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Methodological silence

Perhaps a better name than "methodological naturalism" for the relation between natural science and theism might be "methodological silence." The fact that we are silent about something doesn't mean we are ignoring or denying that it is there.

 Suppose the president or vice president were seriously injured, and surgeons, nurses and other medical professionals worked feverishly to save his (or her) life.  While engaged in this work, they would not talk about who their patient is, even if they were quite motivated by this knowledge to do a good job.  At the end of the day, however, when they have taken off their gloves and masks and sat down, they will talk reflectively with their friends and colleagues about the significance of the task they have just performed.  Such reflections will not, strictly speaking, pertain to the practice of medicine; instead, they will pertain to the task we all have of understanding the point of our lives and how each episode fits into our life story.  And just as, "I just saved the President," or "I tried to save the President," might come from their mouths during such reflections, so too can a scientist reflect on the significance of his work as pointing to something greater and more beautiful.  And if we follow the "arrow," as it were, of significance, we will see that it points to the Divine.


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