- Apr 30, 2006 - Christian View of Math
- Introduction
- Need for Christian view of math
- Math is normally viewed as dry, boring, the realm of fact
- We need to see that math is inherently Christian
- Is mathematics neutral?
- A little overview
- Why should we learn/teach math?
- A Christian view of math
- Is mathematics neutral?
- What does "neutral" mean?
- The idea that mathematical reality exists independently of God's creating activity
- Is the statement 2+2=4 neutral?
- Would a Hindu, or any radical monist, agree?
- Does the law of excluded middle hold?
- Theorem: Somewhere in the decimal expansion of Pi
there occurs a sequence of 7 consecutive 7s
- "In 1975, no man knows whether [the above] is true."
- 3,346,228
- Constructionists say if you don't know the answer, you can't say that it's either true or false
- Does 2 exist? Does aleph-2 exist?
- What if we reformulate the neutrality statement, "Mathematical reality ought not to be influenced by religious belief"?
- Falls under the same problems that anti-Theistic epistemologies fall under
- a priori/rationalistic, a posteriori/empiricistic, conventionalist/existentialist
- Was constructivism formulated by neutral people?
- A little overview
- Fibonacci
- Sequence
- Spiral (pinecone, sunflower)
- Spiral of Archimedes
- Draw, maybe pass out spiral
- Phi
- Pass out golden test
- (1+sqrt(5))/2
- 1.6180339887498948482045868343656
- (a+b)/a = a/b
- Display 3 rectangles, one of them golden
- Pi
- Ratio of circumference of a circle to its diameter
- Pi day, March 14
- e
- Interest compounded continuously
- i
- e^(i*pi) = -1
- Why should we learn/teach math?
- It's a way of exploring God and His universe
- Math is beautiful
- Reflects the orderliness of God
- Math is not certain
- Euclidean geometry works pretty well, but may not actually correspond with reality
- The height of modernism included the idea that from math and science came certainty. We need to know it's not.
- Math has history
- Math in the ancient world
- Religion status with Pythagoreans
- Integrated with writings of Greek philosophers
- Math in the pre-modern world
- Math in the modern world
- Math in the post-modern world
- Math has an impact on society
- A Christian view of math
- Metaphysics
- Founded in the being of God
- Epistemology
- Founded in the knowledge of God
- A priori founded in the image of God
- A posteriori founded in the revelation of God
- Ethics
- Founded in the righteousness of God
- Some books
- References