You are doing theistic science! Any scientific investigation that relies
on regularities in the universe or any kind of scientific law is rooted in
a theistic conception of the universe. It is my contention that even when
unbelievers do science, even though they would never admit it, that their
science is rooted in the regularity of divine governance. Their denial of
that fact or belief that "that's just the way the universe is" doesn't
change the reality. Hooykas once wrote that looking for a Christian
science is like look for the spectacles that are sitting right on your
nose.
I'm not willing to make the strong claims that the rise of modern science
coincides with the Protestant reformation because of some theological
convictions about the nature of God's interaction with the world, although
I can't help but think that there is something to that. But I'm certainly
willing to make the claim that the presuppositions of science are fully
compatible with a theistic perspective of divine governance and because I
believe that the theistic perspective of divine governance is true I'm
willing to make the very strong claim that a theistic perspective indeed is
the foundation for science.
I've argued with Phil Johnson at great length on this point. If theism is
not true then their could be no science; in fact, if theism is not true,
their could be no universe. All that we learn from a study of creation is
a consequence of God's activity and hence is "theistic science" or
"theistic realism" whether or not there is any difference between the
theories of Christians vs. those of non-Christians.
_____________________________________________________________
Terry M. Gray, Ph.D. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Calvin College 3201 Burton SE Grand Rapids, MI 40546
Office: (616) 957-7187 FAX: (616) 957-6501
Email: grayt@calvin.edu http://www.calvin.edu/~grayt