Redeeming Mathematics E-Book

Vern S. Poythress

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

What does Christianity have to do with the study of mathematics? Prolific writer and scholar Vern Poythress offers a startling answer to this perplexing question: everything. This groundbreaking book argues that the harmony of abstract mathematical truths, the physical world of things, and the personal world of our thinking depends on the existence of the Christian God. With advanced degrees in mathematics and New Testament studies, Poythress shows that these distinct "perspectives" on mathematics cohere because all three find their origin in God's consistent character and nature. Whether it's simple addition and subtraction or more complex mathematical concepts such as set theory and the nature of infinity, this comprehensive book lays a theistic foundation for all mathematical inquiry.

Leseprobe

RedeemingMathematics

A God-Centered Approach

Vern S. Poythress

Redeeming Mathematics: A God-Centered Approach

Copyright © 2015 by Vern S. Poythress

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Matt Naylor

First printing 2015

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. 2011 Text Edition. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-4110-0 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-4113-1 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-4111-7 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-4112-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Poythress, Vern S.

    Redeeming mathematics : a God-centered approach / Vern S. Poythress.

        1 online resource.

    Includes bibliographical references and index.

    Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

    ISBN 978-1-4335-4111-7 (pdf) – ISBN 978-1-4335-4112-4 (mobi) – ISBN 978-1-4335-4113-1 (epub) – ISBN 978-1-4335-4110-0 (trade paperback)

    1. Bible—Evidences, authority, etc. 2. Mathematics—Religious aspects—Christianity. 3. Mathematics in theBible. I. Title.

BS540

230—dc23                                                               2014020757

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Contents

Diagrams and IllustrationsIntroduction: Why God?Part IBasic Questions1 God and Mathematics2 The One and the Many3 Naturalism4 The Nature of NumbersPart IIOur Knowledge of Mathematics5 Human Capabilities6 Necessity and ContingencyPart IIISimple Mathematical Structures7 Addition8 The Idea of What Is Next9 Deriving Arithmetic from Succession10 Multiplication11 Symmetries12 SetsPart IVOther Kinds of Numbers13 Division and Fractions14 Subtraction and Negative Numbers15 Irrational Numbers16 Imaginary Numbers17 InfinityPart VGeometry and Higher Mathematics18 Space and Geometry19 Higher MathematicsConclusionSupplementsResourcesAppendix A Secular Theories about the Foundations of MathematicsAppendix B Christian Modifications of Philosophies of MathematicsAppendix C Deriving ArithmeticAppendix D Mathematical InductionAppendix E Elementary Set TheoryBibliographyGeneral IndexScripture Index

Introduction

Why God?

Does God have anything to do with mathematics? Many people have never considered the question. It seems to them that the truths of mathematics are just “out there.”1 In their view, mathematics presents us with a world remote from religious questions. Some people think that God exists; others are convinced that he does not; still others would say that they do not know. But all of them might say, “It does not matter when we look at mathematics.”

I think it does matter. In this book I intend to show why. I am working from the conviction that we should honor and glorify God in all of life: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). The expression “whatever you do” includes our thinking, and our thinking includes our thinking about mathematics. In addition, I am a follower of Christ, and I acknowledge that Christ is Lord of all.2 If he is Lord of all, he is also Lord of mathematics. But what does that mean? We will try to work out the implications.

I am writing primarily to people who follow Christ, who have come to know him as the living Savior and who have put their faith in him. They find out from the Bible that Christ himself teaches that the Old Testament is the word of God, God’s own speech to us in written form (see especially Matt. 5:17–18; 19:4–5; John 10:35). The Old Testament predicts the coming of Christ (see, for example, Isa. 9:6–7; 11:1–5; 53:1–12; Mic. 5:2). It also makes provision for later prophets (Deut. 18:15–22). After Christ completed his work on earth, the New Testament was written with the same authority as the Old Testament. So I am going to draw on the Bible for understanding who God is, and in addition for understanding what mathematics is.3

If you are not yet a follower of Christ, you are still welcome to read. I hope it will be informative for you to learn what are the implications of the Bible for mathematics. But if you are going to appropriate the truth for yourself, you will first of all have to come to terms with Christ. You should ask who he is and what he has to say about you and the way you live your life. I would recommend that you start by reading the part of the Bible consisting in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

1Other people think that arithmetic truths are “in here,” that is, that they are items of mental furniture. We certainly do have mental concepts concerning mathematics. But, as we shall see later, mathematics ought not to be reduced to this pole of subjective experience.

2I have been encouraged here by Abraham Kuyper, who challenged people to think about the universal lordship of Christ in Lectures on Calvinism: Six Lectures Delivered at Princeton University under Auspices of the L. P. Stone Foundation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1931). See Vern S. Poythress, Redeeming Philosophy: A God-Centered Approach to the Big Questions (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), appendix A.

3For extended discussion of the nature of the Bible, many books are available. See especially John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2010). For a discussion of the broader set of commitments with which to study the Bible, see Poythress, Redeeming Philosophy; and Vern S. Poythress, Inerrancy and Worldview: Answering Modern Challenges to the Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012).

Part I

Basic Questions