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Scientific Problems for Scientism

- newmanlib.ibri.org -. Scientific Problems for Scientism. Robert C. Newman Biblical Theological Seminary. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks. Scientific Problems for Scientism. - newmanlib.ibri.org -.

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Scientific Problems for Scientism

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  1. - newmanlib.ibri.org - Scientific Problems for Scientism Robert C. Newman Biblical Theological Seminary Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  2. Scientific Problems for Scientism - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Power Point version of a paper by the same title published in Presbyterion in the Fall issue 1995. • See the paper for references and further details. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  3. Various Terms for Scientism - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Scientism • Science is the only valid way of knowing. • Materialism • All is matter, or matter-energy. • Naturalism • All is nature; there is no supernatural. • Evolutionism • All things have developed by unguided natural processes. • No God has intervened miraculously to make things the way they are. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  4. Influence of Scientism - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Liberal Biblical Criticism • Explain the Bible without miracles. • Darwinian Evolution • Explain nature without divine intervention. • Marxism • Explain history and society by economics. • Freudianism • Explain mankind without soul or spirit. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  5. The Problems Scientism Faces - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Prediction • Continuity • Mindlessness • Eternality • Locality Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  6. Prediction - newmanlib.ibri.org - "I have no need of that [the God] hypothesis" Laplace The Laplacean Program: Calculate the entire future of the universe by knowing the position and velocity of all its particles at one time. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  7. How Much Computing Power? - newmanlib.ibri.org - • There are 1080 particles in the universe. • Each particle exerts one or more forces on (nearly) all other particles. • It is more economical to build a parallel universe as a model! • Must give each particle its proper position and velocity. • Problem of quantum uncertainty. • Problem of the "butterfly effect." Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  8. Conclusion re/ Prediction - newmanlib.ibri.org - • The Laplacean Program is dead! • Contrast the Christian worldview: • God alone knows the future. • He can intervene, and He surely has. • He can answer prayer. • He can fulfill prophecy. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  9. Continuity - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Scientism has an antagonism for, and fear of, gaps or singularities in nature. • Darwin – no discontinuites in biology if the history of life is taken into account. • Reaction of biologists to Goldschmidt in the 1940s for his "hopeful monster" model. • Proposal of punctuated equilibria model of Gould & Eldridge. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  10. Problems with Continuity - newmanlib.ibri.org - • The "trade secret of paleontology" – gaps in the fossil record • Over 200 million fossils catalogued in museums • A "random walk" between major kinds? • The "shape" of the fossil record Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  11. Conclusions on Continuity - newmanlib.ibri.org - • A "god of the gaps" or a "natural law of the gaps"? • Lack of evidence or evidence of lack? • Discontinuities point beyond mere natural law. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  12. Mindlessness - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Minds only arise by evolution in a mindless universe (according to scientism). • Darwin's work is hailed as destroying Paley's arguments from design to a Designer. • Design is only apparent, being produced by natural selection. • But design appears in inanimate nature also! Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  13. Fine-Tuning in the Basic Forces - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Strong Interaction • Tuned to 5% • Weak Interaction • Tuned to  few % • Gravity & Cosmic Expansion • Tuned to 1 part in 1060 • Electromagnetism • Charges balance to better than 1 part in 1040 Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  14. Designed Earth? - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Rotation period • Distance from sun • Thickness of crust • Atmosphere • Size of moon • Size of Jupiter • About 60 more such items Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  15. Conclusions on Mindlessness - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Design in inanimate nature • Design in animate nature • Insufficient probability in 1000s of universes • Minds can construct order that would never happen by chance Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  16. Eternality - newmanlib.ibri.org - • According to scientism, the universe must somehow be eternal. • Sagan – "The cosmos is all that … ever was…" • But the history of cosmology in the past century has been that of increasingly frantic attempts to avoid a beginning in the face of mounting evidence for one. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  17. Cosmology - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Eternal static universe • Expanding universe • Steady-state universe • One-bounce big-bang • Oscillating big-bang • No-bounce big-bang • Pop-into-existence-w/o-a-cause big-bang Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  18. Conclusions on Eternality - newmanlib.ibri.org - • What is eternal is not confined to this universe. • What is eternal has the characteristics of mind. • What is eternal is an adequate cause for the universe. • This sounds like the God of the Bible! Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  19. Locality - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Materialism naturally favors local interaction of particles (bumping). • Even Newton's gravitational field was initially viewed with great suspicion, but came to be seen as local interaction of the particle with the field. • Quantum phenomena have put pressure on this, suggesting instantaneous interaction at great distances. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  20. Quantum Phenomena & Locality - newmanlib.ibri.org - • The Two-Slit Experiment • Which slit does the particle pass through? • Bell's Theorem • If quantum phenomena are real, then the universe is not local. • Aspect's Experiment • Particle spin shows instantaneous knowledge at large distances. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  21. Conclusions - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Prediction • Laplace's program has collapsed. • Continuity • Darwinism is inadequate. • Mindlessness • Does not explain known design. • Eternality • Universe looks like it had a beginning. • Locality • Quantum phenomena are non-local. Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  22. A Designed Universe - newmanlib.ibri.org - • Looks structured to point beyond itself. • Unpredictable to show human limitation? • Discontinuous to show divine intervention? • Planned to show a mind behind it? • Finite to point to the infinite beyond it? • Non-local to point to the omnipresent God? Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

  23. - newmanlib.ibri.org - The End of Scientism? Universe Looks Theistic Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks

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