Atheism’s Stranglehold
If there is a God, and there is, then atheism did not free our thinking. Atheism has a closed mind concerning anything beyond its own nose. Thus, rather than furthering the cause of science, it is more likely that it has a stranglehold on it.
The gifted minds of the new atheists were gifts from Christianity. As the Spirit of God vacates Western Culture, so does the “Word.” Our children become confused, illiterate, and incapable of logical thought. According to Bojidar Marinov, we are already seeing atheism’s effects in the field of mathematics.
In Math Education: Toward a Trinitarian Model, Marinov writes:
James Nickel’s book, Mathematics: Is God Silent?, is the only non-fiction book that I have read three times from cover to cover… it talks about mathematics from the perspective of the Trinity, the very foundation of the Biblical worldview. The two make an exciting combination, as far as I am concerned.
Nickel’s main point in his book is this: Mathematics is not neutral. Our view of mathematics depends on our general worldview; and therefore our understanding and development of mathematics depend on our worldview.
Different cultures do not have the same view of mathematics, neither do they have the same mathematics or math education. The partial successes of civilizations in history in the development of mathematics were due to the partial consistency of their religious worldviews with the Biblical worldview. But when those pagan worldviews grew epistemologically self-conscious and reached the point of final antithesis with the Christian worldview, mathematics reached a dead end.
The rationalistic Greeks and the pragmatic Romans are among the many examples. Other examples abound in the Muslim world, India, China, and other civilizations. It is only when Christendom consistently developed and applied the Trinitarian model to the fields of knowledge, science, and education, the world saw its first revolution in scientific advance and educational development.
Consequently, with the loss of the Biblical worldview in the West, mathematical thought and education gradually lost the momentum they had inherited from the Christian centuries. The old models of learning and education – rationalist and pragmatic, “Greek” and “Roman” – crept back in, and mathematics once again reached a dead end, and children come out of school ignorant about mathematics.
The ultimate question of any worldview and any philosophy is this: Is the world essentially “one,” or is it essentially “many”? Is unity or plurality ultimate? Is there an underlying reality that transcends all individuality and diversity, or is diversity reigning supreme, with no existing or recognizable patterns or principles that govern reality? The answer to this question will give us the answer to the foundation of our philosophy of math education.
Ed Harris then made some optimistic, if slightly wild, comments, but I think he’s right. Any “inspired” advance Man has made has been a gift of the Spirit of God. If we are faithful, Jesus will give us the keys. Here’s a few grabs.
Atheism is the closing of the mind. And yet atheism (I believe) has had a stranglehold on deeper understandings of the universe.
I believe that astounding breakthroughs await us in science. I have a hunch that our vision of the universe is limited by our theology…
Put bluntly, scientists cannot even talk like there is a real God in the equation without being threatened (read about Intelligent Design some time – or watch “Intelligence Not Allowed”).
Despite the incredible “J curve” of advances over the past century, and even the past five years (especially when it comes to pacemakers!), if it isn’t already, atheism and its trappings will very soon be holding us back.
