Having enjoyed and benefited from lurking on this list for some time, I
would like to ask a historical / bibliographic question.
Most of you have probably heard the slogan "All truth is God's truth." We
are inclined to use it in reference to God's common grace and the validity
of the scientific process.
I have two questions.
1. Who is this quote due to? Some have suggested Origen or Augustine.
Others suggest Calvin or another reformer like Melanchthon(sp). I have it
in another version, i.e. "All truth as God's truth, wherever found" from
the reformation time, although I don't yet know who this is due to either.
Others have suggested Abraham Kuyper, and still others think it due to
those in the secularizing reform movement in American higher education in
the 1800s. All of these theologians wrote on the general topic, but I have
not yet found the origin of this exact slogan. Any clues would be
appreciated.
2. Do you agree with this quip as a useful principle for integrating
science and faith? Used in a simplistic manner, it can be somewhat like
answering any hard question in science with "because God made it that way"
and that is not helpful. On the other hand, postmodernism has made me at
least think harder about what I really mean by truth in science. My
(Christian) friends in the social sciences are not too sure if they even
like the word truth anymore when applied to their science. Truth in science
is always tentative, I think. Maybe this slogan, "all truth is God's truth"
rings too arrogantly.
John W. Stahl
Chemistry Department
Geneva College
Beaver Falls, PA 15010
jwstahl@geneva.edu