Jason Lisle Quotes
Bio: Dr. Jason Lisle is a research scientist, speaker, and planetarium director for Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum. He holds bachelor of science degrees in physics and astronomy from Ohio Wesleyan University, as well as a master’s and PhD in Astro-physics from the University of Colorado in Boulder
Quotes:
“Many people do not want to accept the fact that all evidence must be interpreted in light of prior beliefs — a faith commitment of some kind. Many believe that evidence should be approached in a neutral and unbiased fashion — without any previous beliefs.” – Jason Lisle
“And it is clear that creationists and evolutionists have different worldviews, and as a result, they interpret the same evidence differently.” – Jason Lisle
“Non-Christian circles turn out to be self-refuting, rather than self-attesting, and they cannot account for the preconditions of intelligibility.” – Jason Lisle
“And it is clear that creationists and evolutionists have different worldviews, and as a result, they interpret the same evidence differently.” – Jason Lisle
“But carbon-14 is a serious challenge to the evolutionary system with its billions of years.” – Jason Lisle
“We often believe things for psychological reasons, rather than logical reasons. Many people refuse to accept a very good argument simply because they do not want to believe its conclusion” – Jason Lisle
“Can a secular worldview make sense of abstract concepts like numbers?” – Jason Lisle
“Most people have heard of “evolutionary biology.” But the term “evolution” is often applied in a broader sense (gradual, naturalistic changes over long ages) to other fields of study. Some people study geology or astronomy from an evolutionary perspective. But has anyone ever studied “evolutionary mathematics”? What would an evolutionist mathematician study?” – Jason Lisle
“Some people might think that only physical things can exist — that matter and energy comprise every real thing. But, of course, in the Christian worldview we can have non-material entities that do exist. God is an obvious example. He exists, but is not made up of matter or energy. So the Christian worldview allows for numbers to have real existence, even though they are not material things. – Jason Lisle
“Mathematical laws are universal — they apply everywhere. When we add 2+3 in Europe, we get exactly the same answer as we get in the United States. For that matter, laws of mathematics work just as well on Mars, Alpha Centauri, the Andromeda Galaxy, or in the core of a distant quasar. Many laws of nature, including the laws of physics and the laws of chemistry, are mathematical in nature. So if laws of mathematics were different in various regions of the universe, then presumably laws of physics and chemistry would also differ in an unpredictable way. This would render astronomy impossible.” – Jason Lisle
“Laws of mathematics are discovered by people and written down by people. But they were not created by people. As discussed above, laws of mathematics do not change with time. Therefore, they existed before people existed. So they obviously cannot be a creation of man. The equation 2+3=5 was true long before any human being thought about it, realized it, or wrote it.” – Jason Lisle
“The answer is that numbers are not the product of a human mind, but rather the product of the mind of God. The terrible dilemma faced by the secularist simply does not occur in the Christian worldview. It’s not a problem for the biblical creationist to have conceptual entities existing before human minds because human minds are not the only minds that exist in the Christian worldview. Numbers are a reflection of God’s thoughts. Numbers existed before people because God’s thoughts existed before people.” – Jason Lisle
“Laws of mathematics are a reflection of how God thinks about numbers. The internal consistency of mathematics is a reflection of the internal consistency within the Godhead. … Laws of mathematics are real and, yet, not physical — just as God is real and not physical in His essential nature.” – Jason Lisle
“The biblical creationist can also make sense of why the physical universe obeys mathematical laws. God upholds the universe by the expression of His power. So, naturally, the universe will be consistent with the thoughts of God. … The properties and usefulness of laws of mathematics make perfect sense to the consistent Christian. But mathematics is simply not amenable to a naturalistic, evolutionary explanation.” – Jason Lisle
“Numbers cannot have evolved because numbers cannot change. For the most part, secularists don’t even attempt to explain mathematics at all. Mathematics is an inherently creationist field of science. There are creation biologists and evolution biologists. There are creation geologists and evolution geologists. But when it comes to mathematics, everyone is a creationist.” – Jason Lisle
The Religion That Started in a Hat 