[hinckley buzzard]

Scientific materialism has appeal because it seems to offer a path to certainty in an uncertain world. People like Neil Tyson go around saying “The great thing about Science is that at least it’s TRUE!”. This is appealing to adolescents who don’t have the capacity to read and digest Dawkins and his ilk. This is the TikTok generation, and all they can handle, or want, are quick dirty soundbites. As one college prof said about his incoming classes, “they don’t actually read books, anymore.”

[Scrambler Bob]

Scientific materialism has appeal because it seems to offer a path to certainty in an uncertain world
= = =

I suggest that the human trait to want certainty is what makes Islam attractive.

Rules for everything.

Consequences of breaking the rules are swift and sometimes brutal; “Yeah, he deserves that - good”.

Even Hells Angles have rules, do not violate them.

Meanwhile, Christianity does not have the visible violation and punishment that a human might like.

Even to the level of ‘how can he get away with that’.

(He is not getting away with that - God has seen it all)

But God, knowing that humans cannot keep the rules. covered our sin with Jesus’s Blood.

Which is not an excuse to break more ‘rules’, but gives some relief in everyday life to listen to the Spirit and try to follow Him.

God’s way is exactly the opposite of the Human way.

[Rockingham]

Christian apologists have done a poor job of refuting scientific materialism. Yet the basis for doing so is there.

Quantum mechanics makes consciousness an integral part of how matter works in the world, while dark matter and dark energy are established features of modern cosmology. Moreover, the equations of quantum mechanics indicate that there are extra dimensions of reality that we cannot perceive.

Plausibly, these permit a realm of consciousness that includes God and immortal human, animal, and discarnate spirits. Indeed, entirely apart from religion, near death experiences, mediumship, and controlled and replicable experiments and methods of hypnosis consistently suggest that this is so.

For science minded faithful Christians, it is not at all hard to see our immense Universe as reflecting the God of the Old and New Testament at work, including Angels, the Prophets, and Christ as His Son sent to bring man closer to God. This helps to ground Christian faith in a modern scientific context.