Philosophical Naturalism The presuppositional belief that only natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural forces) operate in the world. Philosophical naturalists believe that nothing exists beyond the natural realm. [Note: This begs the question of what natural means.] Supernatural forces are excluded by definition. Most scientists begin with this presupposition and fail to consider any answer that is not strictly physical, material, or natural. Even when a particular phenomenon cannot be explained by any natural, material process or set of forces, the vast majority of scientists will refuse to consider a supernatural explanation. Richard Lewontin (an evolutionary biologist and geneticist) once famously wrote a review of a book written by Carl Sagan and admitted that science is skewed to ignore any supernatural explanation, even when the evidence might indicate that natural, material explanations are lacking. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counterintuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the Door. From the (apologetics book), Cold Case Christianity by (Cold Case Homicide Detective, J. Warner Wallace. (David Cook Publisher, 2013) [Note: The point is worth noting for those interested in Christian or religious apologetics; certainly. However, the acquiring of actual faith is not based on proving the inadequacies of philosophical naturalism or even on the historical evidence for Jesus Christ. A superficial study of the 4 Gospel will show that those who heard and saw Jesus believed today and denied him tomorrow. i.e., there are many reasons why people link into all kinds of faith. Hence the references to the trials of faith which is purified by fire just like gold. Oddly, authentic apologetics relies on the foolishness of (mere) preaching not textual criticism, not forensics, not archaeology, not pure reason, not the usual stuff that we find in college apologetics courses and texts. Philosophical naturalism (materialism) (that) assumes that god is not cannot find its way to God. God is the beginning of wisdom, not the product of it. As the text says, The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, (not the product of it).]
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 07:07:04 +0000
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