Greetings,
Now this has been a very long blogg thus far. As a refresher course, this all started by talking about the major premise of the Reformation that is Sola Scriptora (Scripture Alone). This discussion about the Bible and science is a very brief example of the nature of the Truth contained in the Holy Scriptures. This will conclude the final portion on science, there may also be some Bloggs on how the Truth of the Bible played out in The Arts and other areas affected by the Biblical reformation.
Last time I made the proposition that only the God of the Bible could sustain scientific invention. Now why would this be? The earlier proofs set the other gods against the God of the Bible in that they were impersonal, limited, and illogical. Whereas the God of the Bible is by definition a personally infinite logical Creator. The God of the Bible created the universe based on the logical Person that He is. Why is this important, and why am I rambling on about it for so long? The fact that science only developed in Europe is no coincidence. Science developing only in Europe and therefore not being developed anywhere else is because Europe had the advantage of having the Christian consensus that the other geographical regions of the world did not. In other cultures the gods that were considered the creators were not very logical, and if they were not why should anyone try to understand the world? It is not that the other cultures did not have the intelligence or the opportunities to develop science, its just they had not reason to. The gods of the Greeks and Romans were not Divine, they were amplified humans. They were so arbitrary and illogical why should anyone try to understand the world. As before stated the Greeks did have empiricism, but they never applied there knowledge to anything and never attempted to develop their thoughts. The Romans even had steam power, but the inventors never did anything with it. The Islamic countries never could have science because it would establish law that would hinder Alla. The Chinese had impersonal deities and were encouraged to meditate. Meditation will only obtain a few moments of silence. It will never render any truth facts about the world we live in. In opposition to this the Christian man has not only the opportunity but a reason to discover the world around him. In order to understand more and therefore praise more the Almighty God one should investigate His handiwork. Can we not learn of the excellences of His Reason by seeing how this universe is put together? The fact that the Christian man believes God to be the God of reason suggest that His creation will reflect this Heavenly wisdom. This is why the world could not have been created by chance. It is far to complex and intricate to be formed by random chance. The evolutionist cannot account for this fact, but to the Christian this is just one more evidence of the greatness of our God. Who but the LORD could form such a wondrous world? This is how the Christian world view lead to the rise of modern science. Man not only wanted to study the world (research) but wanted to apply rhetorical thought so that he may , "Not only understand that something works, but also know how and why it works".
This is what the Reformation drew forum its Biblical basis. The fact that the Reformers saw the Bible as the written Word of God gave them a source of knowledge and understanding. The Bible gave them a concrete foundation to understanding all of life.
By Christ Alone,
The Reformer