Our science/faith blog is hosted by the Ankerberg Theological Research Institute (ATRI), an apologetic ministry for the truth of Christianity. Included in Dr.Ankerberg’s apologetic approach are strong affirmations of the Christian theistic worldview. In all Christian ministries, a proper theistic worldview is one of the foundations of the faith experience.
During the last decade, Del Tackett, former president of Focus on the Family Institute, developed the popular Truth Project, an in-depth worldview instructional workshop integrating core biblical principles in every area of life. I was privileged to lead a three-month Truth Project workshop in my own church in 2006. The topics included philosophy, ethics, anthropology, history, sociology, and government, among other topics. Two sessions were devoted to science. The apologetic value of science is vital as we discuss worldview. The Truth Project’s total subject matter affirms a broad-scope scriptural worldview.
We commend Dr. John Ankerberg for integrating science in his apologetic television programs over many years. Dr. Stephen Meyer, theistic intelligent design advocate, and Dr. Hugh Ross, an astrophysicist recognizing divine “fine tuning” of our universe, have been guests on the John Ankerberg Show on many occasions. Both of these men are scientists and Christians of high repute.
We reviewed our personal notes from our 2006 Truth Project science sessions. Many topics were identical or similar to our past posts. Following are some brief outlines of the main points from the literature supplied by The Truth Project authors and from personal notes:
In the naturalistic worldview, our universe is conceptualized as a cosmic cube—“The Box.” Carl Sagan said “The cosmos (the box) is all that is, ever was, or ever will be.” But the Christian worldview is that God acts from outside the box. He transcends the time and space dimensions of this universe. But God also manifests himself within the box. This manifestation makes for a “noisy” box! The heavens are alive with evidence of the glory of God and God’s design features in the natural world. Thus, the “noise” of the box declares his handiwork (Psalm 19:1).
Romans 1:20 affirms that God’s invisible qualities are seen from what “has been made.” As truth seekers, we are implored to be evidentialists in our approach to apologetics. We repeat—the noisy box declares his handiwork.
Since evidence for a beginning of our universe has been scientifically demonstrated owing to the observed expansion of the universe, we note that a universal beginning signals a Beginner—a Creator. If the universe were infinitely old, the universe should have run down to a zero energy state because of what we know as the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Therefore, the universe began with the Creator.
We must be cautious about the claims of secular scientists such as Carl Sagan who claimed, “We search for TRUTH no matter where the search will lead.” This is a deceptive statement. When a fine-tuned, beautifully designed universe points to a divine Designer, naturalistic scientists reject the idea. Such scientists must limit themselves to truth claims concerning cause and effect within the cosmic box—what happens, and why it happens. Instead, they have ventured into philosophical statements such as “the natural world is all there is.”
In the past few decades, secular science professionals have inserted another term in addition to hypothesis, theory, and law. It is not a classic term like the others. The term is “FACT.” Facts are something we all just naturally “accept.” If evolution is a scientific theory based on facts we observe about a changing universe, we are enjoined to accept naturalistic evolution. In future posts we examine the claims of a naturalistic worldview, including the claims of evolutionary theory.
