Naturalism
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
Naturalism is the doctrine that the world can be understood in scientific terms without spiritual or supernatural explanations. It is an ancient doctrine, and has existed in constant conflict with theism and supernaturalism, as exhibited by ancient manifestos of naturalism such as On the Nature of Things. It is now the dominant doctrine of modern science. The word naturalist today usually refers to one who holds this philosophy, although in the 19th century the term "naturalist" was used to refer to one who studied nature.
Founders of modern science, such as Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton, viewed natural events with a different philosophy than those who promote many standard models since Darwin. Most of the pioneers of science believed in a God who created a universe of order, a universe that now operates under natural laws or processes. They believed that God created the world without the restrictions of the laws that we, as imperfect humans, understand. In other words, God created supernaturally, but the resulting universe now operates predictably: naturally.
Naturalism and Supernaturalism
Naturalists reject miracles on philosophical grounds, since God and spiritual explanations are outside of the naturalistic framework. Some naturalists seek to define words like science in such a way as to place their ideas within the framework of "science" and reject creationism out-of-hand as non-science. In the context of the creative events of Genesis, the word "supernatural" can be defined as those laws and principles (of the operations of matter) that are natural to God, but not to humans. In other words, "natural" is subjective. To someone isolated from modern technology, the operation of an airplane is supernatural and miraculous; to an airplane mechanic, the parts of the airplane operate according to natural laws that are known and understood.
Naturalism rejects realities that cannot be measured or detected by the human senses. Consequently naturalism would reject angels, demons, and spirits such as God himself who is a Spirit and has not a body like ours. Paradoxically, many naturalists will accept elements of astrology.
Related References
- Naturalism All About Philosophy
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See Also
- Supernaturalism
- Philosophy of Science
- Science is naturalistic Response to Talk.Origins
- Naturalistic science will miss a supernatural explanation Response to Talk.Origins
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