Christianity and the Nature of Science: A Philosophical Investigation

by J.P. Moreland

A defense of the scientific view of creationism.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Theology, Nonfiction, Religion, Christian

270 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

About the author

J.P. Moreland is the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University in La Mirada, California. He has four earned degrees: a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Missouri, a Th.M. in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, an M. A. in philosophy from the University of California-Riverside, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Southern California.

He has co-planted three churches, spoken and debated on over 175 college campuses around the country, and served with Campus Crusade for Christ for 10 years. For eight years, he served as a bioethicist for PersonaCare Nursing Homes, Inc. headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

His ideas have been covered by both popular religious and non-religious outlets, including the New Scientist and PBS’s “Closer to Truth,” Christianity Today and WORLD magazine. He has authored or co-authored 30 books, and published over 70 articles in journals, which include Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, American Philosophical Quarterly, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Metaphilosophy, Philosophia Christi, and Faith and Philosophy.

Reviews

[Tyler Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal book that educates you in philosophy, theology, and science to help you navigate the blurry, argument-ridden world of modern science.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book if you want to get your feet wet in myriad issues surrounding the philosophy of science and the so-called "science vs. religion wars." Moreland is a very good philosopher and also holds a degree in chemistry, thus enabling him to be scientifically literate.

Moreland discusses the definition of 'science,' something surprisingly hard to come up with necessary and sufficient conditions for. This affects how you might judge something as "non-scientific," thus allowing you to properly demarcate "science" form "non-science." After that he looks at scientific methodology and enlightens the reader as to common consensus in the scientific community to the effect that there is no such thing as "the" scientific method. It is better thought of as scientific "methodS." Next Moreland looks into the limits of science. This chapter is important, especially for those enamored with "scienticism." The limits of science, a standard topic in all books on the philosophy of science, show that "science" or "scientists" presuppose numerous things in terms of which they make sense of their theories and facts. Almost all of these presuppositions are unable to be demonstrated, proven, etc., along "scientific" lines. For example, the reliability of our senses cannot be proven or deduced by any scientific means since those means will presuppose the validity of the senses in the very "proof." Moreland then tackles scientific realism (the belief that the entities posited in scientific theories actually exist "out there") and then varieties to realism, viz., scientific "anti-realism" (basically the opposite of realism. There are many anti-realist models, one might be: the posited entities are simply "useful" to explain empirical data but do not actually "exist" in the mind independent world. There are many arguments they give for this. Many atheists, and some Christians, have been anti-realists). Moreland takes the a middle road. He thinks we can/should be realist about some entities and theories and anti-realist about others. Moreland then looks at the scientific status of creationism. Based on previous work in the book, Moreland demonstrates the "creationism" can be a proper scientific enquiry. Moreland concludes with an "unscientific postscript." Here Moreland gives advice for young Christians, encouraging them to enter the field of science and do good work.

Mastering many of the arguments in this book will, among other things, enable you to expose the tendentious reasoning of many "New Atheists" as they attack you for being "un-scientific."

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is now a quarter-century old, and I suspect that it has been surpassed. However, I highly recommend it as an introductory read in the area. In the six chapters of the book, Moreland sets out six things. The specific wording is taken from his Concluding Unscientific Postscript ( a nod to Soren Kierkegaard). In chapter 1, Moreland shows that "there is no definition of science, no set of necessary and sufficient conditions that can be given for drawing a line of demarcation between science and nonscience." In chapter 2, he concludes that "there is no such things as the scientific method. Rather, there is a family of scientific methodologies" that are also shared by fields outside of science. In the third chapter, he concludes that science must be done in dialog with philosophy/theology. Chapters 4 and 5 dealt with the debate between scientific realism and scientific antirealism, concluding that an eclectic model of science must be used, and that on a case-by-case basis. In the final chapter, he deals with the issue of whether creation science should be classified as science or religion, looking at both the historical and sociological contexts.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Science and theology can and should interact in various ways, as they have done throughout history. The current compartmentalization of science and religion is wrong, as is the idea that science is an isolated set of disciplines. Further, scientism is a false, dehumanizing view of the world. Christians can and must think responsibly about how to relate science and theology. When they do, philosophy will be an essential part of that enterprise."

Moreland takes an evenhanded approach to his subject, ultimately advocating an "eclectic" model of the scientific enterprise and its relationship to other disciplines. In the process, he surveys a variety of models and points out the strengths and weaknesses of each. The book is worthwhile as much for this methodology as for its conclusion.

[Stinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

JP Moreland unearths the philosophical underpinnings of modern day science. He explores the realist/antirealist views of scientific theory in detail and touches on its implications for the creation/evolution debate. This book is a nice introduction to the topics presented and Moreland comes across as fair and even-handed while at the same time sharing his opinion on the various subjects addressed.

[Steve]

Great read. Thanks so much to Clint Parker for gifting it to me. Most Christians need to think much more deeply about the relationship of science, philosophy, and theology. This is a great place to start.

[gracepalm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first and last chapters were both really good, though I didn't fully agree with all the arguments. The middle chapters were kind of long-winded, and it was really easy to lose track of Moreland's train of thought. Overall, pretty good. 3.75ish/5 rounded up.

[Danny Bennett · Rating 1 out of 5]

somewhat long and overstated. Parts of it were very interesting though.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not necessarily an entry level book on how science works. However it was an excellent discussion of a proper christian view of science.

[Mikkles]

Recommended by Dr. Myatt

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An introduction into several problems in the philosophy of science and models for appropriate hypotheses construction.

[Eric C 1965 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites, as a scientist, as a Christian, and as a philosophy buff. I reread sections regularly.

[Richard Williams]

Christianity and the Nature of Science: A Philosophical Investigation by J. P. Moreland (1989)

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Pretty technical on some points.