Scientism and Secularism: Learning to Respond to a Dangerous Ideology

Rigid adherence to scientism—as opposed to a healthy respect for science—is all too prevalent in our world today. Rather than leading to a deeper understanding of our universe, this worldview actually undermines real science and marginalizes morality and religion.

In this book, celebrated philosopher J. P. Moreland exposes the selfdefeating nature of scientism and equips us to recognize scientism’s harmful presence in different aspects of culture, emboldening our witness to biblical Christianity and arming us with strategies for the integration of faith and science—the only feasible path to genuine knowledge.

“Science is a wonderfully useful discipline, but in recent times it has been distorted into scientism, the view that science is the ultimate path to truth in any area of reality. Based on that false adulation of science, many have denied the value of religion and philosophy, and many have rejected the claims of divine revelation in the Bible.

J. P. Moreland is a respected Christian thinker who has studied both science and the Scriptures in considerable depth. He clearly demonstrates the fallacies of the arguments for scientism. He shows how Christians can defend their faith against scientistic objections, while affirming genuine science as a gift from God.”

John M. Frame, Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy Emeritus, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando

“The greatest barrier to communicating a Christian message in our day is the fact/value split. It decrees that truth is to be found only in the fact realm, while relegating morality and theology to the realm of values, which it defines as subjective, private, personal preferences. The result is that when Christian speak, people do not even ‘hear’ them making objective truth claims.

That’s why this book by J. P. Moreland is so important. Moreland challenges the fact/value split, showing that it rests on the untenable assumption of scientism. Then he makes a persuasive case that fields like philosophy, morality, and theology yield genuine knowledge.”

Nancy Pearcey, author, Total Truth; Finding Truth; and Love Thy Body

224 pages

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