A Hopeful Response to Scientific Naturalism
Mankind often asks questions like these: “Where did I come from? Why am I here?” Another question should be asked: "Is there a worldview that can logically and satisfactorily answer these inquiries?” There have been many suggestions throughout history that have tried to solve these mysteries. Scientific naturalism is one of many man-made theories that fall far short in seeking to unravel these types of questions. However, one explanation has been around for thousands of years and not only answers the above questions but gives mankind a reason for hope in this life and in the life to come--Christianity! True Biblical Christianity demonstrates there is a wise, loving, and powerful Creator who designed the complexities of our universe despite the claims of scientific naturalism that denies the reality of supernatural involvement.
Analysis of Scientific Naturalism
In the introduction to The Blind Watchmaker, Richard Dawkins insinuates that he had the delightful task of “educating the innocent” and “awakening them to the power of Darwinism as a convincing explanation of life.”[1] Like Dawkins, those who embrace the naturalistic worldview must begin with the presupposition that there is no God, benevolent or otherwise, behind nature, humanity, and the complexity of DNA. The Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms elaborates on this concept by describing it this way: “Naturalism sometimes refers to a form of atheism and materialism that maintains that the “natural” universe (composed of energy and matter and based on natural laws) is the sum total of reality…”[2] Many believe the concept of naturalism gained popularity because of the Enlightenment. This period of history “glorified human reason,” and “scientific naturalism and rationalism” began to influence what many accepted as true and reasonable.[3] This mentality is reflected in the opening pages of Dawkins’ book referred to above. For instance, Dawkins clearly and unapologetically refers to himself and humanity as simply “animals.”[4] In his worldview, there is no room for God and certainly no room for the concept of individuals created in the image of God.
In essence, scientific naturalism presupposes no supernatural force behind nature (or anything else) but instead points to the laws of nature and Darwinian evolution for these explanations. Dawkins boldly insinuates that the Darwinian worldview is the only known theory to solve the “mystery of our existence.”[5] Another well-known atheist, Christopher Hitchens, said concerning the option of creationism, “…creationism, or ‘intelligent design’ is not even a theory. In all its well-financed propaganda, it has never even attempted to show how one single piece of the natural world is explained better by “design” than by evolutionary competition.[6] Rather than placing their faith in God and the Scriptures, scientific naturalists have placed their faith in the theory of Darwinian evolution to explain the existence of humanity and the rest of the cosmos. As F. Leroy Forlines so adequately explains:
to believe natural causes gave rise to the origin of the universe, life, and the development of life is a conclusion of faith. There is no proof nor can there be any proof that natural causes explain everything within the scope of our experience and observation…Those who take the scientific approach cannot get away with the denial that their system is based on faith.[7]
Critique of Scientific Naturalism
The complexity and design seen in nature, humanity, and DNA reveal that there is not only a Designer but a purpose behind it all! Nature is a highly complex system that demonstrates an omnipotent and omniscient Creator. DNA, for instance, contains information and a type of “language.” While atheists like Dawkins will often admit the complexities seen in nature, they refuse to credit this design to anyone or anything except natural selection. Note what Dawkins reveals when he says, “Natural Selection, the blind, unconscious, automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and apparent purposeful form of all life, has no purpose in mind…It has no vision, no foresight, no sight at all.”[8] Yet intelligent humanity is to believe that a “blind and unconscious” process is responsible for the complexity of nature. Intelligent humanity is supposed to embrace the concept that purposefulness and design rose from the ashes of something with “no purpose in mind.” Intelligent humanity is supposed to fall in line with the concept that something with “no vision” produced beauty and intricacy within our bodies and the universe. That belief requires a far more significant leap of faith for much of humanity than believing, “In the beginning God…” (see Genesis 1:1). Concerning the genetic code, for instance, L. Rush Bush notes, “the existence of the genetic code implies a necessary source of information that is not found in the chemistry alone.”[9] Bush goes on to explain:
DNA establishes the pattern of biological life, not the other way around. Randomness and chaos in chemistry have no means of producing the encrypted information that would be necessary to direct protein activity at biogenesis. The proper information must be there before the necessary organization to implement this information can be achieved. Without this active information in place and without a system to recognize, read, and implement the information, the chemistry of the cell would remain not only simple but dead.[10]
Dawkins, maybe unknowingly, hints at the foolishness of his own belief when he reveals, “It is almost as if the human brain were specifically designed to misunderstand Darwinism, and to find it hard to believe.”[11]
Bush deals with a similar dilemma naturalists face when he says, “If naturalism is a proper description of reality, man’s mind could not be truly free to look at biological facts objectively.”[12] In other words, if naturalism is true and humanity is a result of these biological processes, then humanity’s minds would “be limited by the parameters set by the physical and chemical laws and processes involved in producing the mind.”[13] Humanity would be simply a function of biology and limited by that same biology! Bush then poses these thought-provoking questions:
Do evolutionists believe in evolution because they are biologically determined and sociologically constrained by the evolutionary process to believe in evolution? Do theists believe in God and in a creation model for the same reason…If rational thought is determined by unthinking, unknowing physical processes, then how could and why should it be trusted?[14]
Another dilemma those who embrace scientific naturalism face is nature's inadequacies in explaining the purpose and origin of life. Forlines explains,
The spontaneous generation of life out of lifeless matter places a great strain on the intellect. There is no proof for it. There can be no proof for it. Even if scientists would create life out of matter, it would not prove that life originated spontaneously out of lifeless matter. If men after thousands upon thousands of hours over a period of several years would finally create life out of matter, it would not prove that it could have happened without all the minds, equipment, and controlled conditions.[15]
Defense of Christianity
Is there a better explanation if scientific naturalism and Darwinian evolution are inadequate to explain the origin, purpose, design, and complexity of the universe and its inhabitants? Absolutely! Scripture clarifies that God spoke the universe into existence and created man in His image. Not only does Scripture give us multiple indications that God is responsible for creating all there is, but creation itself points to a complex Designer. The Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said this in Romans 1:20- “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (NKJV). Paul suggests that creation reveals much about the Creator. The visible creation that humanity can see reveals the invisible attributes of the One who created it. It is as if God left “fingerprints” and evidence here and there throughout His marvelous work to declare to anyone willing to see that He exists and is the benevolent, omnipotent, omniscient, purposeful Creator behind it all!
In his book Stealing from God, Christian apologist Frank Turek mentions that the fine-tuning of the universe is a known fact among atheists. Note what he said:
Even atheists admit the universe appears fine-tuned. Stephen Hawking estimates that if the expansion rate of the universe was different by one part in a hundred thousand million million one second after the big bang, the universe would have either collapsed back on itself or never developed galaxies. That initial expansion rate was simply put in at the beginning of the universe. No cosmic evolutionary process can account for it.[16]
While no evolutionary process can account for this, the Psalmist understood thousands of years ago, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 91:1, NKJV).
While scientific naturalism does not explain the purpose of life and, therefore, no hope for the future, Biblical Christianity, on the other hand, reveals how life began and God’s purpose behind it all. Although the Scriptures do not provide every detail regarding how God created the heavens and the earth, they make it clear that He did so through the power of His Word. While scientific naturalism leaves humanity’s existence to blind chance, Biblical Christianity understands that God created humanity to display His glory and to bring Him glory (see Isaiah 43:7). Biblical Christianity understands that all things that were created were done so by God and for God (see Colossians 1:16, Revelation 4:11). Biblical Christianity purports that humanity has a purpose and a reason for existence. However, there is no such hope if humanity is the result of the cosmic lottery, no hope now and certainly no hope for eternity.
Biblical Christianity gives humanity hope for today and eternity and a reasonable explanation for life, death, disease, natural disasters, the fossil record, seasons, marriage, sin, and suffering (as well as many other things). God’s Word reveals things that scientists and archaeologists did not discover or unearth until centuries after they were written in the Holy Scriptures. Richard Dawkins and others who place their faith in scientific naturalism can only conclude, as he does in his book, River Out of Eden, the following hopeless statement:
In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference…
DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.[17]
Conclusion
One does not have to live without hope. The Creator and the Sustainer of the universe made a way for mankind to know Him through the provision of His Son. By knowing Him, individuals can know themselves and why they are here, what purpose they serve, and where they will spend eternity when they leave this earthly existence. God is certainly the One who put the “music”, information, language, and complexity into DNA, and as humanity grows in their knowledge of Him, they can learn to “dance” to His music!
[1] Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996), xi.
[2] Stanley Grenz, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 82.
[3] H. Lynn Gardner, Commending and Defending Christian Faith: An Introduction to Christian Apologetics (College Press Publishing Co., 2010), 125.
[4] Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, 2.
[5] Ibid., xiv.
[6] Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great, (Atlantic Books, Limited, 2008), ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=895330.
Created from liberty on 2023-09-09 01:29:15.
[7] F. Leroy Forlines, The Quest for Truth: Theology for Postmodern World (Nashville, TN: Randall House Publications; Worldwide Ministries, 2001), 128.
[8] Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, 5.
[9] Ibid., 81.
[10] L. Russ Bush, The Advancement: Keeping the Faith in an Evolutionary Age (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 40–41.
[11] Ibid., xv.
[12] Bush, The Advancement, 41.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] F. Leroy Forlines, Biblical Systematics: A Study of the Christian System of Life and Thought (Nashville, TN: Randall House Publications, 1975), 105.
[16] Frank Turek, Stealing from God: Why Atheists Need God to Make Their Case, (NavPress Publishing Group, 2015), ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=5395434.
Created from liberty on 2023-09-09 20:29:49.
[17] Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (New York, NY: BasicBooks, 1995), 133.
