In the Meantime...

As I mentioned in the last post, I am pretty busy right now studying for ordination exams, preparing to move to Blacksburg, etc., which means I have not had much time to write. So, I was thinking that in the meantime I would give you some links to some good reading. So here you go:

• Michael Kruger--President of RTS Charlotte--has written an excellent series of articles on the New Testament (NT) canon. The complete series can be found here. They are a just taste of his recent work Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books, which is one of the best and most detailed books on the NT canon.
• Ken Samples--philosopher and theologian for Reasons to Believe (RTB)--just posted part one of a brief two-part series about Jonathan Edwards on his blog. I highly recommend it, and if you want more detail about Edwards, check out Piper's A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards.
• RTB just did a series of interviews with Vern Poythress--WTS professor--on the Christian world-view and science: parts 1, 2, 3, and 4. They are not "reading" but still really good.
• Logic is a lost discipline these days. Well, Ken (see above) has written an excellent series of articles on logic called "Logic 101." It is a twelve-part series that would be well-worth your time. Part 1 can be found here, and from there you can follow the links to the subsequent parts.
• Finally, if you have not read the Heidelberg Catechism, you need to. If you want to read about it too, here is a review of a book edited by a former professor of mine that would be a good place to start. I would also recommend Kevin DeYoung's The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism.

Okay, that is more than enough to keep you busy for a while.

By His Grace,

Taylor

Theological Basis of Science

“I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents. It’s like expecting that the accidental shape taken by the splash when you upset a milk-jug should give you a correct account of how the jug was made and why it was upset.” ~ C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock

I have pointed this out in a few previous posts, but when I ran across such a poignant quote I decided to share it and reiterate a very important philosophical point when it comes to a naturalistic world view. According to this view, the world is a product of blind, purposeless processes. We, our logic, and our reason are then the final result of an accident. If this is true how then do we account for such things as the scientific method, universal laws of physics, or abstract reasoning and the laws of logic? If our minds are the product of an accident how do we expect that they should be able to accurately comprehend the accident? How can we have any sort of confidence in our reasoning processes if the mind is a mere accident of nature?

There has been a lot of argument about the basis of science in the modern era. The naturalistic scientist would like to assume that theology has nothing to do with science, but as authors like Alister McGrath and Michael Bumbulls show, science was birthed in a theological world view. As evolutionist Paul Davies points out, "the most atheistic scientist accepts as an act of faith that the universe is not absurd... So science can proceed only if the scientist adopts an essentially theological worldview."

By His Grace,
Taylor

Incomplete II

"One would need to possess complete knowledge and understanding about every complexity of a phenomenon before one could settle upon a unique and exhaustively complete explanation of every detail of the phenomenon. Since only God is omniscient, such an explanation will forever remain beyond the bounds of human knowledge. Another way to put it is that only God possesses absolute proof." ~ Hugh Ross

A few posts ago I presented a quote from John Frame about the limitations of logic. The above quote from Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe expresses a similar sentiment. The fact that only God possesses absolute proof and the knowledge necessary to create a flawless logical systems or models should humble us. We, and I am guilty of this often, often think we will eventually be able to prove anything absolutely whether it be scientific or theological, but that will never be the case. Our knowledge will never be complete and therefore our proofs will never be either. This does not mean we should pursue knowledge through various disciplines, but it does mean that we should kneel in humility before an Absolute God and be teachable so that we do not pridefully overlook our limitations.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Incomplete

"[Logical systems] are fallible systems, human systems. They may not be equated with the mind of God. God's logic is divine; human logic is not." ~ John Frame, The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God

I think it would do all of us good to remember this very important fact. We humans are so proud of what we have accomplished and what we can do, which is not in itself wrong, but we begin to become over confident and think that "science and reason [logic] can accomplish everything" which is arrogant of us to believe. We have very incomplete knowledge of our universe, not to mention our incomplete knowledge of the spiritual realm. We do not know what we do not know. By that I mean that we cannot begin to take into consideration situations, circumstances, and environments we do not even know exist, so how can we possibly claim that science and reason/logic can accomplish everything? Science is constantly being revised because of newly discovered data and refined techniques. Einstein trumps Newton and now even Einstein is being questioned.

God's logic/reasoning systems, however, are of a different nature. God, by definition, is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is also the only Being with complete knowledge of all things. Complete knowledge coupled with a perfect Mind leads to complete, perfect, and divine systems.

We need to search, study, and investigate, but we need to also acknowledge our limitations before a limitless God.

By His Grace,
Taylor