Taking Every Thought Captive

This post comes from Tony Bowe over at creation-club.org. In a very straightforward way, Tony articulates how worldviews affect the interpretation of facts.

For the Christian that accepts a literal interpretation of Genesis, there is no lack of evidence for a Young Earth. Comets which disintegrate too quickly, carbon-14 in diamonds, and the law of Biogenesis are just a few examples evidences which support a recent Creation. Why, then, when Christians try to use evidences like these while witnessing to unbelievers are they so easily dismissed and ineffective? The reason is that the debate for a 6,000 year-old Creation (and Christianity, for the matter) is not, by its nature, evidentiary – rather, it is philosophical.

There is a stark antithesis between the Christian and the non-Christian – the two worldviews are counter to each other at nearly every point. The Christian worldview interprets human experience and reality in light of the fundamental assumption that the Bible is God’s Word. The non-Christian worldview interprets reality in light of the assumption that man’s reason is the ultimate authority. Because of this, any physical evidence that is to be interpreted by each respective worldview is going to interpret it differently depending on the starting points of their worldview. As such, the Christian will view one piece of evidence much differently than a non-Christian interprets it.

For example, consider comets in the Solar System. Creationists claim that comets are profound evidence of a Young Universe because each time a comet orbits close to the sun it loses material at such a great rate that they should not last longer than 100,000 years – a much different age than the evolutionary belief that they are around five billion years old. [1]  To account for this “age-problem”, evolutionists assume that there is an “Oort Cloud” beyond Pluto’s orbit which generate the comets and are knocked into our Solar System. Unfortunately, this Oort Cloud has never actually been observed, but, according to evolutionists, it must exist because otherwise comets would be much younger than evolutionary models of the Universe allow. It is a classic example of a worldview coming up with a “rescuing device” to explain away contradictory evidence.

Dr. Jason Lisle of Answers in Genesis once explained the power of a worldview in interpreting evidence by likening it to a man who was convinced he was dead. The man goes to the doctor to have the doctor prove to him that he is not dead. The doctor, of course, claims such talk is foolishness, and refers to the man’s medical charts to show that he is, in fact, alive. “Not convinced,” the man shrugs, “because you could have easily just thrown that together right before I showed up.” The doctor then tells the man he can’t be dead because he is talking, and dead men certainly do not talk. “Not so,” says the man, “for when one dies the muscles sometimes have involuntary reflexes which may form noise that sounds like human language.” The doctor, puzzled, begins to think of a concrete way to prove that the patient was still alive. “I got it!” the doctor exclaims. “Do dead men bleed?” The man thinks about it for a moment and politely responds, “No, dead men don’t bleed.” Promptly, the doctor takes a needle and pricks the man gently on the arm. As blood slowly trickles from the cut, the doctor proudly insists, “See? You’re bleeding! You’re not dead!” But the man shakes his head and, with a bit of a smile, replies, “Well, I’ll be. I guess dead men really do bleed!”

Like the “dead man”, everyone interprets evidence according to their worldview – even Christians! It is completely unavoidable and is necessary in attempting to maintain consistency within ones framework of reality. Unfortunately, it is also why evidence doesn’t truly decide anything in a debate between two conflicting worldviews. Creationists may see a fossil as testament to a Global Flood just over 4,000 years ago; Evolutionists, on the other hand, may interpret the same fossil as proof for millions of years of evolution.

How then are the Christian and the non-Christian supposed to resolve anything? By examining which can account for the evidence in the first place. Instead of looking at the evidence, get to the heart of the matter: the antithesis of the two worldviews. Can the non-Christian worldview consistently account for all aspects of perceived and abstract reality? When the non-Christian complains that teaching the Bible to children is “child abuse”, to what standard of morality are they referring to? When the non-Christian appeals to the scientific method, how do they explain the possibility of science (uniformity of nature)? When the non-Christian argues that Christians are illogical, how do the laws of logic exist if their worldview were true? Such philosophical observations can determine if a worldview is consistent and non-arbitrary, and thus determine if a worldview possesses the qualities of truth (what is truth in a non-Christian worldview, anyway?)

Is there no use for evidence in debate, then? On the contrary, evidence is quite useful in debates. Like the above example of comet disintegration, evidence can show unbelievers that the Christian worldview has support from the physical world. More so, many people do become convinced by physical evidence. A number of people have become Christians due to evidence. What is important to remember is that such conversions are due to the Holy Spirit working on an individual’s heart – not philosophical or evidential arguments. Still, understanding the limitations of evidence in a debate (and the worldview assumptions which interpret them) can aid the Christian in their earnest apologetic and defense of the Faith.

Fortunately, such an examination of the philosophical worthiness of worldviews is friendly to the biblical Christian. In fact, as one will discover, only the biblical Christian worldview can account for the entire sum of human experience and reality. Unlike unbelievers who have “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” (Romans 1:25) and, in their denial of God’s existence, become “fools” (Psalm 14:1), Christians can be confident in taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

“Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” – 1 Corinthians 1:20

[1] Humphreys, Dr. Russel. “Evidence for a Young World”. Answers in Genesis. Jun. 2005. Online. Accessed 16 Apr. 2011. <http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/4005.asp>.