[Vision2020] unequivocal words of God

[Douglas]

Visionaries,

In response to Don's question, one of the first things they might learn is 
that the phrases "the real world" and "the material world" are not 
interchangeable. Embedded in Don's question is the clear assumption that 
the Enlightenment project has its act together. IOW, the scientific method 
does not apply to matters of faith, but is rather a matter of testing 
conclusions about the "real world." Thus leaving matters of faith standing 
outside in the coldness of that unreal world, shivering in their skivvies.

But our students are taught that the *material* world behaves predictably-- 
precisely because it was created by our gracious triune God, who does not 
want us to turn the oven to 350 degrees for an hour, only to open the oven 
door to find the cake turned into a frozen slab. And so we teach them that 
a great deal can be learned about the predictability of tiny slice of the 
*real* world, that part of it that we call the *material* world, and that 
this is done by the scientific method. At a certain altitude, water boils 
at the same temperature applied for the same length of time. 
Experimentation, observation, repeatability. This method has obtained for 
us many cool gee-whizzeries, for which I thank a kind Providence. But this 
method leaves me just where I was when it comes to many other aspects of 
the real world, such as the Holy Spirit, the authority of modus ponens, the 
dramatic structure of Hamlet, and the history of Farley's ghost.

Cordially,

Douglas Wilson


At 11:41 AM 8/25/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>Curiosity leads me to ask what students at Logos and New St.
>Andrews learn about scientific method, especially the
>concept of continually testing conclusions about the real
>world.
>
>Note that I am not proposing, not for even one little tiny
>moment, that scientific method should be applied to matters
>of faith. I am just asking what students at Logos and New
>St. Andrews learn about scientific method as part of their
>curricula.
>
>The question is directed to anybody who knows. A number of
>Vision2020 subscribers obviously do.
>
>Don Coombs
>
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