Read Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes for Free Online
Authors: Nancy Pearcey
own freedom, even though there’s no ground for it.” 32
No ground, that is, within Searle’s own materialist philosophy. He is acknowledging that his worldview box is too small to account for reality as he himself experiences it. He “can’t give up” his conviction of freedom. He “can’t live with” his own philosophy.
Searle is trapped in cognitive dissonance—what his worldview tells him contradicts what he knows from general revelation.
What do materialists do when they realize that their worldview box is too small to fit the evidence? They suppress the evidence, just as Paul says in Romans 1. They cannot deny that the concept of free will is hardwired into human thinking. What they can do, however, is reduce that concept to an illusion. A useful fiction.
You might think of reductionism as a strategy of suppression. If a materialist were to acknowledge the reality of free will, that would give evidence that humans are personal beings whose origin must be a personal Being. Therefore materialists have to suppress the evidence from general revelation. Otherwise it would falsify their worldview.
At some point, every idol-based worldview contradicts reality. This creates an opportunity to make a positive case for Christianity. Because it is not reductionistic, it does not dismiss important parts of human experience as illusions. It does not create a gap or dichotomy in thinking. It does not lead to cognitive dissonance. Instead Christianity is total truth—consistent, coherent, and comprehensive. It can be lived out in the real worldview without contradicting our most basic human experience.
Principle #4
Test the Idol: Does It Contradict Itself?
Idol-centered worldviews not only fail to match the external world, they also collapse internally. They are self-refuting. The technical term is that they are self-referentially absurd, which means they propose a standard for truth that they themselves fail to meet.
For example, a person may propose cultural relativism, which claims that there is no universal truth. But that statement itself makes a universal claim. Thus it contradicts itself.
The argument from self-referential absurdity is a standard tool in every apologist’s toolbox. But why does it work? Again the key is reductionism. A reductionistic worldview leads to a lower view of humanity—and thus of the human mind. It reduces human reason to something less than reason. Yet the only way any worldview can argue its own case is by using reason. By discrediting reason, it undermines its own case. It is self-defeating.
To illustrate how the argument works, let’s use the example of materialism once more. Materialism reduces thinking to biochemical processes in the brain, akin to the chemical reactions in digestion. But digestion is not something that can be true or false. It is just a biological fact. If thinking is reduced to brain processes, then our ideas are not true or false either. But in that case, how can the materialist know that materialism is true? The philosophy is self-refuting.
Once again, Christianity offers a better answer. Because humans are made in God’s image, human reason has the high dignity of reflecting the divine reason. Christianity thus affirms the reliability of human cognitive capacities (without becoming rationalistic, turning reason into a god). It is not self-refuting.
Ironically, then, adherents of reductionist worldviews have to disregard their own reductionism—at least while arguing their case. They have to borrow Christianity’s high view of reason in order to give reasons for their own view.
Principle #5
Replace the Idol: Make the Case for Christianity
The final step is to propose a biblical alternative to secular and pagan worldviews. To craft an approach that is most relevant to our own day, we should take our cues from precisely those points where other worldviews fail. Think back to Principle #3 where we met materialists who openly acknowledge that
No ground, that is, within Searle’s own materialist philosophy. He is acknowledging that his worldview box is too small to account for reality as he himself experiences it. He “can’t give up” his conviction of freedom. He “can’t live with” his own philosophy.
Searle is trapped in cognitive dissonance—what his worldview tells him contradicts what he knows from general revelation.
What do materialists do when they realize that their worldview box is too small to fit the evidence? They suppress the evidence, just as Paul says in Romans 1. They cannot deny that the concept of free will is hardwired into human thinking. What they can do, however, is reduce that concept to an illusion. A useful fiction.
You might think of reductionism as a strategy of suppression. If a materialist were to acknowledge the reality of free will, that would give evidence that humans are personal beings whose origin must be a personal Being. Therefore materialists have to suppress the evidence from general revelation. Otherwise it would falsify their worldview.
At some point, every idol-based worldview contradicts reality. This creates an opportunity to make a positive case for Christianity. Because it is not reductionistic, it does not dismiss important parts of human experience as illusions. It does not create a gap or dichotomy in thinking. It does not lead to cognitive dissonance. Instead Christianity is total truth—consistent, coherent, and comprehensive. It can be lived out in the real worldview without contradicting our most basic human experience.
Principle #4
Test the Idol: Does It Contradict Itself?
Idol-centered worldviews not only fail to match the external world, they also collapse internally. They are self-refuting. The technical term is that they are self-referentially absurd, which means they propose a standard for truth that they themselves fail to meet.
For example, a person may propose cultural relativism, which claims that there is no universal truth. But that statement itself makes a universal claim. Thus it contradicts itself.
The argument from self-referential absurdity is a standard tool in every apologist’s toolbox. But why does it work? Again the key is reductionism. A reductionistic worldview leads to a lower view of humanity—and thus of the human mind. It reduces human reason to something less than reason. Yet the only way any worldview can argue its own case is by using reason. By discrediting reason, it undermines its own case. It is self-defeating.
To illustrate how the argument works, let’s use the example of materialism once more. Materialism reduces thinking to biochemical processes in the brain, akin to the chemical reactions in digestion. But digestion is not something that can be true or false. It is just a biological fact. If thinking is reduced to brain processes, then our ideas are not true or false either. But in that case, how can the materialist know that materialism is true? The philosophy is self-refuting.
Once again, Christianity offers a better answer. Because humans are made in God’s image, human reason has the high dignity of reflecting the divine reason. Christianity thus affirms the reliability of human cognitive capacities (without becoming rationalistic, turning reason into a god). It is not self-refuting.
Ironically, then, adherents of reductionist worldviews have to disregard their own reductionism—at least while arguing their case. They have to borrow Christianity’s high view of reason in order to give reasons for their own view.
Principle #5
Replace the Idol: Make the Case for Christianity
The final step is to propose a biblical alternative to secular and pagan worldviews. To craft an approach that is most relevant to our own day, we should take our cues from precisely those points where other worldviews fail. Think back to Principle #3 where we met materialists who openly acknowledge that
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