Chapter 11 – Science the Bible and the Early Church

Truth is God’s truth, whether it is found in math, science, or philosophy. Many of the early church leaders (Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus of Lyon) used their Greek logic (“science”) to defend the faith. Clement believed that God had providently provided the world with Socrates and Plato to prepare the Greeks for the gospel in the same way that God provided the Old Testament to prepare the Jews for the gospel. Tertullian reasoned that the mingling of philosophy with the gospel was what the apostle Paul expressly warned us against. Science is an aid to faith and faith aids science.

Key Words

“Heliocentrism”, “ethnos”, “Gentiles”, Jamnia, Aristotle, Pythagorus, “philosophy”, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus of Lyon, Carthage, Tertullian, Cyprian, Plato, “Stoics”, Peripatetics, Epicureanism, Origen, mutuality