Analysis of Illogical Points in Naturalism

In philosophy, there is a well-known concept called naturalism. It is a literary movement that started at the end of the 19th century and extended to the beginning of the 20th century. It was inspired by the adaptation to the principles and methods of natural science. However, naturalism claims that nothing supernatural exists or could be known even if it did. Different people look at naturalism from different angles. In my opinion, I disagree with the claim of naturalism, and I believe that all the supernatural phenomena and miracles in this world are the best way to prove the Creator God’s existence. There are three main reasons for rejecting the claim of naturalism as following: the narrow-mindedness of naturalism, the belief, and the self-confidence within naturalism.

First of all, naturalists’ narrow-minded box they are in is keeping them enclosed from the wonders and truths outside the box. They have no explanation for miracles or things that cannot be proven by natural science or by tangible matter and behavior. The philosopher Nash in his book The Ultimate Question of Life states, “For a naturalist, the universe is analogous to a sealed box. Everything that happens inside the box (the natural order) is caused by or is explicable in terms of other things that exist within the box. Nothing, including God, exists outside the box; therefore, nothing outside the box that we call the universe or nature can have any causal effect within the box”. As Christian, we know that the Bible is one of the ways to know God. Naturalists deny the claims of the Bible. Their prejudice and fixed mentality led them astray because they did not allow themselves to be open to other truths. Some naturalists may point out that because we cannot see or touch the creator of God, it is impossible and foolish to believe in God. Nonetheless, they cannot explain the divine design and beautiful flow of the entire earth from the human bodies to the way things grow. None of these things can be proven by naturalistic natural science, but this is a way for God to prove His existence in this world. The Bible states in Romans 1:20 “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So, they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Therefore, the Bible reminds that we can appreciate and know God through the nature of God's creation, including all the supernatural phenomena that occur in this world.

Second, the belief in naturalism made their minds refuse to accept everything outside of natural science. The belief as a naturalist, or rather, because of its theory, one must believe that there are no supernatural or sacred things, including God . There are many atheists in my country China. From some perspectives, they are very similar to naturalists, because they also believe in what they can see, not what they can’t see. 

In one sentence I can explain naturalistic philisophers as people who believe only in what they can see and nothing more. For me, as a Christian, such view on our world and existence at all looks weird and illogical.