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Reason in the balance: the case against naturalism in science, law and educationDarwin debunkedREASON IN THE BALANCE: Phillip Johnson wants an earthquake in our thinking. The most influential minds in America and Europe are all naturalists, who believe that 'nature' is all there is, and that God exists only as an idea in the minds of religious believers. God as creator has been marginalised in the education system as an illusion that has no place in the world of science, relegated to the realm of personal religious belief. This also means that Christian values have less and less to contribute to the legal system of societies driven by political correctness. Johnson is Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, widely known for his earlier books Darwin on Trial and Testing Darwinism. He is a popular and controversial speaker, packing in the public to his lectures across the US. His legal mind is ideal for cross-examining the dubious conclusions of naturalist scientific theories. Perhaps the biggest problem in much of this debate is that no one (except Johnson) wants to challenge the assumptions of the secular establishment, and hear the case for the other side. The first person Johnson puts on the stand is Stephen Hawking, famous for his best selling A brief history of time. He shows how Hawking's 'Grand Unified Theory' cannot be proved, how it relies heavily on religious language, and that it is driven by a determination to push God out of the picture. Next comes Richard Dawkins' book The Blind Watchmaker, and here Johnson makes evolution by natural selection look particularly ridiculous. He also explores how Harvard Professor Steven Jay Gould has debunked the classic theory of Darwinism, and shows how Dawkins and Gould are in disarray. Johnson's critique of these and many other leading thinkers is alarming and convincing. What dismays Johnson most is the way that Christians are willing to accept uncritically so much that Naturalism preaches. He argues convincingly that we must not put science and religion into two mutually exclusive categories. If God is real, and we believe John 1.1-3, then there is an intelligent, personal mind behind the creation of the universe. But if we rule God out of the picture before we start, we have closed our minds to reality. Phillip Johnson is one of the sharpest Christian minds of our generation, a must for every teacher, student and preacher. Jim Sayers, Kesgrave© Evangelicals Now - May 2001 |