Volume 1 Number 6 November 15, 2006

MarketFaith Ministries is an equipping ministry which is focused on helping Christians become more effective
in living out their faith in the midst of the increasingly diverse worldview environment of modern society.
Introduction
In the last issue we gave a basic overview of Naturalism. But a simple overview is not enough if we intend to interact with
people who have an atheistic point of view based on Naturalism. We also need to know the implications of their atheistic
beliefs.

As it turns out, it is possible to hold to Naturalism only if certain important issues are ignored. But if the right questions are
asked, the Naturalistic worldview begins to tumble like a house of cards. This does not mean that adherents will automati-
cally turn away from it. Beliefs held at the worldview level are the very organizing principle of a person’s life. It will not be
easily put aside. This is why it is so important for Christians to not only know the worldview information, but be willing to
develop relationships and maintain those relationships over time. If you will do this, opportunities will emerge which will
ultimately allow you to help people cross over to faith in Christ.

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The Achilles Heel of Naturalism own hand wet. This kept Achilles’ heel out of the water and
left him vulnerable at that spot.
The ancient Greek myths contain a lot of interesting stories
and reveal a lot about how the ancient Greeks understood Achilles went on to become a valiant fighter and was a key
reality to operate. Essentially they believed that there were figure in the battle of Troy. He personally, killed many Tro-
many Gods who directly interacted with the material world jans in that war, but was himself finally killed when he was
and humanity to affect the outcome of things on earth. One shot in his vulnerable heel with an arrow. The term Achilles
of the more well known stories concerned a man named heel has since come to be used as an expression which
Achilles. indicates a fatal weakness which an opponent is able to
take advantage of in order to defeat an enemy.
Achilles was actually half God and half mortal. He was con-
ceived when the mortal Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons, Naturalism’s Problematic Implications
had a tryst with a goddess, the sea nymph Thetis. When The Naturalistic worldview, and its various atheistic expres-
Achilles was born, Thetis wanted to make him immortal so sions, have become very prominent in Western societies in
she held him by the heel and dipped him head first into the the twentieth and twenty first centuries. But we must under-
river Styx. Every place that the water touched caused his stand, it is not just the view of God and the supernatural
body to became invincible. that is affected by this prominence. The implications for so-
ciety are also quite pronounced. A Naturalistic approach to
However, she was negligent in one place. When she dipped understanding reality leads to the belief that life has no ulti-
him in the water, she didn’t dip down far enough to get her mate meaning or value. As a (Continued on page 2)

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(The Achilles Heel of Naturalism continued)

result, things like abortion, euthanasia, human cloning, genocide and literally any other activity can be deemed okay if the
people of the society conclude that it has some value. It is mankind, not a transcendent being, who decides what is right
and good.

This kind of belief system also has public policy implications. It has led to such programs as the •one child policy• in Chi-
na, physician assisted suicide in parts of the United States and several countries in Europe, and government sponsorship
of human cloning research. In its worst forms, it has also led to the ovens of the Holocaust in WWII Germany, the Killing
Fields of Cambodia, the Cultural Revolution in China and the massacre of millions under Stalin.

Many people who claim to be Naturalists become indignant when this is mentioned because they, themselves, reject the
massacres committed in the name of repressive governments. The only problem is, there is no objective reason for this
outrage. If there is no objective morality and mankind has to make it up for himself, there really is no reason why a pacifis-
tic view of societal organization should top a murderous one. It is simply a matter of the preferences of those who wield
power in the society.

The Dishonest Tactics of Naturalists

In interacting with Naturalists, it is not unusual for them to try and press their advantage by interpreting data to make it
appear that the supernatural does not exist. There are several approaches that they use to try and support their conclu-
sions. They do such things as interpret biological and geological data in ways which make evolutionary theory appear to
be true, misinterpret Biblical texts to make it seem that there are errors and inconsistencies, expose the hypocrisy and
inconsistency of various Christians throughout history to try and discredit the Christian faith in general, and use the brute
force of condescension and intimidation to silence Christians. And when pressed concerning the weaknesses of Natural-
ism, they will simply change the subject.

These various tactics have often been effective in silencing Christians who have not made the effort to fortify themselves
with the truth. But the fact is, each and every one of these maneuvers are nothing more than smokescreens to camou-
flage the inherent weaknesses of Naturalism.

There are times when we, as Christians, need to engage Naturalists at this level in order to correct the record. But the
most effective way to deal with the assaults of Naturalists is not at the data level. Rather, we need to work at the world-
view level. Naturalism’s Achilles heel lies in the fact that its very framework has nothing to support it. And if the framework
is wrong, then all of the conclusions which are built upon it will fall.

The Ultimate Problem with Naturalism

Let’s begin with Naturalism’s basic assumption • there is no such thing as the supernatural. They assert that all of exis-
tence can be explained by natural happenstance. From a worldview perspective, there are four issues that deal a death
blow to the Naturalistic worldview. Let’s take a moment to define those four issues.

1. Why Is There Something Rather than Nothing

The first assumption that Naturalism makes is that since everything is natural, the material universe had to have a natural
origin. This is quite a problem for the Naturalistic worldview because there are only two basic possibilities and neither one
of them have any supporting evidence.

The first possibility is that matter emerged out of nothing. This is a problem because the whole idea of •nothing• goes
completely against the worldview. Naturalism requires that there already be something. In fact, they will often only start
their discussion with the “big bang” and simply ignore the question concerning where the material for the “big bang” came
from.

The second possibility is that matter, itself, is eternal. This does not mean that it has always existed in the form it is in
now, but the energy and material that led to what now exists has always been around. This, too, is deeply problematic as
there is no evidence to indicate that this is so.

For Naturalism, the conclusion emerges out of the faith assumption that there is no supernatural, rather than out of any
real evidence. In other words, Naturalism is completely based on a set of philosophical assumptions rather than on empir-
ical evidence.

2. Life from Non-life

The second problem with Naturalism relates to the existence of life. To begin with, scientists do not even really know what
life is. It is one of those things where you know it when you see it, but no one has been able to identify a way to generate
it or prolong it beyond a certain point. (Continued on page 3)
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(The Achilles Heel of Naturalism continued)

In order to provide an explanation for the origin of life, Naturalism depends on Darwin’s theory of evolution. The best it can
manage is that given the right circumstances, materials and enough time, life will naturally emerge.
This, again, is purely a faith presupposition. Nothing like this has ever been witnessed and researchers have not been
able to demonstrate scientifically that it is even possible. In fact, there is not even a theory as to an actual mechanism that
could cause it to happen. Again, the starting point is nothing more than the philosophical assumption that matter is all that
exists. With that assumption, the only logical conclusion is that life had to somehow emerge from non-life, but there is no
empirical evidence that this is true.

3. Evolution of One Species from Another

The third problem with the Naturalistic worldview relates to how the various forms of life emerged. As we observe the
world, it is evident that there are many species of plants and animals. Somehow, all of these different forms must be ac-
counted for.

Once again, Naturalists turn to Darwin’s theory to make their case. The only problem is, they are still unable to identify a
mechanism which allows for this to happen. The traditional approach has been to credit the process of natural selection
for the evolutionary changes. This argument says that given enough time, the mutation of one species can cause it to
evolve into another. In other words, they equate evolution with natural selection.

However, this is simply not true. Natural selection works within a single species but has very strict limits. Various plant
and animal breeders have worked with this process for literally thousands of years to produce hybrid outcomes, but they
have never produced a new species in the process.

On top of this problem comes the issue of irreducible complexity. The various parts of plants and animals, from the cellu-
lar level on up, are so complex that the parts would have had to emerge fully evolved and operational to have the advan-
tageous effects that Darwin’s theory requires. This simply
cannot happen and, itself, goes against the theory’s meth-
odological explanations.

While Naturalists continue to cling to Darwin’s theory, it Subscription Information

simply cannot account for the complexity of life as we see
it. It is another nail in the coffin of Naturalism.
4. Consciousness from Non-consciousness
The final giant problem for Naturalism is to account for the
existence of consciousness. Human beings are self-con-
scious creatures who are capable of self-awareness with
the ability to consider complex problems and the implica-
tions of those problems.
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The Naturalist, once again, begins with the assumption that
this must be a natural phenomenon and can, therefore, be
accounted for by natural means. The common explanation
is that the human brain has evolved to a high enough level
to be capable of the computations required for self-con-
scious thought.
The only problem is, this conclusion has no basis in sci-
ence. There is no evidence whatsoever to support the idea
that consciousness could come from non-consciousness.
Again, the conclusion emerges from the philosophical pre-
suppositions, not from the evidence.
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Naturalism is a Religious Faith
There is one more point that has been referenced through-
out the article but needs to be plainly stated. Naturalism
claims that all of reality can be accounted for naturally, yet
is itself a faith position. There is no natural reason why re-
ality should be organized the way Naturalism says it is.
(Continued on page 4)
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(The Achilles Heel of Naturalism continued)

· Naturalism’s assumptions concerning the origins of material reality - No scientific evidence.

· The assumption that life came from non-life - no scientific evidence.
· The assumption that one species of life can evolve from another - no natural explanation as to how that could hap-
pen or proof that it ever has.
· The assumption that consciousness came from non-consciousness - no scientific evidence.

Naturalism starts with the assumption that there is no God who could have created life. With that assumption, it has no
choice but to look for a natural explanation for everything. Science and empirical study are only brought into the picture
to try and support the worldview. It is not, itself, the source of the worldview.

What is the Truth?

Something is truth. Either there is a God or there is not. If one begins with presuppositions that are in line with the truth, it
should be evident that those assumptions line up with what we actually experience as our universe operates.

If the God exists who is described in the Bible, it is perfectly logical that he could have spoken reality into existence out of
nothing. If God is a living person as revealed in the Bible, it is absolutely reasonable that he is capable of creating life on
earth. If God created the world as described in the Bible, it completely rational to believe that he created each separate
species of living organisms. And if God is who he has revealed himself to be, consciousness had a prior consciousness
to come from.

This certainly does not imply that we have all of the answers. There are things about God and spiritual reality that are
simply beyond what has been revealed, and likely beyond what we are capable of understanding. But Biblical faith is cer-
tainly in line with the way humanity understands and interacts with the material world in a way that Naturalism simply
cannot match.

Coming in December - What is Far Eastern Thought?

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