> Steve Larsen referred to
> > the "absolute reference point" that mathematician Kurt Godel
> > suggests is necessary to ensure that any closed system of logic can be
> > free from contradiction.
> Steve - I had never seen that claim associated with Godel, and looked
> (admittedly very hastily) over a couple of Godel's major papers this
> morning without seeing anything like the above. Can you tell me where
> in Godel's work the above is found?
> Del Ratzsch
Del,
I really appreciate your question. I was exposed to the logical work of
mathematician Kurt Godel from chapter two of Donald E. Chittick's "The
Controversy: Roots of the Creation-Evolution Conflict" (Portland, OR; Multnomah
Press, 1984). I have had, during several witnessing opportunities, great
success in bringing up Kurt Godel's need for an absolute reference point in
order to show how Jesus - - who stepped from infinity into our finite world - -
fulfills this logical (Logos) requirement. We can believe His analysis of our
world, not only because He is Creator, but because He puts an end to circular
argumentation.
To quote Dr. Chittick (p. 33-4):
Logic is ... not infallible. This became even more clear when in the
1930's Kurt Godel showed that no closed system could be proved free of
contradictions without stepping outside the system. (11) An absolute reference
point is needed. The Godel theorem is a very important development in logic,
and it is too bad that this theorem and its ramifications are not more widely
presented and appreciated. Godel's theorem hit logic so hard that some tended
to write it off as a linguistic trick. "In the 1930's, Kurt Godel shook the
world of mathematics by showing that there are statements in every logical
system whose truth or falsehood simply cannot be determined by staying within
the system." (12) The implications of Godel's theorem were far-reaching and
many did not like them. They thought the theorem did not apply to situations
that really mattered. Further discoveries have shown, however, that it does
apply to situations that matter. (13)
Mathematics is supposed to be the most logical of the sciences. If
Godel's theorem applies here, it would also apply elsewhere where logic is used.
This is why the theorem is so important. It shows it is not possible to
determine the truth or falsity of any logical system (as, for example, creation
or evolution) without stepping outside that system. An absolute reference point
is needed.
Dr. Chittick cites the following sources:
(11) Ernest Nagel and James R. Newman, "Godel's Proof" (New York; New York
University Press, 1958)
(12) Gina Kolata, "Does Godel's Theorem Matter to Mathematics?", Science, 19
November 1982, 779.
(13) Ibid. pp. 779-780. Ralph E. Ancil, "The Limits of Human Thought and the
Creation Model" Creation Research Society Quarterly (June 1983): 30-39.
Steven H. Larsen
____________________________________________________________________
Child of God for almost a decade, Christian Apologist & Philosopher,
Husband, Father of three, Deacon, Former Atheist (never fully bought
into Macro-Evolution or New Age Mysticism). Senior Consultant in
Computer Applications Development. Email: 103500.1553@CompuServe.COM
Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other.
-- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), English author. Sherlock Holmes, in A
Study in Scarlet, pt. 1, ch. 2 (1887).