Newton and Boyle Fear God

Faith is the beautiful standard of the saints—childlike faith.  It is faith that precedes every righteous deed.  Abraham, the father of Israel and of all that should believe upon the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, is God’s standard-bearer of faith.  James 2:19-23:

19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

22  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

The seed of faith in Father Abraham was Christ.  Galatians 3:16:

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Are you prepared to embrace the Christ?  Do you want everlasting joy and peace?  Are you interested in life and life more abundantly?  Would you like to have all your sins erased, and to begin a new eternal life in Christ Jesus?  We have good news.  Today is your day of salvation.  Click onto “Further With Jesus.”  Follow the simple instructions for immediate entry into the kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Psalms 111:10:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

GOD SAID, Proverbs 2:1-5:

1  My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

2  So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

3  Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

4  If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

5  Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

MAN SAID: Who is this God that I should worship Him?  Where is He?  Instead I shall bow at the throne of science.

Now THE RECORD.  God is the God of truth.  True scientific discovery will always bow at his feet.  I Timothy 6:20-21 speaks of pseudo-science that looks at nature through the blackened glasses of unbelief.  The passage reads:

20  O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

21  Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.

The monthly periodical Acts & Facts published by the Institute for Creation Research, launched a series titled, “Man of Science, Man of God.”  This series demonstrates that great scientists of old and current times arguably laid the foundations for all science and scientific discovery.  These men feared God, thus their wisdom and understanding of pieces of his handiwork.

Possibly the most influential scientist of all time was born in Woolsthorpe, England, on January 4, 1643.  His name was Sir Isaac Newton.  The following paragraphs are from Acts & Facts, May 2008:

In 1665, the young scientist invented the generalized binomial theorem and began developing the mathematical theory that would later become calculus.  He received his Bachelor of Arts degree later that year, shortly after which the university was closed as a precaution against the Great Plague.  Newton returned to his home in Woolsthorpe to continue his work in calculus, optics, and the law of gravitation, as well as dabbling in some alchemy in the spirit of Robert Boyle’s The Sceptical Chymist.

He returned to Cambridge in 1668 and earned Master of Arts recognition and the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics position a year later.  The Royal Society took interest in his optics works, particularly his investigations into the refraction of light, as well as the reflecting telescope he invented (today known as a Newtonian telescope).  Though his work received initial opposition, it paved the way for Newton’s membership into the Royal Society in 1671, sparking the rapid rise of his reputation.

Newton hesitated to publicize his mathematical studies for fear of more opposition.  But in 1687, he published the first edition of his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (later translated in 1825 as The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), considered today to be the single greatest work in the history of science.  In it, he described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, derived from Kepler’s Laws.

Though he was and still is renowned for his scientific pursuits, Newton was a serious student of the Bible and published several theological works.  Even in his famed Principia, Newton exhibited his dedication to God.

This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being....This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all; and on account of his dominion he is wont to be called Lord God “pantokrator,” or Universal Ruler....(1.)

Scientific inquiry, which then existed as Natural Philosophy, could not exist apart from “the Maker,” according to Newton.  In fact, science was the perfect realm in which to discuss God.

Since every particle of space is always, and every indivisible moment of duration is every where, certainly the Maker and Lord of all things cannot be never and no where....God is the same God, always and every where.  He is omnipresent not virtually only, but also substantially; for virtue cannot subsist without substance.¼It is allowed by all that the Supreme God exists necessarily; and by the same necessity He exists always and every where....And thus much concerning God; to discourse of whom from the appearance of things, does certainly belong to Natural Philosophy.

Though he lived before Darwin, Newton was not unacquainted with the atheistic evolutionary theory on origins.  He was convinced against it and wrote:

Blind metaphysical necessity, which is certainly the same always and every where, could produce no variety of things.  All that diversity of natural things which we find suited to different times and places could arise from nothing but the ideas and will of a Being, necessarily existing.

...Newton himself is quoted as saying, “Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done.” (2.)  [End of quote]

References:

(1.) Newton, I. General Scholium. Translated by Motte, A. 1825. Newton’s Principia: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. New York: Daniel Adee, 501. The Greek word pantokrator is most often translated as “Almighty” in the King James Version.

(2.) Tiner, J. H. 1975. Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher. Milford, MI: Mott Media.

A subhead of the article on Newton reads, “Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night: God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.”  The reference to that quote reads, “Epitaph for Newton’s grave, composed by English poet Alexander Pope.”

Robert Boyle was born on January 25, 1627 at Lismore Castle, County Waterford, Ireland.  He is known as the father of modern chemistry.  In the Acts & Facts, April 2008 issue, in the same “Man of Science, Man of God” series, the following paragraphs are found:

Irish natural philosopher Robert Boyle was a major contributor in the fields of physics and chemistry.  One of the first to transform the study of science into an experimental discipline, he also championed the concept that all discoveries should be published, not withheld for personal profit and power—a common practice at the time.  A devoted student of the Bible, he also produced multiple books and essays on religion.

After moving to Oxford, Boyle and his research assistant Robert Hooke expounded on the design and construction of Otto von Guericke’s air pump to create the “machina Boyliana.”  In 1660, he published his New Experiments Physico‑Mechanical, Touching the Spring of the Air, and its Effects Made, for the most part, in a New Pneumatical Engine.  His response to critics of this work included the first mention of the law that the volume of a gas varies inversely to the pressure of the gas, what many physicists call today “Boyle’s Law.” (1.)

Though he also made discoveries regarding how air is used in sound transmission and the expansive force of freezing water, Boyle’s favorite scientific study by far was chemistry, which he believed should no longer be a subordinate study of alchemy or medicine.  In 1661, he criticized traditional alchemists and laid the foundation for the atomic theory of matter in The Sceptical Chymist, the cornerstone work for modern chemistry.

In addition to his scientific research, Boyle diligently studied the Bible.  Along with the Greek he acquired in childhood, he learned Hebrew, Cyriac, and Chaldee so that he could read the text firsthand.  His faith drove his experimental studies, as evidenced in his published works, and he believed that science and Scripture exist in harmony.

His 1681 work A Discourse of Things Above Reason stressed the limitations of reason, which Boyle maintained should not be allowed to judge what God’s revelation could or could not do.  He believed the attributes of God can be seen by studying nature scientifically and that His wisdom is observed in creation.

When with bold telescopes I survey the old and newly discovered stars and planets when with excellent microscopes I discern the unimitable subtility of nature’s curious workmanship; and when, in a word, by the help of anatomical knives, and the light of chymical furnaces, I study the book of nature I find myself oftentimes reduced to exclaim with the Psalmist, How manifold are Thy works, O Lord! in wisdom hast Thou made them all! (2.)