Mathematics:

A Christian Perspective

STUDENT VERSION

Gino Santa Maria. Image from BigStockPhoto.com.

James Bradley, Calvin College

Andrew Busch, Fremont High School, Fremont, Michigan
David Klanderman, Trinity Christian College
Eve Ricketts, Grand Rapids Christian High School
Gary Talsma, Calvin College
Materials prepared on behalf of the Kuyers Institute of Calvin College, March 2006

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Why Study Math?.......................................................................... Page 3
Chapter 2: Mathematics, Modernism, and Postmodernism .......................... Page 15
Chapter 3: Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Ratio .................................. Page 28
Chapter 4: Exponential Functions................................................................. Page 35
Chapter 5: Hypercubes................................................................................. Page 41
Chapter 6: Paper or Plastic? No, Thanks! .................................................... Page 55
Chapter 7: The Indian Ocean Tsunami: December 26, 2004 ....................... Page 70
Chapter 8: The Gender Gap ......................................................................... Page 87
Chapter 9: Simpsons Paradox ................................................................... Page 102

2007 THE KUYERS INSTITUTE.

Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning
www.pedagogy.net
www.calvin.edu/kuyers
Layout and Design by Teresa Wyngarden.
Images from Clipart.com and BigStockPhoto.com.
Copies may be made for nonprofit classroom use only.
Not for commercial printing.

Page 2

Why Study Math?

Why are you studying math? Did you sit down

before the school year, look over a list of courses
your school offered, and then say, That math
course, thats the one I really want! Probably
noteven if you are a person who likes math!
More likely, you are taking this course because
your school requires it, your teachers or guidance
counselors advised it, or your parents said you
had to. But why do all these adults think it will be
good for you to take math?
There are many reasons adults advise young
people to study mathsome of these reasons are
pleasing to God and some are not. In this unit we
will be examining some good and some not-sogood reasons for studying math. Our goals are
that you will understand how math fits into Gods
purposes for us and that you will increase the
amount that you enjoy learning it.

1)

Warm-up. Why did God give people the capacity to do mathematics? Before
reading any further, write a couple of sentences giving your answer to this
question. If all you can think of is I have no idea!, take your best guess,
even if it seems silly to you.

Page 3

2)

The following statements have been made during the past 4,000 years. They
suggest possible answers to the question of why we should study math.
Most are by famous and influential people. As you read each one, fill in the
first column of the table on page 8, What reason for studying math does this
suggest? These quotes are rich and many good things could be said about
them, so aim for one good point for each. You will work in groups to fill in the
rest of each row; weve done one as an example. Note the column Is this a
good reason?
Some
quotes
Accurate reckoning. The entrance into the knowledge
provide reasons
of all existing things and all obscure secrets.
that are partly
good and partly
Introduction to the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus,
bad.
written in Egypt around 1850 B.C.

As a matter of fact, I admit that I dont know why mice and frogs, or flies and
worms were created; yet I see that all things are beautiful according to their
types, even though because of our sins many of them seem to be against
us. Indeed, I cannot think of the body and members of any animal, in which
I fail to find that measures and numbers and order pertain to the unity of
agreement. Where all these come from, I dont understand, unless from the
highest measure and number and order, which dwell in the immutable and
eternal sublimity of God Himself.1
St. Augustine, De Genesi Contra Manichaeos, I, North Africa, c. 400 AD

In all those transactions which relate to worldly (or)

religious affairs, calculation is of use. In the science
of love, in the science of wealth, in music and in the
drama, in the art of cooking, and similarly in medicine
and in things like the knowledge of architecture; in
prose, in poetics and poetry, in logic and grammar
and such other things,the science of computation
is held in high esteem. In relation to the movements
of the sun and other heavenly bodies, in connection
with eclipses and conjunction of the planetsit is
utilized.
The number, the diameter, and the
perimeter of islands, oceans, and mountains; the
extensive dimensions of the rows of habitations and
halls belonging to the inhabitants of the worldall of
these are made out by means of computation.
Harveys Art.
Image from BigStockPhoto.com.

Mahaviras (mah-hah-VEE-rah) Ganitasarasangraha,

India, 9th century A.D.

The word number here could also be translated pattern.

Page 4

Whatever way he [the geometer] may go, through exercise will he be lifted
from the physical to the divine teachings, which are little accessible because
of the difficulty to understand their meaningand because of the
circumstance that not everybody is able to have a conception of them,
especially not the one who turns away from the art of demonstration.
Preface to the Book on Finding the Chords in the Circle
Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (al bee-ROO-nee),
Uzbekistan, c. 1030 A.D.

Now the science of mathematics is very important. This book

therefore will be of great benefit to the people of the world.
The knowledge for investigation, the development of intellectual
power, the way of controlling the kingdom and of ruling even
the whole world, can be obtained by those who are able to
make good use of this book. Ought not those who have great
desire to be learned take this with them and study it with great
care?
From the introduction to Precious Mirror of the Four Elements,
Zhu Shijie (JOO shoor-jieh), China, 1303.

Geometry, being part of the divine mind from

time immemorial, from before the origin of
things, being God Himself (for what is in God
that is not God himself?), has supplied God
with the models for the creation of the world.
Johannes Kepler, The Harmony of the World,
1619
Andres. Image from BigStockPhoto.com.

Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe, which

stands continually open to our gaze. But the book cannot
be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the
language and read the letters in which it is composed. It is
written in the language of mathematics, and its characters
are triangles, circles, and other geometric figures without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single
word of it; without these, one wanders about in a dark
labyrinth.
Galileo Galilei (15641642), Il Saggiatore, 1623

Page 5

The long chains of simple and easy reasonings by

means of which geometers are accustomed to reach the
conclusions of their most difficult demonstrations led me
to imagine that all things, to the knowledge of which
man is competent, are mutually connected in the same
way, and that there is nothing so far removed from us as
to be beyond our reach, or so hidden that we cannot
discover it, providing only that we abstain from
accepting the false for the true, and always preserve in
our thoughts the order necessary for the deduction of
one truth from another.
Rene Descartes (day-KART), from his
Discourse on Method, France, 1637

In brief, the real world is the totality of mathematically

expressible motions of objects in space and time, and the
entire universe is a great, harmonious, and mathematically
designed machine.
Morris Kline, Mathematics in Western Culture,
describing Descartes views, United States, 1964

Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not

only truth, but supreme beautya beauty
cold and austere, like that of sculpture,
without appeal to any part of our weaker
nature, without the gorgeous trappings of
paintings or music, yet sublimely pure and
capable of a stern perfection such as only the
greatest art can show. The true spirit of
delight, the exaltation, the sense of being
more than man, which is the touchstone of
the highest excellence, is to be found in
mathematics as surely as in poetry.
Bertrand Russell, The Study of Mathematics:
Philosophical Essays, England, 1967

Forgiss. Image from BigStockPhoto.com.

Page 6

The 1999 Jobs Rated Almanac by Les Krantz ranked 250 jobs
based on salary, work environment, security, stress level,
physical demands, and outlook. The top five jobs were all in
mathematics or computer science:
Web site manager
Actuary
Computer Systems Analyst
Software engineer
Mathematician
In fact, 9 of the top 10 jobs in the list were
math or computer related!
From the Web site of a college
mathematics department,
United States, 2005

Visual28. Image from BigStockPhoto.com.

You dont pass math, you dont graduate.

A high school principal, timeless

Page 7

Rhind Papyrus

Jesus

2000 BC

Author

Augustine Mahavira

al-Biruni
Zhu Shijie

What reason does

this suggest?

Kepler
Galileo
Descartes

Russell
Kline

2000 AD

Is this a
good reason?

Why?

Rhind Papyrus

Augustine

Mahavira

al-Biruni

Understanding math can

help us understand God.

Yes

God wants us to know him. Understanding

the order and beauty of Gods world can
also help us understand Gods order and
beauty.

Zhu Shijie

Kepler

Galileo

Descartes

Kline

Russell

Web site

Principal

Page 8

3)

Now that we have looked at what several key thinkers have said, lets look at
what God says. The Bible uses numbers frequently, but does not speak
directly about mathematics. Nevertheless, we can take several statements
the Bible makes about Gods plans and purposes and apply them to the study
of math. After each quote, summarize its main ideas in your own words and
apply them to the study of math.

So God created man in his own

image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he
created them. And God blessed
them and God said to them, Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth
and subdue it, and have dominion
over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the air and over every living
thing that moves upon the earth.
Genesis 1:2728
Jefras. Image from BigStockPhoto.com.

Main ideas:

What might this statement have to do with how we think about math?

Page 9

Happy is the man who gets wisdom,

and the man who gets understanding,
for the gain from it is better than gain
from silver
and its profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels,
And nothing you desire can
compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
In her left are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called happy.
The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens;
By his knowledge the deeps broke forth,
and the clouds drop down the dew.
Proverbs 3:1320
Ondago Arts.
Image from BigStockPhoto.com.

Main ideas:

What might this statement have to do with how we think about math?

Page 10

He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation;
for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authoritiesall
things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in
him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:1517
Main ideas:

What might this statement have to do with how we think about math?

you have disposed all things by measure and number and weight.
Wisdom 11:202
Main ideas:

What might this statement have to do with how we think about math?

The Wisdom of Solomon is one of the Apocryphal books. Roman Catholic and Orthodox believers regard it as part of Scripture;
Protestants typically regard it as a book of wise sayings but not scriptural. We have included it here because thinkers who write on
the relationship between Christian belief and mathematics frequently cite it.

Page 11

4)

The diagram can help us

understand the relationships among God, the
physical universe, mathematics, and ourselves.
a.

The quote from Augustine on page 4 expresses the idea that

nature has underlying
patterns without which
it could not exist.
Augustine
believed
that these patterns existed in Gods mind at creation. Thomas Aquinas, writing in the 12th
century, emphasized that Gods creation is orderly and as such,
expresses a deeper orderliness in the mind of God. Mathematics and
logic express those patterns and that order and help us understand it. Do
these ideas seem right to you? Why or why not?

b.

Why does God want us to understand the structure of his creation?

Page 12

c.

What does your answer to part (b) say about why we should study math?

Projects

Keep a piece of paper and a pen or pencil with you and record every time you
use mathematics for 24 hours.

After completing part (a), merge your list with other students who are also
doing this project. Then take a few minutes to review the composite list
carefully, looking for patterns. Write a one- to two-page essay explaining how
your life would be different if God had not given us the ability to do
mathematics.

There are many Web sites that have great quotes and jokes about
mathematics, although some of the jokes are a bit coarse. Here are a few
URLs.
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/Div/Winchester/jhhs/math/quotes.html
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/
http://en.thinkexist.com/quotations/mathematics/
http://www.dctech.com/physics/humor_math.php
Visit these sites and pick your favorite quotes and/or favorite math jokes.
Print them out using an interesting font and use them to decorate your math
classroom. Vote on your class favorite and make T-shirts that feature it for each
member of your class.

Page 13


Heres a list of statements that students have made about math. Make a
checkmark next to any that you have said or might have said.
o

I dont see why we have to take math.

Math is boring.

Math is really cool.

Math is just a bag of tricks. It doesnt mean anything.

Theres no way to misuse math, except maybe to get the wrong answer.

What I like about math is that every question has a right or wrong answer.

Math is just a dumb hoop adults make young people jump through.

I like math because its easy for me.

Theres no relationship between math and my faith.

Math can open a lot of doors for my future.

Given what we have learned about Gods purposes for math, are there any of
your attitudes or opinions you would like to change?

Page 14