Over the last several articles, we have compared the Christian worldview with materialism. Along the way, we have utilized philosopher Nancy Pearcey’s 5-principle model to guide that comparison by first identifying materialism’s idol; second, by identifying how materialism’s idol ultimately reduces the value of human beings; and third, by identifying how materialism contradicts what we know about the world. The next step in Pearcey’s model is to define how materialism’s worldview contradicts itself. Understanding the internal contradictions is a critical step, because worldviews that hold contradictory premises are necessarily false. Recently, we identified one of materialism’s contradictions as its denial of any and all immaterial realities (consciousness, rationality, free will, etc.), arguing that only material things composed of atoms and molecules truly exist. Consequently, free will is seen as an illusion because the laws of physics and chemistry, it is argued, predetermine every event in the universe. Materialists, however, live life as if free will is true, as they depend upon the exercise of free will thousands of times per day. And therein lies the contradiction between materialism and what we know about the world. Even so, the internal inconsistencies don’t stop there; materialism also proves to contradict itself. Since materialism denies the existence of immaterial realities, there is no basis for the existence of things like rationality, which is not a product of the brain but of the mind. Rationality, which is the product of reason and logic, is not possible in the materialist worldview because, like consciousness and free will, rationality is not composed of atoms and molecules. As Pearcey rightly notes, materialism argues that thoughts are nothing more than physical events in which chemical reactions cause neurons to fire, etc. That is, rational thoughts produced by the brain are no different than sweat glands producingsweatorthestomachproducing digestive acids. According to materialism, they are all physical properties. But that is not true. Pearcey points out, “The problem is that digestion is not something that can be true or false; it is just a biological fact.” The very nature of rational thoughts, on the other hand are either true or false. In fact, rationality is rather useless if it cannot determine whether a thought is true or false; not being able to do so is commonly called irrationality. Rational thoughts being either true orfalse,then,provethattheyarenot the products of biological processes but are of the immaterial mind that materialism cannot explain. All because,quitesimply,humanshave a material physical brain composed of atoms and molecules, as well as an immaterial mind that exists as a completely separate entity. Once again, it would seem, materialism contradicts itself, suggesting that it cannot be the one true worldview but instead something logically false. Therefore, in the words of the apostle Paul, there is “a more excellent way” (cf 1 Cor 12:31). The final step in Pearcey’s worldview comparison model is to present the rationality and coherence of the Christian worldview. No doubt, we have been at length uncovering the tell-tale signs that all false worldviews exhibit when compared with Christianity. To be sure, it is only the Christian worldview that starts with an all-powerful, all-knowing, and allloving God who created the whole of mankind as spiritual beings in His image and after His likeness. And it is because of that spiritual image shared between Creator and creature that imparts everlasting and infinite value to all human beings rather than reducing them to impersonal conglomerations of atoms and molecules. The notion thatallmenarecreatedequalunder one God is not a human-contrived concept attributed to God, but rather God’s design inherent in all humans. No other worldview holds a higher view of human equality and dignity than Christianity. In truth, it is only within the Christian worldview that true universal human rights can be established and grounded in something higher than man himself.
That is not all. All non-Christian worldviews fail to explain at least some aspects of the human experience. As an inevitable consequence, these worldviews sit in contradiction between what they profess and what we know about the world. The Christian worldview, however, does not hold any tenets that contradict our experiences. For instance, Christianity not only validates the existence of the physical realm that we see in nature (atoms and molecules), but also the immaterial realities of the mind (consciousness, rationality, free will, etc.) that the materialist worldview denies. Christianity, then, is not compelled to deny one to save the other.
Finally, it is only the Christian worldview that does not self-contradict what it holds to be true. It does not argue that something does not exist (such as the materialist’s denial of human free will), all the while they live life as if it does. At some point, all other worldviews do this—they are internally contradictory, rendering them false. Ultimately, using Pearcey’s worldview comparison model, all other worldviews are found to be built upon at least some false premises. For these reasons, one can only conclude Christianity stands as the one and only true worldview.
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ, and live in Ardmore. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@isGoddead.com.