In contrast to the Atheistic-evolutionary view or reality, the biblical worldview does provide reasons for believing in our mind’s ability to discern truth. Namely, being created in the image of a rational God makes sense as an explanation for why we can engage in science.

Could it be that Atheism and Science don’t mix, but God and science do?

I realise it’s a controversial claim in our secular age. After all, the belief that Christianity is anti-science and Atheism is pro-science is part of our cultural furniture here in the West.

But what if the opposite were true?

That’s the argument I’ve come across from several prominent thinkers and philosophers, most recently by Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, John Lennox, in his latest book, 2084 and the AI Revolution.^[1]

To be clear, Lennox is not saying Atheists can’t do science: some of the smartest scientists are Atheists. Rather, Lennox and other thinkers are critiquing the worldview, the assumptions and beliefs of Atheism, not the people who believe it.

So, here’s what Lennox means:

In order to do science, we need to believe that our minds can discern truth.

Lennox points out something that is obvious once you think about it: we can only do science if we believe our brains can discern truth about the world around us:

I do not think that this is hard to deduce from the fact that science proceeds on the basis of the a priori assumption that the universe is, at least to a certain extent, accessible to the human mind. No science can be done without the scientist believing so, so it is important to ask for grounds for this belief.^[2]

In other words, our brains can make sense of the universe around us, but why? It’s an important question to ask and answer for the sake of science.

But, he argues, Atheism doesn’t provide a satisfying answer. On the contrary, Atheism posits a mindless, unguided origin of the universe’s life and consciousness.^[3] And this destroys our confidence in our brain’s ability to know the truth.

But how?

Why Atheistic Evolution is a problem for Science.

American philosopher Alvin Plantinga shows why Atheism—or more particularly, Atheistic evolution—is a ‘game over’ type problem for our brain’s ability to know truth.

He captures his argument in what he calls the ‘Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism [Atheism]’ or EAAN.

Here’s the Reader’s Digest version of his argument:

Atheism is a problem for science because evolution is based on the survival of the fittest, not the survival of the truthful. And therefore, how can we be sure that our brains evolved to discern truth (as opposed to just helping us survive)?

(The short answer is we can’t.)

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the logic:

Step 1: The Starting Beliefs

We start by accepting two main ideas:

Read More