Science Arose by Rejecting Faulty Views
It seems possible that the scientific principle of Making Things Up™ originated with the ancient Greek philosophers. Like scientists, those philosophers based their speculations on observations and their theological views. Biblical scientists managed to liberate science from the predominant Greek ideas.
They had a belief that matters had a divine substance and that the gods were subject to that and to other laws. The Stoics thought that objects had souls, and had occult qualities attached to them; sympathy would cause a man to be attracted to a woman like a iron is attracted to a magnet (I wonder if Walter Egan knew this). The Epicureans (Paul the apostle debated Epicureans and the Stoics) had evolutionary ideas. Plato and Aristotle also had some odd concepts, and this child wonders if logic had developed enough for people to ask, "How do you know that?"
Later, people believed the Bible instead of just-so stories, and many of those people were scientists. They wanted to know about how divine will and law affected nature. Of course, not all of them were orthodox. Although Isaac Newton is considered by many to have been the greatest scientist of all time, he believed the Bible but had some odd pursuits as well. It was observed that creation is orderly and designed by the Creator, so science began to grow. Indeed, modern science is rooted in the work of people who believed the Bible. Christian theology liberated science from the foolishness of ancient Greek philosophies. Now if modern secular scientists would put away evolutionism...
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| Credit: Pixabay / Gerd Altmann |
Later, people believed the Bible instead of just-so stories, and many of those people were scientists. They wanted to know about how divine will and law affected nature. Of course, not all of them were orthodox. Although Isaac Newton is considered by many to have been the greatest scientist of all time, he believed the Bible but had some odd pursuits as well. It was observed that creation is orderly and designed by the Creator, so science began to grow. Indeed, modern science is rooted in the work of people who believed the Bible. Christian theology liberated science from the foolishness of ancient Greek philosophies. Now if modern secular scientists would put away evolutionism...
In order for science to progress, it was necessary to reject the erroneous view of nature handed down by Greek philosophers, and which dominated among the intellectual elite during much of the medieval period. Leading historians of science acknowledge that the Christian doctrines of God and Creation played a pivotal role in this process. The Greek view of nature as a living organism was replaced by the biblical view that only people and animals have souls. This led to the rejection of the Greek explanation for motion as arising from tendencies internal to objects, and its replacement with the concept of external, divinely imposed laws. The Greek view that natural processes are governed by eternal principles binding even on the gods was replaced by the biblical view of God’s omnipotence and His freedom to create as He willed. This led to the belief that the laws of nature were determined entirely by God’s choice and could, therefore, only be discovered by observations.To read the rest, click on "Christian theology and the rise of Newtonian science—imposed law and the divine will".