Knowledge and Truth 1 1

Running head: KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW 1

Knowledge and Truth From the Christian Worldview Paper 1

Darlyn J. Newman

ID #21953957

Liberty University

COUN503_D04 Summer 2010

Abstract
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Table of Contents
Abstract.................................................................................................................................2

Introduction...........................................................................................................................4

Steps involved in Scientific Inquiry......................................................................................4

Scientific Method Used as a Way Seeking Knowledge and Truth........................................5

Others Way of Seeking Knowledge and Truth......................................................................7

Influence of Human Nature in Seeking Knowledge and Truth…………………………….8

Conclusion……......................................................................................................................15

References..............................................................................................................................16
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Knowledge and Truth From the Christian Worldview Paper 1

Introduction
Discussion of steps involved in scientific inquiry was clear and comprehensive
Engaged with materials presented in this course (students can incorporate materials from outside
of this course as well)

The scientific method is an organized way of helping us better understand the world

around us. This method is comprised of asking and satisfying scientific questions. It is made

possible by making observations and performing experiments. The experiments executed must

be a "fair" test. A test is said to be fair only if one variable is changed, while keeping all other

remain constant. The scientific method is used to detect the cause and effect relations in nature.

Experiments are devised in such a way that if one item is varied, the variations in another item

can be predicted. The six steps of the scientific method are: asking a question, performing

background research, constructing a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis by conducting an

experiment, analyzing the data of the experiment to deduce a conclusion, and communicating the

results.

The scientific method begins when a question is asked using the words why or when or

how or where or which or who or what regarding something that has been observed. The answer

to the question must be something that can be measured and preferably a number. A hypothesis

means an educated surmise of how processes occur. Two things must be kept in mind while

stating a hypothesis: it must be possible to measure the terms in the hypothesis and the

hypothesis must answer the original question. The hypothesis must be worded as follows: "If __

this is done __ , then __ this __ will take place". The experiment that is performed proves the

authenticity of the hypothesis. Care must be taken that the experiment is a fair test. The
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experiment must be repeated for the same and different set of values to ensure that the initial

results were not a fluke. After the experiment is complete, all the measured values are collected

together. An analysis is done to check whether the hypothesis is proved true. It frequently

happens that the hypothesis turns out to be false. Then, the alternative is to formulate a new

hypothesis and begin the steps of the scientific method all over again. If the hypothesis turns out

to be true, then it becomes necessary to check it again by using a new approach. The results of

the experiment and the hypothesis must be conveyed to others by publishing a final report. When

others perform the same experiment and get same results, the hypothesis becomes rock solid.

(Shuttleworth, 2009).

 How can the scientific method be used as a way of seeking knowledge and truth?
Clarified how scientific method can be used as a way of seeking knowledge and truth
Discussed from a biblical Christian worldview
Discussed how A biblical Christian worldview and Scientific Method are compatible or not
compatible and why

Science requires certain conditions. For example, the way the world operates must remain

generally the same (uniformity of nature) or else scientific prediction is futile. If the conditions

being tested in a particular experiment were constantly changing, then the scientific method

would be inane. Moreover, our minds must be able to perceive accurately and analyze the data in

question. The non-Christian cannot justify these two basic concerns. If everything is the product

of chance, then the non-Christian cannot know that the world will operate uniformly from

moment to moment. How does the non-Christian justify the claim that the future will even

probably resemble the past? Or how does he know that any unexamined cases will resemble

those which have been examined? One cannot logically deduce that nature is uniform on the

basis of past experience, since one would be assuming uniformity in order to prove it begging the

question. Other attempts to solve this problem have failed just as badly.
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Non-Christians cannot rationally account for the uniformity of nature though it is an

essential aspect of science (and everyday life). Hence, non-Christian scientists must blindly

assume that the universe is predictable. If they consistently followed their worldview, they would

have to give up their scientific endeavors. Secondly, on the non-Christian view, why should we

expect that the mind accurately analyzes the world? They believe all conclusions are only the

results of electro-chemical processes. In a non-Christian universe, why are these results more

"rational" or "true" than the results of the physical processes that occur when two marbles strike

each other?

The Christian worldview provides the necessary basis for science. The God of biblical

Christianity explicitly promises to maintain the uniformity of nature so that He can accomplish

His purposes. Secondly, humans are made to reflect their Creator, which is the foundation of our

rational capacities and moral responsibility.

  
 What are other ways of seeking knowledge and truth that go beyond the scientific method?
Identified several ways of seeking knowledge and truth
Each way was clearly explained
Discussed how a biblical Christian worldview and different methods of knowing are compatible
or not compatible and why
Discussed from a biblical Christian worldview  

Charles Sanders Peirce was competent in logic, mathematics and different branches of
science, including astronomy, chemistry, physics, geology, and meteorology. He was versed in
most of the ancient and contemporary schools of thought in logic (Brent, 1993). Peirces's
writings provide many insightful applications to psychologists and educational researchers. The
thesis of this paper is that by applying Peircean notion of truth and reality, Charles Sanders
Peirce was competent in logic, mathematics and different branches of science, including
astronomy, chemistry, physics, geology, and meteorology. He was versed in most of the ancient
and contemporary schools of thought in logic (Brent, 1993). Peirces's writings provide many
insightful applications to psychologists and educational researchers. The thesis of this paper
includes the application of the Peircean notion of truth and reality.
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The issues of truth and reality regarding foundations are essentially ontological: What is the
nature of reality? On what ultimate grounds can knowledge be built? Sometimes Peirce's position
seems to be inconsistent in this regard. Peirce stated that hardness is not an attribute of an object
until we measure it (1878a). However, this statement should not be interpreted as a position that
there is no objective reality. What Peirce implied was that knowledge is a social construct. The
concept of hardness is a result of our test and measurement, however, truth is not just a social
construct (Parker, 1994).

Peirce made a distinction between truth and reality. Truth is the understanding of reality through
a self-corrective inquiry process by the whole intellectual community across time. On the other
hand, reality is the existence independent of human inquiry (Wiener, 1969). In terms of ontology,
there is one reality. In regard to methodology and epistemology, there is more than one approach
and one source of knowledge. Reality is "what is" while truth is "what would be." One of the
differences between pragmatism and pragmaticism can be viewed as orientation to truth and
reality. Dewey and James adopted a subjective and humanistic view to truth i.e. knowledge is a
human and social construct and it can be known without a transcendental standard. For Dewey
"the problem of philosophy is not how we can come to know an external world, but how we can
learn to control it and remake it, and for what goals" (Durant, 1926/1961, p.523). In contrast,
Peirce introduced a metaphysical dimension into pragmaticism and implied a universal and
transcendental standard (Apel, 1981). For Peirce the inquiry of knowledge is a form of free
association or creative thinking that resemble the Divine mind (Oakes, 1993), or the Hegelian
"Absolute Spirit" (Margolis, 1993).

Unlike Thomas Kuhn's (1962) emphasis on paradigm shift, Peirce stressed the continuity of
knowledge. First, knowledge does not emerge out of pure logic. Instead, it is a historical and
social product. As mentioned before, Peirce disregarded the Cartesian attitude of doubting
everything. To some extent we have to fix our beliefs on those positions that are widely accepted
by the intellectual community (1877).

Kuhn proposed that the pattern of inquiry is a process of new frameworks overthrow outdated
frameworks. Peirce, in contrast, considered knowledge to be continuous and cumulative. Rescher
(1978) used the geographical-exploration model as a metaphor to illustrate Peirce's idea: The
replacement of a flat-world view with a globe-world view is a change in qualitative
understanding, or a paradigm shift. After we have discovered all the continents and oceans,
measuring the height of Mount Everest and the depth of the Nile river is adding quantitative
details to the qualitative understanding. Although Kuhn's theory looks glamorous, as a matter of
fact, paradigm shifts might occur only once in a century or a few centuries. The majority of
scholars are just adding details to existing frameworks. Knowledge is self-corrective insofar as
we inherit the findings from previous scholars and refine them. (Staat, 1993).

 How can human nature influence the ways a person seeks knowledge and truth?
Clearly identified what aspects of human nature influence in seeking knowledge and truth
Critically evaluated how human nature influence in seeking truth and knowledge in scientific
method
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Critically evaluated how human nature influence in other ways of seeking knowledge and truth
Discussed from a biblical Christian worldview

Joseph Butler (May 18, 1692 – June 16, 1752) was an English bishop, theologian, apologist,
moral philosopher and the author of Fifteen Sermons (1726) and The Analogy of Religion,
Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature (1737). He asserted that
morality was an essential and undeniable aspect of human nature and that benevolence was as
much a natural tendency as self-interest. He separated human nature into three elements:
passions and affections, self-love and benevolence, and conscience; and placed these elements in
a hierarchy, with conscience as the highest authority. He regarded the conscience as a secular
faculty that reviewed and passed judgment on the motives and tendencies of the other aspects of
human nature, but for religious people conscience was also the voice of God. Butler set out to
naturalize morality and religion by arguing that morality is an essential aspect of human nature,
and that human nature is particularly suited to virtue. To dismiss morality is absurd, since it
would amount to dismissing part of our own humanity. In his famous refutation of Hobbes, he
showed that benevolence is as much a part of human nature as self-love, and that the instinct to
serve one’s own interests was compatible with the instinct to seek the well-being of others. This
was supported with evidence that tendencies towards benevolence existed in man, and that
benevolent actions benefited the interests of the individual in various ways, including feelings of
self-satisfaction and increased cooperation with society as a whole. …it will as fully appear that
this our nature, i.e. constitution, is adapted to virtue, as from the idea of a watch it appears that its
nature, i.e. constitution or system, is adapted to measure time. The first of Butler’s Fifteen
Sermons analyzed human nature by dividing it into three elements: passions and affections; self-
love and benevolence; and conscience. He placed these elements in a hierarchy, with conscience
as the highest authority. (White, 2006)
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Conclusion
A worldview is the particular bias in our presuppositions that influences how you look at

the world and what we see or expect to see. This bias reveals itself in answering both the major

and the minor questions of life. It is a predisposition, a slant, a bias in how we see things. A

person's worldview influences what they expect to see and how they explain things. For instance,

two people can observe the identical event and explain it differently based on the bias of their

worldview. One might explain the event as a coincidence while the other labels the same event a

miracle.Your answers to these questions is largely influenced (maybe even determined) by your

worldview. Most of us inherited our worldview. We got it from our family, friends, the media

and the experiences of life, but our worldviews can and do shift through life. Our worldviews

change the same way they are acquired: through experience and relationships. If we continually

have experiences that cannot be explained, often we may seek answers from elsewhere. For

instance, a person who has had a miraculous worldview will expect God to intervene on their

behalf and will even credit God with providing their parking space when one is needed. Then

they get bad news: an incapacitating disease that “has no cure”. What does this person do? They

pray -- pray for healing. Surely, if God cares enough about providing them with a parking space,

He would intervene and heal their disease, wouldn't He? Nothing happens, and they get worse.

They are facing a life experience that their worldview didn’t accommodate. Their worldview

shifted based on their experience and the evidence of life.

A Christian worldview can be defined as a single worldview that all Christians share and

can be deemed as “core theology” or the theology that most all Christians agree upon, which is a

short list. 1. Concerning God - Christians say God does exists and natural explanations fall short

of explaining our world. 2. Concerning Humanity - Christians believe humans are created in the
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image of God and has a soul or spirit that is eternal and have a destiny in the afterlife. 3.

Concerning Metaphysics - Christians respond in one accord: there can be supernatural

explanations for things we see and experiences we have that move beyond scientific evidence. 4.

Concerning Epistemology - Christians say there are others ways of perceiving reality besides our

senses. We accept the scientific method is a useful way of knowing, but is not the exclusive way

of knowing truth, for some truth is found outside the realm of our natural senses. 5. Concerning

Ethics - Christians say there is an external standard of right and wrong and God is that standard

as revealed in Jesus Christ and recorded in the Bible. Christians believe the Bible is a source of

truth along with the tools of science. Our worldview actually includes numerous elements

beyond the core elements of the Christian Worldview, which is also a short list. For instance,

most all Christians would agree that there are supernatural explanations for things, but we still

may disagree on how often to expect such things in our daily life. For example a Christian from

another country might expect God to perform miracles or cast out demons regularly in life, while

a North American brother might expect such things only rarely, or (when it comes to demons)

maybe even not at all. Which of these do you believe? 1. God frequently intervenes in the world

with miracles. 2. God occasionally intervenes with miracles. 3. God seldom intervenes in a

miraculous way. All three views are within the scope of the Christian worldview

When one looks at the world around them, are they basically optimistic or pessimistic?

Do you think the world is getting worse and when it gets bad enough the “time of Jesus’ return”

will be near? When approached with the question of the state of the world, do you lean toward

being a pessimistic? Do you believe that there is hope in the future, and that God’s kingdom is

something like a mustard seed, or yeast—it started small but it is steadily growing and

spreading? Therefore, leaning the other way—toward being an optimistic? The

pessimism/optimism worldview is just one of many issues that make up our “comprehensive

worldview” of which Christians often disagree. For example, should we withdraw welfare from

those who are poor, because God values responsibility and individual effort - “he who does not

work should not eat.” 2 Thess. 3:10 “We ought to actually picture two concentric circles: an

inner circle of the Christian worldview, and an outer circle including many other elements of our

worldview that are secondary.” It cannot be assumed that Christians have all the answers on

every issue (Drury, 2004).

This
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References

http://www.drurywriting.com/john/

Shuttleworth, Martyn (2009). What is the Scientific Method? Retrieved [July 17, 2010] from
Experiment Resources: http://www.experiment-resources.com/what-is-the-scientific-
method.html.

Staat, W. (1993). On abduction, deduction, induction and the categories. Transactions of the
Charles S. Peirce Society, 29, 225-237.

White, David E. (2006). "Joseph Butler," The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, J. Fieser &
B. Dowden (eds.).