MATERIALISM
AND
NATURALISM

Materialism is the philosophy that physical matter is the only fundamental reality of all existence. All processes and phenomena can be explained as manifestations or results of matter. Some scientists are materialists but that does not mean that to be a scientist one must have that philosophy. Science as a method of reasoning and explanation of the natural world is restricted to natural causes, but not the scientists. Science itself cannot exclude the possibility of the existence of supernatural causes, values, morals or purpose. Science is limited to materialism but not the scientists as people.

One evolutionist said that "we must have a prior commitment to materialism." But the meaning of that kind of a statement is strikingly ambiguous and presents people with a paradox. It seems to say that all evolutionists, and for that matter all scientists, must be athiests and that God does not exist. That is totally incorrect. What is paradoxical is that science cannot include God in explanations or conclusions, but at the same time science cannot exclude such a God. So what about the scientist as a person? A scientist using the scientific method to explain natural phenomena must do so strictly by natural causes, and yet at the same time that scientist may have the philosophical view that God is the Creator, and that is a paradox.

It is just as incorrect to say that evolution is fundamentally wrong and all scientific explanations must by replaced by a strictly religious one, which is that God the Creator created everything and that there is no valid scientific explanation of the origin of life. The evidence for evolution is overwhelming. But in no way does that say naturalism, excluding any and all supernatural causes, can be the only explanation.

Those who are not scientists are understandably confused when materialism or naturalism is discussed. They think that if science is limited to natural causes, then it logically follows that scientists must all be materialists and believe that materialism is all that exists in the universe (naturalism). It is incorrect to think that all scientists believe that all explanations of the universe have their foundations in materialism or naturalism. In fact it is unscientific to say that materialism is all there is.

In conclusion, two things are implied by this discussion: (1) anyone accepting the processes of evolution as supported by the evidence can be a devout theist (Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddist) or an atheist and (2) "Creation Science" is a misnomer with a built in contradiction. Creation Science is not science.