Philosophy, Science, and the Sovereignty of God

We live in an atmosphere in which many people feel that intellectual integrity demands that one give up many elements in the biblical story. Not only evolution, but engineering, psychology, medicine, sociology, linguistics, anthropology, historiography, archaeology, art, music, and philosophy are all summoned to the task of undermining biblical teaching.

Rather than responding to “problems” posed by the secular culture, Vern Poythress set out in this, his first book, “to concentrate . . . on the positive task of uncovering some biblical foundations for science and the philosophy of science.”

Poythress continues: “Most of what I say is more an introduction to philosophy of science than a treatment of special problems in philosophy of science. The question of basic orientation is at stake.”

Chapters treat (1) orientation, (2) ontology, (3) methodology, (4) axiology, (5) epistemology, and (6) study and its ethics.

Appendixes evaluate (1) previous Reformed philosophy (Dooyeweerd, Stoker, Van Til, Clark, Pike), (2) the naïve/theoretical distinction, (3) aspects, and (4) the law of contradiction.

“Because of sin, people still have trouble understanding the Bible and seeing the implications of the Bible for science,” Poythress writes. “This book is intended to jar them into a better understanding and to provide some tools for seeing how to begin reforming science.”