A Disadvantaged Vantage Point
From where I live in New York, the streets seem pretty flat, and hard – trust me I’ve hit them too many times to count. In fact, if I took out the level my father used to build our concrete patio, it would prove that fact. From that vantage point, the contractor’s level would affirm the flatness of the street.
So, wouldn’t this be valid proof that the earth was flat? Um… no, that would just be evidence of a disadvantaged vantage point.
If you look at the earth from the moon, it would appear round. So where you stand makes all the difference! And hence, where a theist and atheist stand when making claims about the universe makes all the difference.
Here are three things you need to know about your vantage point:
1- Your tools matter. You can’t use a contractor’s level to determine the flatness of the earth, in the same way you can’t use a scientific experiment to determine who or what created the universe.
The tools of science are limited in the same way the level is limited; the level is too small to measure the whole the earth. Likewise, if the universe (nature) came into existence, then who or what created it can’t be measured by natural or scientific means.
You can examine a person’s blood cells under a microscope, but that will never tell you who the person is. You can examine every physical aspect of the universe scientifically, but that will never tell you who created it. And from that vantage point, aside from the scientists, even the guys from CSI New York couldn’t answer this one!
2- Your presuppositions matter. If you live in Philadelphia, philly cheesesteaks are the best.
If you’re committed to scientific naturalism, then everything needs scientific natural proof. From that vantage point, the funny thing is that you might just exclude the thing that matters most – your mind!! I think I might need that.
There is no scientific physical proof that your mind exists, nor is there proof that the only way to know something is by science. That’s a healthy bite out of an epistemological sandwich!
Science cannot explain all the truth there is. However, philly cheesesteaks are the best – I don’t care what you tell me, and I’m from New York.
3- Your logic matters. You can be right and wrong at the same time – what?
I can be right that my patio is flat, but wrong to think the world is flat because of my disadvantaged vantage point. You can be right to make scientific natural claims, but wrong to think that those are the only valid conclusions that exist.
Similarly, you can’t weight a chicken with a yardstick, so trying to disprove an immaterial cause for the universe using a telescope or microscope is foolish – in logic, it’s called a category error.
The cause of the universe may very well be immaterial – how would you prove or disprove that scientifically? Since I’ve now proven that philly cheesesteaks are the best, I’m hungry.
You could easily conclude that the earth is flat by using a contractor’s level on your patio, and you’d be flat out wrong – unless you changed your vantage point.
Likewise, scientific evidence will only take you so far in drawing conclusions about the cause, order and design of the universe – those conclusions will depend on your vantage point. Before you make your final conclusions, check out where you’re standing and ask yourself if they maybe coming from a disadvantaged vantage point.
Anthony – NY Apologetics
