naturalism, that we must seek to understand our belief in God, not on grounds of His existence and that He has impressed this knowledge on us, but on grounds of evolutionary forces, neurological processes, and so forth. We must seek to understand how\u00a0our minds make us believe in something for which there is no real evidence, where \u201creal evidence\u201d here can only be what falls into the realm of the natural. \u00a0The goal is to explain how and why we believe in something like a resurrection. \u00a0It is taken for granted that this belief is ungrounded from rationality, since it implies a miracle, which is a priori rejected.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

If one accepts methodological naturalism consistently as the basis for academic inquiry and rational thought, \u00a0it follows that Christianity and religious belief have no place in the university, or in rational discussions, except to do autopsy on them. \u00a0 We must concede that a scientific-historical understanding of Christianity must be built with no reference to the possibility that He rose from the dead. \u00a0We must accept that our own beliefs must be explained in evolutionary and neurological terms, without reference to the possibility that they are true. \u00a0If we do this, what do we say to a Christian who wishes to become a historian of the first century church in academia? \u00a0What do we say to a Christian in a department of religious studies? \u00a0 I think a retreat of a Christian worldview from the pool of live options in the intellectual community reduces our knowledge of God to mere \u201cprivate feelings\u201d\u00a0and not universal truth.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I think he makes many good points here, worth discussion.<\/strong><\/em> The attitude in academia and much of intellectual life today demands rigorous secular naturalism. Faith is ridiculed and not allowed a place at the table, especially in the US. We saw something of this in the discussion concerning graduate schools in theology and biblical studies \u2013 and their response to evangelical applicants (original post<\/a> \u2013 Scot\u2019s response<\/a>). The secular naturalism makes it hard to stand as a Christian in the sciences. I think that it is even harder at times in the social sciences and humanities. But if we take our faith seriously it is not something bracketed off to a corner. It permeates all parts of life, including our intellectual life, our approach to academic disciplines, and our work life. Intellectual integrity demands a coherent, consistent approach to problems and a willingness to consider and incorporate all of the evidence<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As I reflect on this, the thinkers who have had the biggest impact on my growth as a Christian are those who look at the evidence rigorously and allow the Christian worldview a place at the table. This is most apparent in areas of theology and biblical studies. The academic method is naturalism. Dominic Crossan explicitly rules out miracles in the books I read (because they don\u2019t happen), J. A. T. Robinson the same. In contrast NT Wright argues from the evidence with a mind open to the work of God, both miraculous and \u201cnatural\u201d (see for example The Resurrection of the Son of God<\/a><\/strong><\/em>). CS Lewis (Mere Christianity<\/a><\/strong><\/em>), Larry Hurtado (Lord Jesus Christ<\/a><\/strong><\/em>), Scot (Jesus and His Death<\/a><\/strong><\/em>), and Pete Enns (Inspiration and Incarnation<\/a><\/strong><\/em>), provide other examples of a similar approach. These authors will encounter resistance in the secular academy \u2013 but it comes for allowing a Christian worldview, not for presenting weak scholarship.<\/p>\n

In my experience, the most damaging works are not the secular writers, Dominic Crossan or Bart Ehrman for example, but the Christian apologists who present untenable arguments and rely on foundations built on sand, what I have called elsewhere \u201cevangelical ghetto thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same is true in any discussion of science \u2013 the damage done by shoddy intellectual work in the name of Intelligent Design compounds the problems in the academy by providing no ground on which Christian scientists, students, and scholars can\u00a0 stand; subjecting the Christian worldview to unnecessary ridicule; and providing an excuse for dismissing it from the table. I am not interested in disproving design arguments<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 I am interested in promoting critical thought, evaluating the arguments on their strengths, and pointing out the weaknesses where they exist. Failure to do so will undermine any possible good arising from the consideration of design.<\/p>\n

Thoughts, opinions, comments?
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

How do you think the Christian worldview can find a place at the table?<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Who has had the greatest influence on your thinking and why?<\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

If you wish to contact me, you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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