Science – good fruit of the Reformation

Clearly, the 17^th century brought an explosion of scientific insight and discovery.  There had never been anything like it before.  What caused it?

Famous scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, a non-Christian, said that Christianity was needed to give birth to modern science.[1]  He was not quite correct.  Christianity had existed for 1,600 years before the breakthrough.  What he saw was actually the impact of the biblical worldview that became so widespread after the Reformation.

Reformation scientists began their epistemology with Jesus.  The bible calls Him the living Word of God.  Believing Him gave them access to the Holy Spirit who, having inspired the bible, reveals its true meaning.  Reasoning from accurate spiritual knowledge allowed them to reach conclusions that matched the created reality.  They bore abundant fruit that everyone recognises as good:

• in their own lives
• in the life of their nations and
• in the life of the world as a whole.

So spiritual knowledge is testable – by its fruit!

For example, in John 1:1-18 and 8:12 Jesus is revealed as “the light of the world.”  We can test that truth-claim by considering what happened after bibles were published in the languages of ordinary people.  The effect was that countless people saw Jesus’ light and developed their own personal relationship with Him.

Just a few hundred handwritten 14^th century Wycliffe bibles managed to ignite Reformation attitudes in the hearts of English Kings and commoners.  By the 17^th century those attitudes had put England on the path to political freedom,[2] which in turn facilitated the crop of scientific geniuses we’ve already considered.

Their scientific discoveries fuelled England’s industrial revolution that spread around the world.  The “light” of true knowledge has increased ever since – as predicted more than a thousand years beforehand by the prophet Daniel.[3]

Later, under the heading of Ontology, we will consider other good fruits of the biblical Christian worldview, such as justice, freedom and prosperity.  The fruit produced by rationalistic Humanism will also be considered.

That ends the Epistemology section.  Click here to progress to Cosmology.