"A 'limiting concept' for Van Til is one that needs another if it is to be properly understood. It implies a complementarity. For example, one part of the Bible will not be properly understood without the other parts." - Ref21
Lesser mortals like me can’t claim to fully understand everything Alvin Plantinga writes in books like Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism. What we can do is pick up some high-protein food for thought, and possibly, along the way, improve our thinking habits in some potent ways. I read the book primarily as an audiobook, but also in the hardcover form.
First, some context. Plantinga is an analytical philosopher. He writes from a Christian worldview, but—at least in this book—isn’t really doing apologetics for Christianity or for creation doctrine, except maybe indirectly.
Rather, the book is focused on a single two-part question—and the author’s focus throughout is laser sharp. The question is this: Is there really any substantial conflict between science and “theistic religion,” and is there instead substantial conflict between science and naturalism?
Much of the time, Plantinga refers to Christian theism in particular, but he occasionally points out that most of what he is attempting to show applies to other theistic religions as well. His thesis is stated in the Preface:
There is superficial conflict but deep concord between science and theistic religion but superficial concord and deep conflict between science and naturalism. (ix)
Plantinga sums up what he means by naturalism. Also from the Preface:
Agnostic Marcelo Gleiser "famously blasted scientists who do not consider religious beliefs when they explain the universe’s origins. He terms such attitudes as 'arrogant.'" - WRN
Related: Templeton Prize Winner: Marcelo Gleiser, Physicist Who Beholds the Universe’s Mysteries
"In his view, religious belief is entirely compatible with the scientific quest." - National Review
"[M]any postmoderns who promote a purist school of deconstructionism are fed their just desserts when their own paradigms are deconstructed. American university students have perceptibly recognized the inherent tension within a school of thought built on cynicism and suspicion." - American Conservative
"In a recent op-ed for The Washington Post, Michael Gerson critiques those who prize 'authenticity' and uncensored 'passion' over self-control and contemplative restraint. He contrasts two philosophical systems, one reliant on Aristotelianism, the other derived from Jean-Jacques Rousseau." - Amer. Conservative
"In his most recent book, Scientism and Secularism: Learning to Respond to a Dangerous Ideology, Moreland reminds readers that the Christian faith is a matter of knowledge, which has the support of reason and evidence; caricatures notwithstanding, faith isn’t mere emotion or opinion." - TGC
