By Katie Hulse https://www.str.org/w/why-is-nature-intelligible-
The natural world exhibits a rational
ordering—that is, it follows regular patterns, what we call the “laws of
physics” or the “laws of nature”—and humans have the ability to comprehend the
world and how it’s structured.
Regarding this, theoretical physicist
and Anglican priest John Polkinghorne commented,
"We are so familiar with the fact that we can understand the
world that, most of the time, we take it for granted. It is what makes science
possible. Yet it could have been otherwise. The universe might have been a
disorderly chaos, rather than an orderly cosmos. Or it might have had a
rationality that was inaccessible to us."
Polkinghorne (1930-2021) raises important points.
Why is it that the natural world is ordered? Why is it that the human mind is
able to comprehend the natural world?
The world could have been different. Yet we find ourselves in a world that makes sense to us, that we’re able to grasp. We find ourselves in a world that’s conducive to scientific study and investigation. The natural world exhibits a universal consistency and patterns that allow us to make predictions and to progress in our knowledge. Our world has the key properties that make the success of the scientific enterprise possible. Why?
Theoretical physicist and
cosmologist Paul Davies made an
interesting observation after asking this question:
"Over the years I have often asked my physicist colleagues why
the laws of physics are what they are. The answers vary from “that’s not a
scientific question” to “nobody knows.” The favorite reply is, “There is no
reason they are what they are—they just are.” The idea that the laws exist
reasonlessly is deeply anti-rational. After all, the very essence of a
scientific explanation of some phenomenon is that the world is ordered
logically and that there are reasons things are as they are. If one traces these
reasons all the way down to the bedrock of reality—the laws of physics—only to
find that reason then deserts us, it makes a mockery of science."
The frequent response to the way the world is logically ordered is “There’s no reason” or “That’s just the way it is.” Albert Einstein even described the universe’s comprehensibility as “the eternal mystery of the world.” Yet, as Davies points out, the notion that the natural world is orderly for no reason is “deeply anti-rational.” It’s not a satisfactory answer.
But the Judeo-Christian worldview has
long offered a unique explanation for the way the world is.
The Judeo-Christian worldview recognizes and accounts for the fact that nature exhibits patterns and regularity. Gen. 8:22; “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Jer. 33:20 “Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time," or verse 25 “Thus says the Lord, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established." It explains that the universe was created by a rational God and therefore exhibits a rational ordering and structure. It reflects “the mind of the Maker,” as Dorothy Sayers put it.
The Judeo-Christian worldview accounts for nature’s intelligibility as well. It says that we’re able to comprehend the natural world because God made human beings in his image. Gen. 1:27 "God created man ain His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." We’re rational beings made in the image of a rational God, able to make sense of the logical structuring of the universe.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) expressed this interconnectedness of the natural order, human reason, and the divine mind when he said, “God wanted us to recognize them [i.e., the laws of mathematics] by creating us after his own image so that we could share in his own thoughts.”
The Judeo-Christian worldview accounts
for these essential qualities that make scientific endeavors possible. We
attribute the logical ordering of nature to the fact that it’s the creation of
a rational God, and we understand that the human capacity to reason and
comprehend the natural world are the result of being made in the image of God.
This is one of the reasons the Judeo-Christian framework led to the development
of modern science.
Another article by Katie can be found at the following link. https://www.str.org/w/what-if-god-isn-t-like-the-god-we-ve-believed-in-
Dennis: Science would not be possible were it not for the constancy of nature, that we know that tomorrow will be like today. We know that tomorrow will be like today, not because we can prove it scientifically, but because God has told us so in His word. If the world is meaningless and is a result of a cosmic accident then why should we suppose that tomorrow will be like today? We only have a justification for our ability to reason and think and do science if there is a God who made us. God is a sufficient reason for the orderly and beautiful world we see around us.
God is a sufficient reason for our own ability to think, to love, to forgive. Without God as our initial presupposition we have no reason to believe anything. Everything is reduced to absurdity. We must start our reasoning with, "In the beginning God," Genesis 1:1. God is the principal foundation for right reasoning. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge," Proverbs 1:7. That is why Saint Augustine said, "Seek not to understand, that you may believe; but seek to believe that you might understand."
Other Proverbs of Solomon give the same advice.
If we do not retain God in our knowledge, our thinking becomes clouded, corrupted, evil, foolish.
Apostle Paul has aptly explained.
"Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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 people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools." Romans 1:19-22.
Jesus Himself said, “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!"
In other words, if our world view is based on the true assumptions, we will have a true understanding of the world around us. However, if our world view is based on false assumptions, we will have a false understanding of the world around us, even though we may believe it is true.
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world,: he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life," John 8:12. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father but by Me," John 14:6. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deed were evil," John 3:19.
Like Aldous Huxley has so aptly put that he had reasons for embracing atheism and naturalism in his thinking. His reasons were his rejections of the formalities and hypocrisy of the then political, social, and religious system, and his desire for sexual freedom. He loved darkness rather than light, because his deeds, his sexual desires, were evil. He preferred gratifying his flesh over following the dictates of truth and conscience, a common compromise of many of us.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment