Imagine you walk into your kitchen and you see a freshly
baked cake, just out of the oven. It looks and smells very nice. If you think
in a scientific way, you may ask yourself questions like “what sort of cake is
it?”, “what ingredients and how long did it take to cook?”, or even “what are
the chemical processes involved in producing that lovely aroma?”.
But you are more likely to ask two questions that science
can’t answer, “Why has that cake been cooked?” and “Ought I cut myself a piece?” Science just
cannot answer questions of “why” and “ought”.
Some people argue that scientific knowledge has advanced so
much that religion is now completely unnecessary. It is out of date in our
modern world.
People who make this claim are going well beyond the limits
of science. They are actually turning science into a religion. This religion
can be called Scientism.
In Scientism, there is nothing beyond the material (what you
can see, taste, feel, smell or touch), or at least nothing worth knowing in
comparison with what you can know from science.
But, science cannot tell us why mum baked the cake (to give
it to a new neighbour), or why we better not touch it (it is not our cake and
stealing is wrong). These things surely are worth knowing.
Questions about why we ought to do this and not do that (moral
values) are very important. Consistent followers of Scientism have no answers
because they believe we are the result of time and random chance, and moral
values are just personal preferences. They say that we are just like the rest
of the animal kingdom and we can follow our own natural urges, knowing nothing
of right and wrong. Such a view is extremely dangerous and depressing.
Science is limited to questions about how matter works and
has nothing to say about other questions that are most important to us as human
beings. Science is completely silent on questions of God’s existence. So when the
Bible says that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”,
science cannot contradict it.
If you want to read all issues so far of “The way I see it”
you can find the complete series to date on the web site https://thewayhay.blogspot.com.au
Peter
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