The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the Foundations of Naturalism

About the Book

• A 2001 ECPA Gold Medallion Award winner
• A 2001 Christianity Today Award of Merit winner

Science is the supreme authority in our culture. If there is a dispute, science arbitrates it. If a law is to be passed, science must ratify it. If truth is to be taught, science must approve it. And when science is ignored, stroms of protest are heard in the media, in the university--even in local coffee shops. Yet a society ruled by science (and the naturalistic philosophy that undergirds much of it) faces major problems. Science speaks so authoritatively in our culture that many are tempted to use its clout to back claims that go beyond the available evidence. How can we spot when such ideological slight of hand has taken place? More important, while we may learn a great deal from science, it does not offer us unlimited knowledge. In fact, most scientists readily acknowledge that science cannot provide answers to questions of ultimate purpose or meaning. So to what authority will we turn for these? The deficiencies in science and the philosophy (naturalism) that undergirds it call for a cognitive revolution--a fundamental change in our thinking habits. And it all begins with a wedge of truth. This wedge of truth does not "wedge out" a necessary foundation of rational thought. But it does "wedge in" the much-needed acknowledgment that reason encompasses more than mere scientific investigation. Phillip E. Johnson argues compellingly for an understanding of reason that brings scientific certainty back into relational balance with philosophical inquiry and religious faith. Applying his wedge of truth, Johnson analyzes the latest debates between science and religion played out in our media, our universities and society-at-large. He looks to thinkers such as Newbigin, Polanyi and Pascal to lay a foundation for our seeing the universe in a totally different way. And from that base he then considers the educational programs and research agendas that should be undertaken--and have already begun in some earnest--during this new century. In the end, Johnson prophetically concludes that the walls of naturalism will fall and that the Christian gospel must play a vital role in building a new foundation fro thinking--not just about science and religion but about everyhting that gives human life hopeand meaning.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

1. Philip Wentworth Goes to Harvard
How Can We Tell Reason from Rationalization?
2. The Information Quandary
Can Natural Law Chance Create Genetic Information?
3. The Kansas Controversy
Can Science Be Defended by Authoritarian Methods?
4. Science Modernist Theology
Does Theology Provide Any Knowledge?
5. Darwinism of the Mind
Is the Thinking, Choosing Self an Illusion?
6. The Empire Strikes Back
What Are the Arguments Against Intelligent Design?
7. Building A New Foundation for Reason
What If We Start with the Word?
8. Technological Optimism Literary Despair
How Can We Repair the Split in Knowledge?

Notes

Index

About the Author :

Phillip E. Johnson is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School. He taught law for more than thirty years at the University of California at Berkeley where he is professor emeritus. For the last decade Johnson has also been at the forefront of the public debate over evolution and creation. He has taken his message to such places as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. His InterVarsity Press titles include Reasonin the Balance, The Wedge of Truth, The Right Questions and Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds.

Review :
"A helpful, challenging resource. . . . Should have credibility even for readers outside [Johnson's] primarily Christian audience."