Sciences

At this point in history we are all aware of the wonderful things that have come to us through the natural sciences: physics, chemistry, and biology in particular. But there is more to science than merely descriptions of natural phenomena; there are sciences which deal with nonphysical and human reality. We want to think carefully about the nature of science and so to be able to arrive at a definition which includes mathematics, theology, and political science.

A science is a field of knowledge in which what is known follows logically from some first principles. Usually these first principles are either provided by another science, or else they are things that can be known simply by thinking about them directly.

The best example of this latter situation is Euclidean geometry. In this geometry there are a few things that are taken for granted: for instance, the definition of a point and the nature of the relationship between lines that are parallel. From these definitions and axioms one precedes logically to knowledge of the nature of triangles, circles, squares, and even three-dimensional figures. The conclusions of Euclidean geometry then have an important role as some of the first principles of other fields in mathematics, such as algebraic geometry.

There are many examples like this from every field of mathematics: analysis, algebra, topology, and calculus to name a few. But I will not go into detail about these because I fear I would bore my readers.

The principles discovered by mathematics then become some of the axioms of physics and chemistry and, to a lesser extent, biology. Of course there are other axioms involved in physics, chemistry, and biology which cannot be reduced to mathematics. Usually a great theory of the natural world, such as Newtonian Physics, General Relativity, or Quantum Physics, has a unique set of assumptions from which all other knowledge that the science provides follows.

These are rather indisputable examples of science, but what is less known today is that political science and theology are very similar to these. In political science, the “data” is history and human nature, and then logic, metaphysics, military science, and a few other realms of knowledge complete its first principles.

For theology the first principles are logic, metaphysics, the goodness and beauty of the natural world, and the information that is contained in the Bible. The reliance upon the goodness and beauty of nature is one reason why mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology have something to contribute to theology. Logic and metaphysics come from philosophy; the revelation of God and his world provided by the Bible form the most fundamental premises of this science.

Now it is precisely this use of the other sciences (math, physics, philosophy, and so forth) that has led people throughout the last two millennia to conclude that theology is in fact the Queen of the Sciences. But, it is also true because theology is the ultimate goal and fulfillment of all the other sciences. Knowledge of the natural sciences: philosophy, political science, and any other science, are directed toward theology. The subject of theology is God and the ultimate achievement of human happiness. All of what goes on in the universe and on the earth falls under this; conversely, the assumptions and conclusions of theology in fact inform all of the other sciences.

This is all rather straightforward if one is acquainted with each of the sciences, but there is a peculiar difficulty in seeing this today. It goes back to that empiricism that dominates our culture. If matter and physical energy are all that exist, or even just all that we can know about, there is no place for knowledge itself (which is nonphysical and spiritual). Nor is there a place for even such fundamental fields as mathematics which deals with abstractions from substance. Theology and political science are also out of the question since God and angels cannot be evaluated by physics, and the human self (socially and individually) does not have a primarily physical order to it.

Today it is almost universally accepted that it is physics (or perhaps for some, mathematics) which is the Queen of the Sciences. But this leaves us in dire straights as a culture. For the things that are most important for human life (especially theology and political science) are not available through sense data or merely physical research. Thus, as a culture, we have darkened minds: minds that only see that which is physical.

Physics, chemistry, and mathematics for that matter are beautiful sciences and are very necessary to our life on earth. But we must recover the knowledge of theology and political science if we are to be able to enter the kingdom of God as a nation. That kingdom is based on truth, and especially truth about God and human beings.