The scientific method makes science “happen” by testing thoughts and theories, imposing a healthy habit of trying to disprove our assumptions. It acknowledges an objective standard outside of ourselves.
It is tempting at this point to think that science takes away our need for religion. Those who want to scrap “religion” and trust in “science” cause confusion by redefining them as two opposing philosophies. Science and religion constitute two kinds of knowledge, not two philosophies.
Scientific naturalism is no more a science than a belief in the supernatural. Naturalism teaches that all things happen by natural causes. This is circular reasoning, because it fails to identify a first cause. I understand the frustration in hearing “God did it” when a natural explanation exists, but to say that natural laws operate independently of outside causes gives no ultimate explanation for anything. Round and round we go.
We need to recognize that science and religion are distinct but not independent. We should distinguish between them but not identify them apart from each other.
