Science Doesn't Say Anything. Scientists Do.

Science Doesn't Say Anything. Scientists do.

"To say a scientist can disprove the existence of God, is like saying a mechanic can disprove the existence of Henry Ford." - Frank Turek


A very common objection to the claims of theism these days tends to fall into the camp of scientific knowledge. Consider the myths of ancient gods like Thor, the god of thunder. Thor was said to have a hammer that was used to create thunder and lightning. But as scientific knowledge of the earth's atmospheric conditions increased, the belief that such a god exists diminished. A natural explanation had been given to show that what uneducated myth-followers believed was simply a lack of knowledge about the natural world.

Today's anti-theist will use this type of explanation to show that a sort of "God of the Gaps" will ultimately be disproved by science. The idea is that as our scientific knowledge increases, the need for God or gods as an explanation will continue to shrink until the notion finally vanishes. Many conversations that I and others have had with atheists will oftentimes included phrases like, "Science shows..." or "Science says that..." followed by some explanation about how the physical world can account for all reality or that God is unprovable by scientific means.

The problem here is that science isn't a thing and doesn't speak! The real issue is that it is the interpretation of scientists and philosophers of science who say anything at all. As some of my atheistic friends have said, "Science isn't a belief system. Science is a methodology." Well, I agree. Science isn't a thing at all. Science IS a methodology for gathering data. The data must then be interpreted by a mind. And that mind has many presuppositions that form the interpretations of the data gathered.

So what are we really talking about here? A certain philosophy is needed to even start to make sense of any data obtained through the scientific method.

Consider one theory that scientists disagree on: quantum mechanics. There are currently over 10 different physical interpretations of quantum mechanics, and each one is trying to make sense of the same data and are empirically identical in every way. Where the conflict lies between the differing theories are the philosophical presuppositions of the scientists who are interpreting the data. Some are naturalists, others a super-naturalists, and the conclusions obtained will be skewed by the philosophical commitments by the individuals.

So the atheist or anti-theist must be extremely careful when using scientific findings to try and disprove the existence of God. With a commitment to philosophical naturalism, one might be affirming a wrong-headed conclusion before they even start. So the next time someone says, "Science says...", remind them that science doesn't say anything. It is people with a certain worldview that are interpreting what the scientific data shows.