Sárospataki Füzetek 14. (2010)
2010 / 1. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Byl, John: Világnézetek háborúja: a keresztyénség és kihívói.
Byl, John tower built by modernity has human autonomy as its foundation. The first floor is science, which gives understanding. The second floor is technology, which gives power. The third floor is economics, which gives purpose for scientific and industrial progress. The fourth floor is consumerism, feeding superficial pleasures and driving the economy. This modernist tower, with its pretensions of reaching into heaven, is, like its pagan predecessor, undermined by a confusion of language. This time, however, no divine intervention is needed. Post-modern man himself blows up his own tower by emptying his language of any meaningful content. The Christian worldview Central to the Christian worldview is the notion of a sovereign, all-knowing, tri-personal God Who has revealed Himself through the Bible. This God is the creator of everything, even logical and moral absolutes. All of history unfolds according to God’s eternal plan. In this plan man, who was created in God’s image, plays a major role serving and glorifying God. Man was created good but, through his own choice, fell into sin. Through God’s grace in Jesus Christ, some are redeemed. After physical death, our soul lives on, to be re-united with a renewed body on the Day of Judgment. Thereafter we shall receive our eternal reward. Whereas naturalism leaves us with no meaning for life, Christianity maintains that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (Westminster Shorter Catechism). Regarding our fundamental worldview questions, Christianity’s responses can be summarized as follows: Story. God created the universe good, man fell into sin and spoiled it, Christ will redeem man and the world. Ontology-. God is the ultimate reality; He is all-powerful, all-knowing. He sets physical laws and performs miracles. Anthropology: Man is created in God’s image to serve Him. Man consists of body and soul. Knowledge-. We acquire knowledge through our senses and by divine revelation (the Bible). Ethics: God sets and upholds all moral absolutes, mathematical tmths, etc. Religion: We are to praise and serve God in all our thoughts, words, and deeds. Christianity and science How does Christianity relate to science? We note first that Christianity enabled science. The cultural mandate (“replenish the earth and subdue it”, Gen. 1:26) provided motivation to study God’s creation. The Reformation stressed everyday life and the importance of all occupations. A Christian view of knowledge affirms that God upholds the universe and universal norms, such as deductive logic, and that God is the ultimate author of the Bible. Scientific theories, on the other hand, are fallible human inventions. Hence scientific theories should agree with the higher sources of knowledge as found in observation, logic and Bible. 36 SÁROS PATAKI FÜZETEK
