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___________________ I shall argue that a Christian academic and scientific community ought to pursue science in its own way, starting from and taking for granted what we know as Christians. 

(This suggestion suffers from the considerable disadvantage of being at present both unpopular and heretical; I shall argue, however, that it also has the considerable advantage of being correct.) 

Now one objection to this suggestion is enshrined in the dictum that science done properly necessarily involves methodological naturalism or (as Basil Willey calls it) provisional atheism. 

This is the idea that science, properly so-called, cannot involve religious belief or commitment. 

My main aim in this paper is to explore, understand, discuss, and evaluate this claim and the arguments for it. 

I am painfully aware that what I have to say is tentative and incomplete, no more than a series of suggestions for research programs in Christian philosophy.

Alvin Plantinga--1997

________________________________________________________
  Basic Philosophy  Books  Dialogues Home   Papers

The Philosophy, Science, and Faith Page

1. The investigation of causes and laws underlying reality.
2. Inquiry into the nature of things based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods.
3. The critique and analysis of fundamental beliefs as they come to be conceptualized and formulated.
4. The synthesis of all learning.
5. The science comprising logic, ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, and epistemology.

We are primarily interested with the contribution of philosophy to a Christian View of Nature and the Scientific Enterprise

Raphael's "School of Athens" fresco in the Vatican 

One way to dig into the subject is to examine some of the recent philosophical offerings in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (PSCF).  The dialogues offer instructive ways to deal with hard questions.

Professor Keith Ward on atheism, philosophy, science and belief. 

Papers

a friendly discussion

Roy Clouser, "Prospects for Theistic Science," PSCF 58 (March 2006): 1-15.

• Pierre Le Morvan, "Is Clouser's Definition of Religious Belief Itself Religiously Neutral?," PSCF 58 (March 2006): 16-17.
• Hans Halvorson, "Comments on Clouser's Claims for Theistic Science," PSCF 58 (March 2006): 18-19.
• Del Ratsch, "On Reducing Nearly Everything to Reductionism," PSCF 58 (March 2006): 20-22.

• Roy Clouser, "Replies to the Comments of Le Morvan, Halvorson, and Ratzsch on "Prospects For Theistic Science," PSCF 58 (March 2006): 23-27.

Alvin Plantanga, Religion and Science  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Feb 20, 2007.
"Modern western empirical science has surely been the most impressive intellectual development since the 16^th century. Religion, of course, has been around for much longer, and is presently flourishing, perhaps as never before. (True, there is the thesis of secularism, according to which science and technology, on the one hand, and religion, on the other, are inversely related: as the former waxes, the latter wanes. Recent resurgences of religion and religious belief in many parts of the world, however, cast considerable doubt on this thesis.) The relation between these two great cultural forces has been tumultuous, many-faceted, and confusing. This entry will concentrate on the relation between science and the theistic religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam and theistic varieties of Hinduism and Buddhism, where theism is the belief that there is an all-powerful, all-knowing perfectly good immaterial person who has created the world, has created human beings ‘in his own image,’ and to whom we owe worship, obedience and allegiance. There are many important issues and questions in this neighborhood; this entry concentrates on just a few. Perhaps the most salient question is whether the relation between religion and science is characterized by conflict or by concord. (Of course it is possible that there be both conflict and concord: conflict along certain dimensions, concord along others.) This question will be the central focus of what follows. Other important issues to be considered are the nature of religion, the nature of science, the epistemologies of science and, in particular, of religious belief, and the question how the latter figures into the (alleged or actual) conflict or concord between religion and science."--Abstract

Essay Review: Robert Prevost, "Athens Meets Jerusalem: Revelation for Philosophers." PSCF  61 (March 2009): 29.

THE AGNOSTIC INQUIRER: Revelation from a Philosophical Standpoint by Sandra Menssen and Thomas D. Sullivan. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007. 331 pages. Paperback; $35.00. ISBN: 9780802803948.

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD OF DIVINE REVELATION by William J. Abraham. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006. 198 pages. Paperback; $20.00. ISBN: 9780802829580.

Del Ratzsch, Science and Design (2006) Interviewed by the Galilean Library.

Kevin S. Seybold, "The Untidiness of Integration: John Staplton Hapgood," PSCF 57 (June 2005): 114-119.

Ben M. Carter, "Richard Dawkins and the Infected Mind," PSCF 57 (June 2005): 120-125.

J. P. Moreland, "A Christian Perspective on the Impact of Modern Science on the Philosophy of Mind," PSCF 55 (March 2003): 2-12.

Jack Collins, "Miracles, Intelligent Design, and God - of - the - Gaps," PSCF 55 (March 2003): 22-29.

Keith Miller, "The Similarity of Theory Testing in the Historical and “Hard” Sciences" PSCF 54 (June 2002): 119-123.

Del Ratzsch, "Cradled Science: Examining the Cosmos in the Context of Faith," Journal of Adventist Education 64 5 (2002): 9-12.  (used by permission)   An excellent introduction to current philosophy by the Calvin College philosopher.

Carter, Ben M., The Problem of Epistemology and Cosmic Models PSCF 54.2:114-118 (6/2002)

Dennis L. Feucht, "Determinism and the Semi-decidability of a Free Choice," PSCF 51 (September 1999): 158-160.

George L. Murphy, "Does the Trinity Play Dice?" PSCF 51 (March 1999): 18-25.

Kennell J. Touryan, "Are Truth Claims in Science Socially Constructed." PSCF 51 (June 1999): 102-107.

Robert T. Pennock, "The Prospects for a Theistic Science," PSCF 50 (September 1998): 205-209.

Alvin Plantinga

Alvin Plantinga, "Methodological Naturalism?" PSCF 49 (September 1997):143.

David F. Siemends, Jr., "On Moreland: Spurious Freedom, Mangled Science, Muddled Philosophy," PSCF 49  (September 1997): 196.

Alfred North Whitehead

Keith Abney, "Naturalism and Non-teleological Science: A Way to Resolve the Demarcation Problem Between Science and Non-science," PSCF 49 (September 1997): 162.

J. P. Moreland, "Complementarity, Agency Theory, and the God-of-the-Gaps," PSCF 49 (March 1997):2

Robert C. O'Connor, "Science on Trial: Exploring the Rationality of Methodological Naturalism," PSCF 49 (March 1997): 15. 

Dialogues

• Discussion of the thesis of Walter R. Thorson in the March 2002 issue of PSCF

             Thorson, Walter R., "Legitimacy and Scope of “Naturalism” in Science: Part 1. Theological Basis for a “Naturalistic” Science, PSCF 54 (March 2002): 2. [PDF]
             Thorson, Walter R., "Legitimacy and Scope of “Naturalism” in Science: Part 2. Scope for New Scientific Paradigms," PSCF 54  (March 2002):  12. [PDF]
              Dembski, William A.. "Can Functional Logic Take the Place of Intelligent Design?" [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 22. [PDF]
              Drees, Willem B., "Can We Reclaim One of the “Stolen Words”?" [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 24. [PDF]  Hawk, William, "Is God Transcendent or Immanent in Creation?" [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 26. [PDF]
              Haarsma, Loren, "Can Many World Views Agree on Science?" [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 28. [PDF]
              Crouch, Catherine H., "Is Scientism the Predominant Religion of Scientists? [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 30. [PDF]
              Finger, Thomas, "Is the Boundary Between Science and Theology Distinct?" [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002):   32. [PDF]
              Bowman, Richard, "Can We Trust the Logic of Function?" [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 34. [PDF]
              Miller, Elva B., "Does Design Tip the Scales?" [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 35. [PDF]
              Vibert, Peter, "What Is Logic of Functional Organization? [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 36. [PDF]
              Mills, Gordon C., "Are the Standards of Evidence Realistic? [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 37 [PDF]
              Trenn, Thaddeus, "What Is the Deep Structure of “Naturalism”?" [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 39. [PDF] 
              Sire, James W., "Method or Metaphysics?" [Response to Thorson 54.1] PSCF 54 (March 2002): 40. [PDF]

Finally: Thorson Replies... ["Response to Dembski et al." 54.1] 42  [PDF]

Michael Poole,  A Critique of Aspects of the Philosophy and Theology of Richard Dawkins  

Richard Dawkins,  A Response ,

Pool Responds to Dawkins