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provides the proper foundation for all knowledge:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.” 1 Corinthians
1:20–25 tells us that man’s wisdom is foolishness to
God, putting our ability to reason in proper perspective.
As a result, Cedarville’s
biologists begin with a
distinctive foundation
that most scientists do
not recognize.
Cedarville professors
also critique evolution
me t hodo l og i c a l l y by
teaching students the scientific method of pursuing
knowledge within the framework of revealed truth in
God’s Word. The presupposition of the Divine Designer
helps scientists because they are much less likely to
explain things they find, but do not understand, as
“junk” or “relics of evolution.” Rather, when they start
with the idea that there is a purpose to everything in
nature, they are unlikely to dismiss what they do not
understand. Starting with the right presuppositions and
asking the right questions allow students to critically
analyze what is conveyed as “truth” in a textbook or
scientific article.
More importantly, students recognize how scientific
research itself provides much evidence against
evolution. Emphasizing the proper starting place for all
knowledge — Scripture and the proper limitations of
science — and that the scientific method cannot prove
origins, allows students to gain a more comprehensive
education at Cedarville than schools that do not believe
in a literal, six-day creation.
HISTORY
In the study of history, professors at Cedarville also
start from the foundation that God exists and that He
created man in His image. Secular philosophers of
history have long grappled with the meaning of history,
and their conclusions are really quite sad. Some throw
up their hands and decide there is no meaning. They
study the past because they find it interesting, or they
use it to support a political argument. These approaches
are not always bad, but if they are the only purpose
for studying history, then humans simply become
pawns for larger and more powerful forces, rather than
meaningful beings engaged in purposes governed by a
loving and wise Sovereign.
If man evolved in a chance system like evolution,
there can be no meaning for his existence. He is the
product of chance, or “dumb luck” in today’s vernacular.
Whether he lives or dies is of no eternal, cosmic
importance. But in God’s economy, man was created in
His image. The very act of creation endows man with
meaning. If there was any question about that, it is more
than addressed by the love He expressed toward us in
sending His Son to die for our sins.
As a historian studying
the past, I know the
historical endeavor matters
because the human actors
were valued by God. As a
Christian historian, when
I evaluate the actions of
humans in the past, I do so
recognizing that while they carry meaning because of
their created nature, they are also sinful and, by nature,
reject the truth. Students studying history at Cedarville
leave the classroomwith an understanding that ultimate
meaning in history is found not in the events or role
players, but beyond the actual events themselves within
the counsel of a Creator who causes all history to flow
toward His intended purposes.
While science can corroborate
the truth of Scripture, how the
universe began will never be
proven by scientific method.
Cedarville Magazine
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