Historical Witness from Scientists-3 历代科学家的见证-3

Historical Witness from Scientists-3 历代科学家的见证-3
Romans 1:20 “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” “自從造天地以來、　神的永能和神性是明明可知的、雖是眼不能見、但藉著所造之物、就可以曉得、叫人無可推諉．” Pastor Chui: I am indebted to David Coppedge’s book “The World’s Greatest Creation Scientists from Y1K to Y2K” 我要感谢大卫科珀奇的书“1000年至2000年的世界上最伟大的创造论科学家” 3/13/2017 1

Johannes Kepler 1571 – 1630 约翰内斯开普勒 1571-1630
It was only when he was pressured to accept a position as a mathematics instructor 500 miles away in Graz that he reluctantly postponed his goal to become a Lutheran minister. Driven away from Graz in 1597 by pressure from the Catholic counter-reformation, he moved to Prague, where he became assistant to the great but eccentric Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, the best celestial observer of his day. When Brahe died in 1601, Kepler inherited all the Mars observations. He devoted himself to figure out the problem of the orbit of Mars, and the rest is history. Kepler became imperial mathematician till, in 1612, religious wars again forced a move of his family, this time to Linz. As district mathematician in Linz, he published additional works, and discovered his third law of celestial mechanics. He moved three more times in 1626 before his death in In spite of his successes, Kepler’s life was filled with hardship, poverty, political turmoil, false accusations and difficult work. Afflicted with complications from an early bout of smallpox, he suffered many ailments throughout life.

只有当他被迫接受了作为一名数学教师500英里之外的格拉茨，他不情愿地推迟了他的目标是成为一个路德会牧师。在1597年由天主教反改革的压力从格拉茨赶走，他搬到了布拉格，在那里他成为伟大而古怪的丹麦天文学家第谷布拉赫助理，当代最好的天文观测家。当布拉赫于1601年去世，开普勒继承了所有的火星观测。他献身于搞清楚的火星轨道问题，其余的就是历史。开普勒成为数学家，直到1612年，宗教战争再次被迫动了他的家庭，他搬到林茨。身为在林茨地区的数学家，他发表其他的作品，发现天体力学第三定律。在 1630年去世之前，在1626年他搬家三次。尽管他的成功，开普勒的生活是困难，贫穷，政治动荡，虚假指控和困难的工作。与早期患天花症发作，他整个生命遭受了的许多疾病。

Johannes Kepler 1571 – 1630 His first wife was unappreciative of his work, and died early; three of their five children died in infancy. Later remarried, Kepler saw only two of their seven children breach adulthood. He repeatedly was forced to move because of the 30 Years War. A Lutheran, he was caught in the middle not only between Catholics and Protestants, but also between the Lutheran and Calvinistic controversies over communion, baptism and other issues. Finding neither group completely in accord with his understanding of Scripture, and loyal to the Word of God alone, he found himself at odds with some of his fellow Protestants. In a time of religious tumult and superstition, he seemed to be the only one with real wisdom and balance when poised between extreme positions. He had to defend his mother who was falsely accused of being a witch. He was forced to move on several occasions due to war or pestilence; three times in the prime of his career, and another three times after age 55. He was never paid near what he was worth; even then, it was often in the form of IOU’s that never seemed to arrive. His untimely death came about from catching fever during a hard journey trying to collect long-overdue funds owed him from the imperial treasury.

他的第一任妻子对他的工作不领情，和早逝。他们的五个孩子三早年夭折, 再婚后，开普勒的七个孩子只有两个成年，因为30年的战争, 他一直被迫搬家。不但争议在天主教徒和新教徒之中间，而且在洗礼和其他问题的路德和加尔文的争议。既不能寻找完全符合他对圣经的理解，并忠于神的话语时，他发现自己与他的同胞新教徒一些问题。在宗教骚乱和迷信的时候，他似乎是与真正的智慧和极端的立场之间的平衡。他必须捍卫自己的母亲, 被告是一个巫婆，他因为战争或瘟疫被迫搬家3次，在他职业生涯中的黄金时代，55岁后, 再搬家3次，他从来没有支付值得的薪水。通常以欠条的形式，似乎从来没有收到。他不幸的去世来是在他的旅程从帝国国库欠收集期待已久的资金发高烧有关。

Kepler never thought of himself as famous and was often depressed by the harshness of his circumstances. Yet he had an inner joy that would make his imagination soar when he thought of the heavens and how everything worked according to the Creator’s mathematical plan. Astronomy was his “escape to reality” when the hardships and follies of civilization bore down on him. He imagined space travel and speculated about earthlike planets around distant stars. He wrote 80 books, including the first science fiction story, The Dream (about an imaginary flight to the moon), and of course more technical treatises such as the consummate compilation of Tycho’s data using logarithms, The Rudolphine Tables; this work did much to advance the heliocentric theory. Kepler built on a Pythagorean conception of the universe, in which number and mathematical relationship form the essence of things, but he cast it into a distinctively Christian form. To him, the God of the Scriptures was the great Mathematician.

开普勒从来没有想过自己是出名，往往是因他环境严厉沮丧, 但他有一个内在的喜悦，使他的想象力将翱翔天空时，他的思想和一切工作如何根据创造者的数学计划。天文学是他一个”逃避现实”, 在艰辛与文明愚蠢下, 他想象的太空旅行和推测遥远的类地行星, 他写80本书，其中包括第一个科幻故事， “这个梦”（是一个飞行到月球的假想），当然更多的技术论文，如使用对数汇编第谷的数据， Rudolphine的精表; 这项工作做了推动日说。开普勒建立在毕达哥拉斯的宇宙观念，其中数和数学的关系构成了事物的本质，但他使用一种独特的基督教的形式。对他来说，圣经的神是伟大的数学家。

Kepler’s signature work, the Harmony of the World described his conception of the heavenly bodies making a kind of celestial “music of the spheres” as the outworking of the mind of God, perfect in geometric harmony. It expressed his belief that the world of nature, the world of man and world of God all fit together into a harmonious system that could be explored by science. Kepler had once believed that becoming a clergyman was the only way to serve God and proclaim His truth, but he found that astronomy and mathematics were also a ministry, a way to open windows to the mind of God. Deeply spiritual all his life, he said, “Let also my name perish if only the name of God the Father is elevated.” On November 15, 1630, as he lay dying, he was asked on what did he pin his hope of salvation. Confidently and resolutely, he testified: “Only and alone on the services of Jesus Christ. In Him is all refuge, all solace and welfare.”

开普勒的签名工作，“世界的和谐”描述上帝的心意，在几何 “天体的领域音乐”, 这类天体的概念是上帝和谐完美。它表达了他的信念，即自然世界，人与神的世界都适合成一个和谐的系统，可以通过科学探索在一起。开普勒曾认为，成为一个牧师是唯一宣布神的方法，但是，他发现天文学和数学也是一个部，一个办法打开心灵的窗户向往上帝。一生深入属灵，他说：“让我的名字灭亡，如果只有上帝圣名是提高。” 1630年11月15日，当他弥留之际，问他得救的盼望在那里, 他自信和坚决，他作证：“唯一的和独一无二的耶稣基督的服务，他是所有避难，所有的安慰和福利”

Galileo Galilei 1564 – 1642 伽利略 1564年至1642年
A 68-year old scientist, in ill health, hauled off to Rome to stand trial before the Inquisition. Forced, under threat of torture and imprisonment, to renounce his scientific writings, which are declared to be heretical and against church dogma. Put under house arrest, he is heard sobbing uncontrollably: “The injustice of the sentence tormented him so that he did not sleep for several nights, but could be heard crying out, babbling and rambling in distraction” (Sobel, 1999). Undeniable facts of history, forming an open and shut case for religious intolerance of science, right? Any history of science must deal with the Galileo affair. In many circles it is an icon of science vs religion. Fortunately, in recent years scholars having been taking fresh looks at the circumstances of Galileo’s trial and realizing there are complexities that dramatically change the conventional interpretation. A recent PBS documentary admitted that the usual slant is quite incorrect. Astronomer and historian Owen Gingerich, often one to debunk historical inaccuracies, has researched the incident and challenges the science vs religion spin.

一位68岁的科学家，健康欠佳，被关到罗马宗教裁判所前站。强迫审讯，酷刑和监禁下，放弃他的科学著作，被宣布为邪教的威胁，反对教会的教条。把下软禁，他的一声哭失声：“不公正判处折磨他，使他没有睡几个晚上，但可以听到喊叫，潺潺漫步牵张”（索贝尔，1999年）历史不容否认的事实。形成一个宗教不容忍科学的证明，对吗？任何科学的历史必须处理伽利略事件。许多圈子里，它是一种科学与宗教的图标。幸运的是，学者近几年，已经采取在伽利略的审判的情况下, 新鲜的外观和实现有复杂性，极大地改变传统的解释。最近PBS纪录片承认，通常解释是相当不正确。天文学家和历史学家欧文金格里奇，往往一揭穿与史实不符，有事件和挑战，研究了科学与宗教的自旋。

The Catholic Church, did some injustice to Galileo (for which the Pope formally apologized in 1992). And as non-Catholics, we condemn all the injustices of the Inquisition, not just this one. But a quick look at some of the factors involved in the heresy trial will show how the conventional spin is often greatly misinterpreted: Galileo was a personal friend of both major popes that ruled during his lifetime. Galileo enjoyed a wide popularity and high reputation by many, if not most, within the Catholic Church. He had many friends in high places that had no problem at all with his views or with those of Copernicus. His book that was condemned in the trial, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World, had received the official imprimatur of the church, and had been approved by the official Roman censor, Father Niccolo Riccardi. Galileo readily made all suggested alterations, which did not alter anything of substance.

天主教会，对伽利略做了一些不公正（其在1992年教宗正式道歉）。按非天主教徒，我们谴责所有的宗教裁判不公，不只是这一个。但在所涉及的一些因素, 看在异端审判, 往往大大误解：伽利略是两个教皇的私人朋友，在他的一生, 在天主教教会, 伽利略享有广泛的知名和很高的声誉。他在很多有高级的朋友对他的看法或与哥白尼是没有问题。他的书，”两个世界系统的对话”, 在审讯中谴责，得到了教会官方的许可，并得到官方的罗马审查批准，尼可罗马基神父。伽利略迅速修改所有的建议，这没有任何实质性改变。

Pope Urban VIII had been a lifelong friend of Galileo and had said of him, “We embrace with paternal love this great man whose fame shines in the heavens and goes on Earth far and wide.” He praised Galileo for his uprightness and virtue. Before and after he had become pope, Galileo enjoyed personal, cordial contact with him; in early years prior to becoming pope, he [then Cardinal Barberini] wrote to him, “I pray the Lord God to preserve you, because men of great value like you deserve to live a long time to the benefit of the public.” Pope Urban VIII did not condemn Copernicanism or Galileo’s arguing for it, he only urged that Galileo treat it as hypothesis and not limit God’s inscrutability. Also, correcting another popular misconception, the Pope never invoked infallibility in the affair, which was not even a Catholic doctrine at the time. Pope Urban VIII was in a bad mood at the time of the trial. The papacy had gone to his head, and he had spent fortunes on self-aggrandizement. In addition, he was accused of being soft on heretics by not acting stronger against the Reformers. The Thirty Years War was giving him great stress.

教皇乌尔班八世是伽利略一生的朋友，并且他说：“我们与父亲拥抱爱这位伟人的名望在天上闪耀，地球上远远和广泛。”他称赞伽利略的正直和美德。，他已成为教皇前及后，伽利略享有人身，亲切同他进行接触，在成为教宗早年，他[当时红衣主教巴贝里尼]写信给他，“我祈祷上帝保护你，因为你具有极大的价值你应该得到很长时间的生活受益市民。”教皇乌尔班八世没有谴责哥白尼学说或伽利略对争吵的好处，他只是敦促伽利略当作假说，并不会限制神的不可思议。此外，纠正另一种流行的误解，教皇没有提出在教义不犯错误, 这不是当时天主教内政。教皇乌尔班八世是在一个在审讯时心情不好。在罗马教廷，他花了自我扩张的财富。此外，他是被不采取行动，加强对被告人的异端软改革者。三十年战争正在给他带来极大的压力。

Galileo’s Dialogue came at a very inopportune time. The pope trusted what others said about it, without reading it himself. He was led to believe, contrary to the facts, that Galileo had double-crossed him by going against explicit orders. These factors tended to make him inflexible against his former friend. The trial represented a brief portion near the end of Galileo’s long and productive life, during which he gained wide fame for his discoveries and his books across Europe, and within the Catholic church. Contrary to popular perceptions, most churchmen, including Pope Urban VIII, were delighted with Galileo’s discoveries with the telescope. In 1616, there was an anti-Copernican edict under Pope Paul V which came just short of calling Copernicanism heretical and banning the book; Galileo acquiesced by holding to it as opinion or hypothesis and not fact. Though foolish by today’s standards, the Edict did not seriously hamper his scientific work and writing, until accusations flew again seventeen years later.

伽利略的对话在一个非常不合时宜的时间来到。教皇信任别人说,他自己没有阅读。他被引导相信，伽利略违背了, 这违背了事实。这些因素使他对他以前的朋友不灵活。这审判附近伽利略的长期和富有成效的生活，在此期间，他的发现和他的书使他获得了欧洲各地的全名声, 并在天主教堂里面。相反，流行的看法，多数牧师，包括教皇乌尔班八世，伽利略在望远镜的发现感到高兴。 1616年，根据教皇保罗V反哥白尼的法令而恰好调用哥白尼学说邪教和取缔书。伽利略默许观点或假设，而不是事实，按照今天的标准虽然愚蠢，该法令没有不严重妨碍他的科学工作和写作，直到十七年后再次指责。

Galileo Galilei 1564 – 1642 Galileo was a staunch Catholic Christian his entire life, never wavering on his devout belief in God, creation, and the Bible. In fact, Galileo was afraid that the Church’s reputation would be damaged if they rejected Copernicanism; he took pains to protect the church from foolish and mistaken interpretations. Neither Copernicus nor Galileo ever intended their works to be considered criticism of the Bible and the church. Galileo regretted deeply that his work was twisted and misunderstood as such. He went to great lengths to explain that his science was in no way incompatible with Scripture. Early on he explained in a long letter to the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, “I think in the first place that it is very pious to say and prudent to affirm that the Holy Bible can never speak untruth – whenever its true meaning is understood.” Much later, after his trial, he wrote to a friend, “I have two sources of perpetual comfort, first, that in my writings there cannot be found the faintest shadow of irreverence towards the Holy Church; and second, the testimony of my own conscience, which only I and God in Heaven thoroughly know. ….”

伽利略一生是一个坚定的天主教徒，从来没有对上帝，创造，和圣经虔诚的信仰动摇, 事实上，伽利略是怕教会的信誉将受到损害，如果他们拒绝接受哥白尼学说，他煞费苦心地保护教堂从愚蠢和错误的解释。哥白尼和伽利略永远也不打算被认为批评圣经和教会。伽利略深深的觉得他的作品是这样的扭曲和误解。他以很大的篇幅解释说，他的科学是在没有不符圣经, 他早年解释，在对托斯卡纳大公夫人的长信，“我认为摆在首位，这是非常虔诚地说和谨慎的申明，圣经不能说谎话。每当其真正的含义是理解”, 后来，经过他的审判，他写信给一位朋友，“我有两个永恒舒适的来源，首先，在我的作品不可能对圣教会的不敬; 第二，我自己的良心，只有我和彻底知道我在天上的神的见证….....”

Galileo Galilei 1564 – 1642 Dava Sobel says that “Galileo remained a good Catholic who believed in the power of prayer and endeavored always to conform his duty as a scientist with the destiny of his soul. ‘Whatever the course of our lives,’ Galileo wrote, “we should receive them as the highest gift from the hand of God, in which equally reposed the power to do nothing whatever for us. Indeed, we should accept misfortune not only in thanks, but in infinite gratitude to Providence, which by such means detaches us from an excessive love for Earthly things and elevates our minds to the celestial and divine.’” (Sobel, p. 12). In 2002, the Galileo spacecraft completed its 12-year orbital reconnaissance of Jupiter and its Galilean satellites, the “little solar system” that overturned Greek dogma and opened a heavens far more wondrous than even the wise old bearded scientist himself could have imagined.

达瓦索贝尔说，“伽利略是一个虔诚的天主教徒, 相信祈祷的力量，并努力成为符合他的灵魂与命运的科学家， '无论如何，我们的生命，'伽利略写道，“应该接收来自上帝之手的最高礼物。事实上，我们应该接受不幸，感谢他们是最高的礼物，叫我们离开地上的爱好，提升我们的灵魂到达天堂和神圣。‘ ”（索贝尔，第12页）。 2002年，伽利略号飞船完成了12年的伽利略木星及其卫星，“小太阳系统”，推翻了希腊的教条轨道，开辟了老胡子的科学家所不能想象的奇妙。

William Harvey 1578 – 1657 威廉哈维 1578年至1657年
A contemporary of Galileo, Kepler, Bacon, Descartes and Shakespeare, William Harvey is another important figure in the establishment of the scientific method, this time in the field of medicine. His claim to fame is for demonstrating the circulation of the blood and the action of the heart as a pump driving this circulation. Through a series of clever experiments, he furthered the acceptance of experimentation for determining the workings of nature, rather than putting excessive reliance on authority. Most interestingly, his primary achievement was inspired by a statement in the Bible. Overt indications about Harvey’s personal faith are rare, though he did speak often of design, and felt that science was a godly vocation. Few of his manuscripts survive. Most were looted by rioters in the Civil War of 1642 when Harvey was 64 years old (a severe trial for him), and the extant works reveal little about Harvey the man. One short biography by a contemporary librarian divulges little else; Robert Boyle filled in one important blank. of all action.”

阿伽利略，开普勒，培根，笛卡尔和莎士比亚同时代的威廉哈维又是建立科学的方法，这在医学领域的重要人物。他声名鹊起是体现了血液循环和循环泵的心。通过巧妙的实验，他更进一步确定，而不是依赖权威,，所进行的实验接受。最有趣的是，他的主要成就是通过了圣经一项声明。关于哈维的个人信仰的标志是罕见的，他说设计时候，并认为科学是神圣的天职。他的手稿很少存活。大多是由在1642年南北战争的暴徒时抢劫，哈维是64岁，(对他严峻的考验），和现存作品揭示的哈维不多, 一个由当代图书馆员简短的传记几乎没有什么泄露。罗伯特波义耳填补了一个重要的空白。

William Harvey Harvey believed in the divine authorship and authority of the Bible and the deity of Christ, and that the search for purpose in nature resulting from God’s creative wisdom was a strong motivation behind his work. Born in 1578 of “yeoman stock” in a family of Kentish farmers who had succeeded enough to move into commerce, William was eldest of six brothers, all of whom became successful merchants. His father was a man of means who became mayor of the town. From age 10, young William studied in Canterbury, then moved on to Cambridge on a medical scholarship. After graduating from Cambridge in 1597, he went abroad to further his studies in medicine at the best medical school of the day, the University of Padua. Having achieved his degree in Italy, he returned to England in 1602 and gave an impressive performance on his exams before the College of Physicians. A couple of years later he made a fortuitous marriage to Elizabeth Browne, daughter of the king’s physician, but they had no children.

哈维相信圣经权威是神圣的作品和基督的神性，而且在寻找自然目的是从上帝的创造的智慧, 是他的作品背后强大的动力。出生于1578年, 在“自耕农”家庭中有足够成功进入商业肯蒂什农民，威廉有六兄弟，他成为成功的商人中的长子。他的父亲是一个有钱人成为城市市长。从10岁，年轻的威廉在坎特伯雷研究，然后转移到剑桥大学的奖学金后，在1597年从剑桥大学医生毕业。他去了国外，以进一步对医药的研究，最好的医疗学校，帕多瓦大学。经实现了他在意大利的学位，他于1602年回到英格兰，给了他的考试前的医学学院骄人的业绩。两年后，他偶然的与伊丽莎白布朗婚姻，是国王的医生的女儿，但他们没有孩子。

William Harvey practiced medicine in London and in 1607 was elected to the Royal College of Physicians, where he received a lifetime post as a lecturer in 1616. His reputation as a leading physician in England was established and well earned. Around this time, he also was making his views on the circulation of blood known. Shortly thereafter, in 1617, he became the personal physician of King James I (of King James Bible fame), and later to King Charles in 1625, with whom he stayed during the Civil War of (the Puritan Revolution and short-lived reform government of Oliver Cromwell). With the return of royal government, Harvey, now 69 years old, returned to London in 1647 to live out his days with his brothers. Most of his long career was spent at St. Bartholomew’s hospital in London. Late in life, Harvey was elected president of the Royal College of Physicians but refused the honor. He died in 1657, shortly before the careers of Robert Boyle and Antony van Leeuwenhoek took off.

威廉哈维在伦敦行医,在1607年当选为皇家学院医生，在1616年在那里获得了一生讲师。他领导以及获得英国皇家学院。大约在这个时候，他已知的血液循环的看法。此后不久，在1617年，他成为国王詹姆斯的私人医生（詹姆斯国王圣经），后来到国王查尔斯于1625年，与他住在南北战争对1642年至1648年（清教徒革命和短的奥利弗克伦威尔改革政府）。随着朝政，哈维，现在69岁，1647年返回伦敦，与他的兄弟一同生活。他花了漫长的职业生涯在伦敦圣巴塞洛缪医院。晚年，哈维当选为英国皇家内科医学院院长，但拒绝了荣誉。1657年他去世前不久，罗伯特波义耳和安东尼凡列文虎克的事业开始了。

William Harvey Harvey’s lecture notes show him to be a witty and independent thinker. Harvey, like most in his time, was a staunch Aristotelian, but not slavishly so. Furthermore, his experimentalism was heir to a long line of empirical work by his predecessors Vesalius, Fabricius and Colombo. He was not, in other words, working on questions that had not already been matters of intense study, and he was not the only “discoverer” of blood circulation. The Egyptian physician Ibn Al-Nafis had made significant headway 300 years earlier explaining pulmonary circulation. Some of Harvey’s hypotheses later proved false, and his theory was incomplete in itself. A recent book claims that the widespread story that Harvey predicted the existence of capillaries is a myth. Nevertheless, his primary work An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals (1628) was “certainly immeasurably influential on Western medical practice” according to historian Michael Hart, and his Essays on the Generation of Animals (1651) also formed the basis for modern embryology: Ex ova omnia, he wrote: “Everything from an egg.”

哈维的讲稿表明他是一个机智和独立思考。在那个时代，哈维，是一个坚定的亚里士多德，而不是盲目的。此外，他是实验主义的继承人, 他的前辈维萨里，法氏囊, 和科伦坡。他没有研究新的问题，而且他不是血液循环唯一的“发现者”。埃及医生伊本纳菲斯在 300年解释肺循环已经取得重大进展。哈维的一些假设后来证明是错误的，他的理论本身是不完整的。最近读的书中声称，哈维预测毛细血管的存在是一个神话。尽管如此，他的主要作品是解剖研究心脏和在动物的血（1628）议案是“肯定西方有影响的医疗实践”据历史学家迈克尔哈特，并在动物世代（1651年）他的散文也形成了现代胚胎学的基础：卵子前，他说：“一切从蛋来的。”

William Harvey Harvey’s clever experimental approach that demonstrated the circulation of blood from one side of the heart to the other, through the lungs and around the body making one big circuit, is well known. What concerns us here is William Harvey’s place in the Christian influence on science. Some surviving references provide glimpses into his motivation and beliefs. In a recollection by Robert Boyle, Harvey, shortly before he died, related to the young chemist the clue to his discovery. Boyle recalls how he had asked the eminent physician about the things that induced him to consider the circulation of the blood: He answered me, that when he took notice that the Valves in the Veins of so many several Parts of the Body, were so Placed that they gave free passage to the Blood Towards the Heart, but opposed the passage of the Venal Blood the Contrary way: He was invited to imagine, that so Provident a Cause as Nature had not so Placed so many Valves without design; and no Design seemed more probable than that, since the Blood could not well, because of the interposing Valves, be sent by the Veins to the Limbs; it should be sent through the Arteries, and Return through the Veins, whose Valves did not oppose its course that way.

哈维的巧妙的实验方法，证实从一个心脏一侧的血液循环通过肺部和周围的身体做一个大路，是众所知的。我们关心的威廉哈维在基督教影响科学。一些参考提供了他的动机和信仰。罗伯特波义耳在一项，哈维，回忆他去世前不久，与年轻的化学家，他发现，他已要求有关，他考虑事情的血液循环著名医生：他的回答'我，当他把她放在心上，在这么多的几个身体部位，静脉瓣膜等，他们给通行血走向的心，但腐败的通道血液中的相反的方式：他被邀请去想象，作为这么的性质已不那么没有这么多阀门设计的原因，以及梦呓，更大的可能性是，由于血液无法很好，因为阀门，静脉被发送到四肢，它应该是通过动脉发出，并通过静脉，其阀门的当然不反对这种方式的回归。

Harvey frequently “praised the workings of God’s sovereignty in creation—which he termed ‘Nature’” We must not, in other words, read back 18th-century French concepts into 17th-century English terminology. McMullen, a PhD in the history and philosophy of science and a specialist in the life of Harvey, provides quotes that show Harvey’s provident Nature was an active, intelligent, wise, personal agent: Nature destines, ordains, intends, gives gifts, provides, counter-balances, institutes, is careful. Harvey spoke of the “skillful and careful craftsmanship of the valves and fibres and the rest of the fabric of the heart.” According to McMullen, Harvey’s primary achievement, the explanation of the circulation of the blood, was occasioned in part “by asking why God put so many valves in the veins and none in the arteries.” He believed that nature does nothing “in vain” (in Vein, perhaps, but not in Vain).

哈维经常“赞扬创造神的主权的运作，他称之为'自然‘”我们不能读回到17世纪的英语词汇。麦克马伦，在历史和科学哲学博士学位, 是哈维生命专家，提供报价，显示哈维的’自然’的性质是一个积极的，聪明，智慧，个人化：自然注定，打算, 给礼品，规定，反平衡，研究机构，是小心。哈维谈到了“小心，精心的阀门和纤维和心脏的结构其余的制作工艺。”根据麦克马伦，哈维的主要成就，对血液循环的解释，是引起问：“为什么上帝把许多阀门放在静脉但动脉中没有阀门。“他认为，自然没有什么“白”（在静脉，也许吧，但没有白费）。

William Harvey William Harvey also viewed natural philosophy as a sacred calling. He talked to a friend, “The examination of the bodies of animals has always been my delight; and I have thought that we might thence not only obtain an insight into the lighter mysteries of Nature, but there perceive a kind of image or reflex of the omnipotent Creator himself.” (McMullen, Ibid.). This glimpse into Harvey’s leitmotiv shows him to be acting freely in a worshipful spirit as he undertook his scientific studies, not under compulsion as a naturalist trapped in a predominantly Christian culture. McMullen says that William Harvey was a “lifelong thinker on purpose” in anatomy and physiology, mentioning this throughout his writings in an effort to discern the final causes of things. “Harvey was a Christian,” McMullen states, “who believed that purpose in nature reflected God’s design and intentions.” The appeal of being able to glimpse something of the mind of God, to understand how he had made things work, in the hope of understanding more fully both God and his works, has been a frequent and productive force in the development of modern science.

威廉哈维自然哲学看作是一种神圣的呼唤，他跟一个朋友说： “动物的尸体检验一直是我的喜悦，而我以为，我们不但可以从那里获得进入自然界的洞察奥秘，以及有感知全能的造物主自己。”（麦克马伦）。这反射哈维的主旨一瞥表明他是行动的一个可贵的精神，他答应他的科学的研究不是在强迫之下，为被困在一个自然为主的基督教文化。麦克马伦说，哈维是一个“终身思想家”在解剖学，生理学，在他的著作提到在努力辨别事物的终极原因。“哈维是一个基督徒”麦克马伦表示，“他认为，在自然目的反映上帝的设计和意图。”能够看到神的心事，了解他如何使工作的认识全面上帝和希望，并呼吁他的作品，一直是现代科学发展的频繁和生产力。

McMullen claims Harvey was influenced by the Calvinist environment at Cambridge, and had George Estey, a clergymen and lecturer in Hebrew, as a tutor. A couple of anecdotes reveal his faith was more than cultural or intellectual assent to prevailing opinion. Once he referred to the Apostle John’s account of the crucifixion when discussing the pericardium, hinting at his familiarity with Scripture. On another occasion, when discussing parturition, he spoke of Mary’s pregnancy. It’s interesting that instead of calling her child simply Jesus, he called him “our Savior Christ, of men most perfect.” One other Harvey quote is particularly instructive on the relation of the Bible to science. Here is where a Scriptural passage can be cited as both a scientific fact corroborated thousands of years later, and also as a principle acting as a stimulus for scientific discovery. In Leviticus 17:11, Moses wrote, under divine inspiration, that “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Again in verse 14, God says through Moses, “for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life.... for the life of all flesh is its blood.”

麦克马伦称哈维是受加尔文在剑桥的环境，并乔治埃斯泰教希伯来文。一些的轶事透露他的信心不是文化或智力流行的观点。一次他提到使徒约翰的十字架在讨论心包，暗示他熟悉的经文。当讨论分娩，他说，玛丽怀孕的。有趣的是，说她的孩子只是耶稣，他称他为“我们的救主基督，最完美的人。” 另外一个报告是非常有启发性哈维对圣经与科学的关系。下面是其中一个段可以举出圣经既是一个科学事实证实了几千年后的今天，作为一个科学发现作为刺激作用的原则。在利未记17:11，摩西说，根据神的启示，即“因為活物的生命是在血中。”再次在第14节，神通过摩西说，“論到一切活物的生命、就在血中、.... 因為一切活物的血、就是他的生命 …..。”

William Harvey Recall that the Greek doctrine of unbalanced body humors (fluids) as the cause of disease would not be discarded till the time of Pasteur 200 years later; for many more years, physicians would routinely perform blood-letting to try to restore the balance, often hastening death by removing the very life-giving substance God had set in circulation to nourish the entire body. Would that physicians had taken seriously this ancient Biblical insight recovered by Harvey. It was perhaps his most important finding. According to McMullen, Harvey concluded after demonstrating the circulatory system, that “life therefore resides in the blood (as we are informed in our sacred writings).” Harvey also quoted these specific passages from Leviticus when making a point about the beginning of life. There is a lesson for 21st century scientists here. If the Bible truly is the word of the Creator, it should provide clues that can open up new areas of research – even if it was not intended primarily as a science textbook. There could be many more scientific insights waiting to be discovered in its pages. 。

回想一下，希腊学说:身体体液不平衡的病因（流体), 直到200年后巴斯德, 然后丢弃; 很多年，医生会进行放血，试图恢复平衡，消除上帝赋予生命的物质, 往往加速死亡。但愿医生早早采取了认真了解这个古老的圣经由哈维恢复。这也许是他最重要的发现。根据麦克马伦，哈维结论展示循环系统，“生命因在血液（因为我们在神圣的著作知道）” 哈维还引述利未记这些特定的段落时，这是关于生命的起点。这也是21世纪的教训。如果圣经真的是造物主的话，科学家在这里应该提供的线索，可以开辟新的研究领域- 即使它不是一门科学教科书, 作为有更多的科学知识等待我们去发现。

In the Bible, the heart is often symbolic of the innermost being of man: the mind and the will. Considering this chapter in the history of science, the counsel of Proverbs 4:23 is vital in both the figurative and literal sense: “Keep your heart with all diligence,” Solomon wrote under divine inspiration, “for out of it spring the issues of life.” Harvey could not have agreed more. The heart, he echoed, “is the household divinity which, discharging its function, nourishes, cherishes, quickens the whole body, and is indeed the foundation of life, the source of all action.”

在圣经中，心脏经常是人内心的象征：心灵和意志，考虑到这在科学史章，在箴言4:23有两个具象和字面意义重大：“你要保守你心,” 所罗门说神的启示，“勝過保守一切〔或作你要切切保守你心〕因為一生的果效、是由心發出。”哈维是同意: “心是神的家，履行其职责，滋养，爱护，加了整个身体，确实是生命的基础，所有行动的源泉。”

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal was home-schooled. And although his father did not feel mathematics was a proper subject till age 15, young Blaise took interest at 12, and when his father relented, math became his best subject – one of many best subjects. Pascal went on to excel at just about everything he tried: physics, hydrostatics, hydrodynamics, mathematics, statistics, invention, logic, debate, philosophy, and prose. We speak of “pascals” of pressure, Pascal’s Principle, and a computer language named Pascal. Computer scientists remember the Pascaline, an early mechanical calculator he invented, and mathematicians speak of Pascal’s triangle. Literary historians call Pascal the Father of French Prose, and theologians debate Pascal’s Wager while evangelists use it to reason with sinners about the gospel. Few, however, know much about the personal life of this scientific and mathematical genius. He knew pain, he knew conflict, and he knew Jesus Christ with a depth and sensitivity few experience. And he accomplished all his discoveries without reaching his 40th birthday.

Blaise Pascal 帕斯卡 1623年至1662年帕斯卡是在家接受教育，虽然他的父亲没有感到数学是适当，直到15岁，年轻的布莱斯在12岁发生兴趣，当他的父亲让步，数学成了他最好的一科-许多最好的科目之一。帕斯卡擅长一切努力：物理学，流体静力学，流体力学，数学，统计，发明，逻辑，辩论，哲学，散文，我们的“帕斯卡”的压力，帕斯卡的原则，计算机名为语言发言帕斯卡。计算机科学家记得Pascaline，早期的机械计算器，他发明的，和数学家谈论帕斯卡的三角形。文学史家呼叫帕斯卡是法国散文之父，和神学家的辩论帕斯卡的赌注，而传福音的使用有关的罪人的原因。然而很少人了解的这一科学和数学天才的个人生活。他知道痛，他知道冲突，他经验耶稣基督的深度和灵敏度。他完成了他的所有发现没有达到他的40岁生日。

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal was the youngest of three children, the only boy. His mother died when he was three years old. His father, Etienne, a tax collector, took to schooling the children himself. At age 19, Blaise started working on a mechanical calculator to help his father with his work. The Pascaline was the second such invention (the first, by Schickard, was 18 years prior). Pascal’s invention consisted of toothed wheels which engaged each other in such a way that rotating the first 10 steps would increment the next by one, and so on. Nevertheless, it was a clever piece of work for a young man who went on to greater things. Pascal grew in reputation as a mathematician so that in his prime he corresponded with other notable scientists and philosophers: Fermat, Descartes, Christopher Wren, Leibniz, Huygens, and others. He worked on conic sections, projective geometry, probability, binomial coefficients, cycloids, and many other puzzles of the day, sometimes challenging his famous colleagues with difficult problems which he, of course, solved on his own.

Blaise Pascal 1623 - 1662 布莱斯帕斯卡 1623年至1662年
帕斯卡是三个孩子最小的一个。他的母亲去世时他才三岁。他的父亲，艾蒂安，一个税吏，教自己的孩子。年仅19岁的布莱斯机发明械计算器帮助父亲的工作。该Pascaline是第二次这样的发明（第一次，由Schickard，是18年以前）。帕斯卡的发明，其中从事每个这样的方式与其他的齿轮由转动的前10个步骤将递增逐个下，等等。然而，这年轻人是去作出更大的聪明的作品。帕斯卡增长美誉的数学家，以便在他的全盛时期，他与其他著名科学家和哲学家对应：费马，笛卡尔，克里斯托弗雷恩，莱布尼茨，惠更斯。他对圆锥曲线，投影几何，概率，二项式系数，摆线和其他许多难题，有时挑战性的难题，与他著名的同事，当然，自己已经解决。

Blaise Pascal In physics, Pascal also excelled in both theory and experiment. At age 30, he had completed a Treatise on the Equilibrium of Liquids, the first systematic theory of hydrostatics. In it he formulated his famous law of pressure, that states that the pressure is uniform in all directions on all surfaces at a given depth. This principle is foundational to many applications today: submarines, scuba gear, and a host of pneumatic devices. By applying the principle, Pascal invented the syringe and the hydraulic press. Blaise Pascal’s perceptive mind enabled him to explain the rising liquid in a barometer not as “nature abhorring a vacuum,” but as the pressure of the air outside on the liquid reservoir. Observing that barometric pressure dropped with altitude, he reasoned that a vacuum existed above the atmosphere. James Kiefer writes, “In presenting his results, he taunts his enemies the Jesuits with getting their methods backward, accusing them of relying on ancient authority (Aristotle) in physics, while ignoring ancient authority (the Scriptures and the Fathers, especially Augustine) in religion.”

在物理学中，帕斯卡在理论和实验出色。30岁，他已完成了液体平衡，第一次流体静力学系统的理论著作。他在文中提出了他著名的压力定律，各压力均匀的所有表面上各个方向一定深度, 这一原则的基石今天有许多应用：潜艇，潜水装备，以及气动设备的主机通过应用的原则，帕斯卡发明了注射器和液压机, 帕斯卡的洞察力使他解释作为一个晴雨表上升液体不是“自然憎恶真空”，但外面的空气对液体的压力。观测的大气压力的随高度下降，他的理由是，一个以上的大气存在真空。詹姆斯基弗写道，“在介绍他的研究结果，他嘲笑他的敌人获取方法落后，指责物理学（亚里士多德)，而忽略了古代在宗教权威（圣经与教亲，尤其是奥古斯丁）。”

Blaise Pascal Pascal’s controversies with the Jesuits had begun in his early twenties. Two brothers from a religious movement, while caring for Pascal’s father, had a profound influence on Blaise. He took great interest in a movement called Jansenism that was a kind of “back to the Bible” movement within Catholicism, that stressed salvation was the free gift of God by grace through faith. Pascal became one of their chief apologists, and in writing his Provincial Letters, also showed himself to be an exceptional logician and writer. His wit, irony, perception, knowledge, and a logic honed by mathematics, made his writing sparkle with enthusiasm and force. Kiefer writes, “He taught his countrymen how to write work that could be read with pleasure.” And indeed it can! We encourage our readers to find out by sampling his work. Pascal is a good source of pithy quotes, proverbs, witty sayings, and thoughtful paragraphs. In his thirties, he was apparently working on an “Apology [Defense] of the Christian Religion,” but, unfortunately, at his death there was only found a stack of unorganized papers that was published as Pensées (Thoughts).

20岁已经开始与耶稣会士的争论。从一个宗教运动两弟兄，照顾帕斯卡的父亲，对布莱斯了深刻的影响。他参与了所谓的詹森主义运动的极大兴趣的是在天主教“种回圣经”运动，强调救恩是神所赐的恩典信心。帕斯卡尔成为他们的主要支持者之一，在写他的信函，也表明自己是一个特殊的逻辑学家和作家。他的机智，反讽感，知识，磨练和数学逻辑，以使他的创作饱满的热情和力量。基弗写道，“他教他的同胞如何编写作品，可以愉快地阅读。”而事实上，它可以！我们鼓励我们的读者取样他的作品。帕斯卡尔是一个精辟的作者，谚语，格言机智，周到段的良好来源。三十多岁，他作“基督教护教学，”但不幸的，在他去世的时候，才发现是无组织的一摞为 Pensées（想法）发表的论文。

Blaise Pascal 帕斯卡 1623年至1662年 Nevertheless, enough was written to give believers and unbelievers alike a great deal of food for thought: on the nature of man, sin, suffering, unbelief, philosophy, false religion, Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, heaven and hell, and much more. Much has been made of “Pascal’s Wager,” a philosophical challenge usually unfairly oversimplified as follows: If you choose Christianity and it is false, you lose nothing. If you reject Christianity and it is true, you lose everything. Skeptics (and many Christians) feel this is a weak argument to become a Christian. It is, but it is not what Pascal meant. James Kiefer explains that the Wager is an educated choice, not a flip of the coin. Having decided that the evidence for Christianity is strong, and having decided that union with Christ is a worthy goal in life, it is the best bet to train for it like an athlete would train for the highest prize, even though the athlete cannot be sure he will win or the contest will even occur.

Blaise Pascal 帕斯卡 1623年至1662年然而，他写给信徒和非信徒都一个很大的深思：在人的本性，罪恶，苦难，不信，哲学，虚伪的宗教，耶稣，圣经，天堂与地狱，等等。很多人已写出的“帕斯卡赌注” 是一个哲学的挑战，通常不公平地简化为如下：如果您选择基督教是假的话，你没有失去什么，如果你拒绝了基督教，然而这是真的，你失去了一切! 怀疑论者和很多基督徒觉得这是一个薄弱的论据成为基督徒。这不是帕斯卡的意思。詹姆斯基弗解释说，这个赌注是一个受过教育的选择，而不是一个硬币的反面。决定对基督教的证据充分，和决定与基督联盟是一个在生活中有价值的目标，这是最好的选择，像一个运动员训练将有最高奖，尽管运动员不能知道他一定会赢得比赛。

Blaise Pascal Kiefer says, “Obviously, if Christ is an illusion, then nothing will move me closer to Him, and it does not matter what I do. But if He is not an illusion, then obviously seeking to love Him, trust Him, and obey Him is more likely to get me into a right relation with Him than the opposite strategy. And so it will be the one I take.” Understanding this, the Wager is not a blind hope that I’ll find myself on the right side after I die; it is a positive choice that will order my life and give me peace, joy, and purpose in the present. To avoid misrepresenting Pascal’s Wager, we encourage readers to read the argument in his own inimitable words in the Pensées. When used properly, it’s still a powerful argument for accepting Christ. Pascal’s last writings are all the more poignant when we remember he wrote much of them while suffering intensely. A contemporary wrote, “He lived most of his adult life in great pain. He had always been in delicate health, suffering even in his youth from migraine ...” Pascal died at age 39 in intense pain from stomach cancer. After his death, a servant found a surprise in the lining of Pascal’s coat.

Blaise Pascal 帕斯卡 1623年至1662年基弗说，“很显然，如果基督是一种幻想，什么都不会使我更接近他，无论我做什么。但是如果他是不是幻觉，显然寻求爱他，信任他，听从他, 跟他到一个正确的战略关系。因此，这是我寻求的。”理解这一点，这个赌注是不是一个盲目的，我死后我会找到正确的一边，这是一个积极的选择，这将令我的生活，让我在目前的平安，欢乐和宗旨，以避免误传帕斯卡的赌注，我们鼓励读者阅读Pensées 的独特的字眼。它仍然是一个接受基督有力的论证。帕斯卡的最后著作，我们记得他写在痛苦激烈的时候。一个当代写道：“他的成年生活在巨大的痛苦。他一直是身体虚弱，他的青年痛苦偏头痛...“帕斯卡逝世，享年39岁在剧烈的疼痛胃癌。去世后，一个仆人发现在帕斯卡的外套衬惊喜。

Blaise Pascal At age 31, Pascal had a spiritual experience that was so overpowering, he wrote it down so that he would never forget it. Somehow, after a sweet hour of prayer or worship service – he never mentioned what it was to anyone – he felt so close to God, so overjoyed with His grace and salvation, so convinced of the urgency of trusting Him, that he took hasty notes of his feelings and sewed them into the lining of his coat, to be near his heart forever. Here are those words. Consider the brilliant scientist and mathematician, the logical thinker and debater, the inventor and writer and genius that got this close to the heart of God: Memorial In the year of grace, 1654, On Monday, 23rd of November, Feast of St Clement, Pope and Martyr, and others in the Martyrology, Vigil of St Chrysogonus, Martyr, and others, From about half past ten in the evening until about half past twelve, Fire! God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, (Ex 3:6; Mt 22:32) not of the philosophers and scholars.

Blaise Pascal 1623 – 1662 帕斯卡 1623年至1662年 31岁，帕斯卡尔有一个强大属灵经验，他写了下来，使他永远不会忘记, 经过祈祷或崇拜甜蜜的时候，他从来没有告诉任何人 -他觉得十分接近神，十分喜悦神的恩典和救恩，紧迫信任神，他使他的感情写下，缝入他的外套里, 永远接近他的心。以下是这些话。这辉煌的科学家和数学家，思想家和逻辑家，发明家和作家，这天才用他的心来接近神：纪念: 在恩典年1654，11月23日，圣宴克莱门特，教皇和烈士，以及其他在烈士，圣黄金口，烈士守夜，和其他人，从大约十时半，直到晚上十二时三十分，着火啦！亚伯拉罕的上帝，以撒，雅各的上帝，（出3:6; 太 22:32）不是哲学家和学者。

Blaise Pascal 帕斯卡 1623年至1662年 Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace. God of Jesus Christ. “Thy God and my God.” (Jn 20:17) Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except God. He is to be found only in the ways taught in the Gospel. Greatness of the Human Soul. “Righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee, but I have known Thee.” (Jn 17:25) Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy. I have separated myself from Him. “They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters.” (Jr 2:13) “My God, wilt Thou leave me?” (Mt 27:46) Let me not be separated from Him eternally. “This is the eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and the one whom Thou hast sent, Jesus Christ.” (Jn 17:3) Jesus Christ.

Blaise Pascal 帕斯卡 1623年至1662年确信。确信。感觉喜悦。和平。上帝耶稣. “見我的　神、也是你們的　神”（约20:17）对世界和一切健忘，除了上帝。他只可在福音的方法找到。伟大的魂。 ”世人未曾認識你、我卻認識你”（约17:25）喜悦，欢乐，喜悦，泪水，我自己离弃上帝， “就是離棄我這活水的泉源” （耶 2:13） “我的　神，我的　神，你為甚麼離棄我？” （太27:46）让我永永远远不离开上帝， “認識你獨一的真　神、並且認識你所差來的耶穌基督、這就是永生。” （约17:3）的耶稣基督。

Blaise Pascal 1623 - 1662 帕斯卡 1623年至1662年 Jesus Christ
I have separated myself from Him: I have fled from Him, denied Him, crucified Him. Let me never be separated from Him. We keep hold of Him only by the ways taught in the Gospel. Renunciation, total and sweet. Total submission to Jesus Christ and to my director. Eternally in joy for a day’s training on earth. “I will not forget thy words.” (Ps 119:16) Amen. Blaise Pascal took the wager, and won.

Blaise Pascal 1623 - 1662 帕斯卡 1623年至1662年耶稣基督我已经离开他自己
说：我从逃跑拒绝他，钉他在十字架上。让我永远不能离开他。我们一直抓住他在福音教的方法。放弃，总又甜。交给耶稣基督和我的主。一个永恒欢乐在地球上的训练一天。 “我要在你的律例中自樂．我不忘記你的話。” （诗119:16）阿门。帕斯卡了赌注，赢了。

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle not only can be considered a pillar of modern science – and one of its most eminent practitioners – but he also left the world a profound legacy of rich literature explaining the Christian foundation for science. The title of one of his many books was The Christian Virtuoso (i.e., Bible-believing scientist), and to historians, he was one of the best examples. Boyle’s life and adventures make for a good story, but let’s consider first some of the impacts he made on the practice of science: (1) An emphasis on experiment instead of reason. (2) Publication of experimental results. (3) Popularization of scientific discoveries. (4) Collaboration of scientists in professional societies. (5) Mathematical formulations of laws. (6) Putting all claims about nature, no matter the reputation of the authority, to the test of experiment. Of course, no one works in a vacuum (no pun intended, as we will see); Boyle was not the only one to advance these ideals. He was influenced by Bacon, Galileo and Kepler before him, and there were contemporaries who also practiced one or more of these principles.

Robert Boyle 1627 – 博伊尔博伊尔不但可以被认为是现代科学的支柱-和最杰出科学家的之一-。他也留下了丰富的文学世界遗产深刻阐述了科学基督教的基础，对他的许多书是在一个标题基督教的演奏家（即信仰圣经的科学家），并历史学家，他是最好的例子之一。博伊尔的生活，做一个好的故事，但是让我们首先考虑的影响，他对科学的实践取得了一些影响：（1）重点在实验。（2）出版的实验结果。（3）科学发现的大众化。（4）在专业协会的科学家合作。（5）数学公式定律。（6）把自然界的一切事情，与实验的验证。当然，没有人的作品在真空;博伊尔不是唯一一个实现这些理想，他是由培根，伽利略和开普勒在他的影响，并有同时代的人也练一个或多个这些原则。

Robert Boyle But among his peers, Boyle was an eminent leader in all of them. He took the initiative where others stuck to old habits, and he led by example. He is the considered the father of chemistry and a law was named in his honor. The world’s first and oldest professional scientific society with the longest record of continuous publication is due largely to Robert Boyle and the colleagues he attracted with his energy, drive, and enthusiasm for science. That enthusiasm came directly out of his Christian faith. To Boyle, love of God came first, and everything else second. Science was a means to a higher end: loving God with all one’s heart, soul, strength, and mind. Despite being born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the privileged son of a rich and prestigious landowner and friend of the king, Robert Boyle would know before long the meaning of hardship. As the 14th of 15 children in the family of the great Earl of Cork in Ireland, young Robyn had no lack of any material thing. Yet his wise father knew the values of self-discipline, education and hard work, and ensured his children were not idle but given the best training for honorable life.

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔但在他的同龄人，博伊尔是一位杰出的领导人。他主动在别人坚持旧的习惯，他以身作则。他是化学的父亲，他的名字是一化学定律。世界上第一个，并连续出版时间最长的纪录最古老的专业科学的社会是由于罗伯特博伊尔和他的同事，与他能量，动力和热情吸引了科学。这种热情直接从他的基督教信仰来的。博伊尔，爱神第一，其他第二, 一切科学是向更高目标：与所有的人的心，灵魂，力量和精神爱上帝。尽管是一个在他的嘴里银匙出生，丰富和著名地主，国王的朋友的儿子，罗伯特波义耳知道忧患的意思。由于15名儿童中的第14家大伯爵在爱尔兰的科克，年轻的罗宾并没有任何物质的东西缺乏。然而，他的聪明的父亲知道自律，教育和勤奋工作的价值观，并确保他的孩子们也不闲着，获得一生中最好的培训。

Robert Boyle Robyn himself was sent for his first five years to be raised by a peasant family rather than live in his father’s rich estate. Sadly, many of the children grew up to be profligate and wild, but not Robyn or his older sister Katherine. In the schools of the time, Aristotle still held sway over almost every field of natural knowledge. Education consisted largely of memorizing what authorities had said. Some schools actually prohibited original thinking. If Aristotle said a vacuum cannot exist, then that was that; memorize it and regurgitate it on the test. But early in his education, Robyn learned to question the opinions of mere men. He was introduced by a teacher to the new “experimental method” of learning. Young Boyle also had a bright mind that asked questions, that was unsatisfied by rote answers from experts. He wanted to know how the authorities knew what they claimed, and why it was necessary to follow them. After all, who had been their authorities?

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔罗宾被送往一个农民家庭，而不是丰富生活。可悲的是，许多孩子长大后挥霍和野生，但罗宾或他的姐姐凯瑟琳不是。在学校，亚里士多德强悍了几乎所有的自然知识领域, 教育主要是背当局说，一些学校实际上禁止原有的思维，如果亚里士多德说，真空不能存在，在测试吐出来。但在他的早期教育，罗宾学会了提问人的意见。一个老师介绍他学习了新的“试验方法”。年轻博伊尔是一个聪明的问问题，不满意死记硬背答案。他想知道当局如何知道他们声称，为什么有必要跟着他们。毕竟，谁是他们的权威？

Robert Boyle At age 17 Boyle’s life took a dramatic turn. Though certainly not a spoiled rich child, he was suddenly transferred to the school of hard knocks. While on an extended, all-expense-paid educational tour of Europe with his brother Frank and a tutor, war broke out in Ireland. Oblivious to the crisis at home, Robert visited leading scientists. He almost got to see Galileo, missing the opportunity by a few months due to the great astronomer’s death. Paris, Rome, the great centers of learning had been on their itinerary when the word reached them from their desperate father that the war had hit home. King Charles, occupied with other conflicts, had been unable to aid the Irish landowners against the popular uprising, and the Earl of Cork had to spend every resource to protect his estate. In dire straits, his father wrote to the sons that no more money could be forthcoming. To the boys’ tutor, he wrote, “For with inward grief of soul I write this truth unto you that I am no longer able to supply them beyond this last payment. But if they serve God and be careful and discreet in their carriage [i.e., lifestyle], God will bless them and provide for them as hitherto He has done for me.”

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔博伊尔在17岁发生了戏剧性的转变。不是一个被宠坏的有钱的孩子，他与他的哥哥弗兰克和导师突然转移到另一学校，全费支付在欧洲教育之旅，当时, 战争在爱尔兰爆发。不经意家中的危机，罗伯特参观了著名科学家。他几乎去看看伽利略的机会，但这伟大的天文学家几个月前逝世。巴黎，罗马，学习的重要中心已一直在他们的行程时，消息从他们绝望的父亲传到他们，战争已经击中了要害。国王查尔斯，与其他被占领的冲突，已经无法帮助人民起义反对爱尔兰地主，和科克伯爵不得不花的每资源，以保护他的遗产。处在水深火热之中，他的父亲写信给儿子，没有更多的钱可即将到来。孩子们的导师，他写道：“对于外来悲伤的灵魂我写这个真理告诉你们，我不再能够支付出他们最后付款。但如果他们事奉神，要小心，在他们的马车[即，生活方式]，谨慎的上帝会保佑他们，为他们提供迄今为止他为我所做的。”

Robert Boyle Frank rushed back home to help, but Robyn had been too ill to be of military assistance, and remained back in Geneva with the tutor. It was no use. Lewis, a brother, died in battle. Lord Barrymore, the Great Earl’s favorite son-in-law, died in battle; and the grief-stricken father died the day the truce was signed – not only had the rebels destroyed his property and foundries, scattered his family and stolen all his possessions, but as part of the peace treaty, the king sacrificed all the Earl’s land to the rebels. Now orphaned, Robyn stayed two years in Geneva with the tutor, until he could no longer bear burdening his host. Selling the last remaining valuables, he boarded a ship for London. He was 17 years old. Tiner describes the setting: “Robyn had begun his travels from this city. When he left he’d enjoyed every possible advantage. His future seemed secure. He could look forward to wealth, an estate in the country, and perhaps a family with Lady Ann Howard as his wife. Now, five years later, Robyn walked the streets of London penniless and alone.”

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔弗兰克赶回家里帮忙，但罗宾已经因为重病而军事援助，并保持与导师早在日内瓦。这是没有用的。刘易斯，兄弟，死于战斗。主巴里摩尔，大伯爵的最爱儿子死在战场上; 伤心欲绝的父亲的停战协定签字之日死亡-叛乱分子不仅摧毁了财产和代工厂，分散他的家人和盗他所有财产，国王牺牲所有伯爵的土地, 作为和平条约的一部分。现在成为孤儿，罗宾与导师在日内瓦住了两年，直到他再也无法承受负担他的主人。销售最后剩下的贵重物品，他登上伦敦的船。他当时 17岁, 蒂纳写：“罗宾从这个城市开始了他的旅行, 当他离开他很喜欢, 他未来的一切是很安全，他似乎可以期待的财富，在该国房地产，也许霍华德与拉迪奥恩家庭作为他的妻子。现在，5年后，罗宾走到伦敦街头身无分文，孤独。”

Robert Boyle A famous gospel preacher once said, “The test of a man’s character is what it takes to stop him.” Young Robert Boyle’s character now faced the acid test. Coming from such a large family, he did have siblings. Robert moved in with his sister Katherine, 13 years older, who was a widow after surviving a very unhappy arranged marriage to a churlish alcoholic named Viscount Ranelagh (fortunately for her, he died young). Katherine and Robert were alike in that they both loved learning and were not rebellious like many of the other Boyle children. It would take years for Robert to regain control of his share of his father’s assets, and he considered his situation unworthy of the marriage that had been arranged for him. Nevertheless, with Lady Ranelagh’s help and some remaining properties, he was not destitute. Another productive influence she provided him were her social contacts. Katherine had many friends who were scientists and intellectuals. A group of Oxford scholars under John Wilkins had formed a loosely-knit science club they dubbed the “Invisible College,” because it had no formal organization or meeting place.

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔一位著名的福音传教士曾经说过，“一个人的性格测试是如何才能阻止他。”年轻的罗伯特波义耳的性格现在面临着严峻的考验。从这样一个大家庭来了，他确实有兄弟姐妹。罗伯特搬来与他姐姐凯瑟琳，13岁以上的，是非常不满包办婚姻到一个粗暴的酒鬼名为子爵拉尼拉格寡妇（她幸运的是，他英年早逝）。凯瑟琳和罗伯特是一样的，因为它们都喜欢学习，并没有叛逆像其他博伊尔许多儿子。这将需要许多年的罗伯特恢复他对他父亲的资产，他认为他不值得为他安排的婚姻。然而，与夫人拉尼拉格的帮助和一些剩余物业，他不是赤贫。另一项的影响，她为他提供了社会交往。凯瑟琳有很多朋友是科学家和知识分子。甲根据约翰牛津学者威尔金斯集团已形成了一个科学俱乐部，他们被称为“无形学院”，因为它没有正式的组织或会议场所。

Robert Boyle Though a mere teenager to these intellectuals, Robert impressed them with his aptitude and knowledge. His mind continued to flourish within this non-traditional university program. Politically, it was a tense time; these were the days leading up to the Cromwell revolution, when Parliament and King Charles were at odds and tensions ran high. Boyle took refuge in a family manor in Dorset and kept a low profile. He devoted himself to his three loves: reading, writing, and dabbling in science. During this period some profound works came from his pen on theology and personal Christian living, including Style of the Scriptures, Occasional Reflections, Ethics, and Some Motives and Incentives to the Love of God. Katherine distributed copies of some of these to her friends. As a result, Robert’s reputation as a writer began to grow. Robert recalled how at age 13 he had learned the fear of God. Awakened by a thunderstorm, the reality of God’s judgment flowed into his mind. He realized right then that he was not ready to face his Maker. He knew his good works were not enough: he needed salvation, and cried out to God for forgiveness.

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔虽然只是十几岁，罗伯特与他这些知识分子留下深刻的印象。他的心继续在这个非传统大学课程蓬勃发展。政治上，这是一场紧张的时间，这些日子是克伦威尔领导的革命，当议会和国王查尔斯有了矛盾和紧张局势高涨, 博伊尔参加了在多塞特家族庄园的避难所，一直保持低调，他献身他的三个喜欢：阅读，写作，以及科学, 在此期间涉足一些深刻的作品，他的笔和个人对基督教神学，包括经文风格，偶尔思考，伦理，有的动机和激励爱神。凯瑟琳发行了其中的一些副本给她的朋友。罗伯特作为一个作家的声誉却开始增加。罗伯特回忆说，13岁，他学会了对上帝的敬畏。一个雷雨惊醒，上帝的判断现实流淌到了他心中，然后他意识到，他还没有准备好面对上帝, 他知道他的作品是不够的, 他需要拯救，大声请求神的宽恕。

Robert Boyle He kept his promise to live as a true Christian, not just going to church and being “good,” but sincerely trusting in the gift of God through Jesus Christ and following Him as his Lord and Savior. Now at Stalbridge Manor, the young man was writing about how to see God’s providence in all things. During this period of his 20's, Boyle read voraciously and also tried scientific experiments, inspired by Galileo’s writings and his contacts from the Invisible College. Bad experiences with doctor’s medicines (carelessly prescribed without standards or quality control in those days) also motivated him to learn chemistry; Robert was frail in health much of his life and took great interest in finding effective medicines as well as avoiding bad ones. After ten years at Stalbridge, at age 27 he was invited to come to Oxford, the leading intellectual center in England in those times. This move launched his scientific career. Now with greater insight and maturity from his reading and experiments, Boyle was again in touch with the Invisible College, made up of doctors, scientists and theologians who for the most part were devout Christians.

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔他信守自己的承诺，作为一个真正的基督徒，不仅仅是去了教堂，是“好”，真诚地相信，在神通过耶稣基督，为他的主和救主。现在，在斯塔尔布里奇庄园，年轻的他撰写有关如何看到所有神的保佑的事。在他的这个20年代期间，博伊尔阅读，也尝试科学实验，伽利略的著作的启发，接触无形学院。与医生的药品不良经验（不小心没有标准或在那些日子里质量控制规定的）也激励他学习化学。罗伯特的生活变得虚弱，并有极大的兴趣找到有效的药物，和避免坏的药，以及在斯塔尔布里奇十年后，在27岁的他应邀来到牛津，英格兰领先的智力中心。此举开始了他的科学生涯。现在他有大的洞察力和他的阅读和实验成熟，博伊尔再次与无形学院, 由许多医生，科学家和神学家, 大部分是虔诚的基督教徒。

Robert Boyle Robert was excited about the prospects of the “new learning” and “experimental philosophy” inspired by the works of Francis Bacon and Galileo. Committed to the principle that science should be used not just for pride of knowing but for the good of mankind, the College promoted experimentation on a variety of subjects: chemistry, physics, and medicine. During his six years of informal association with the Invisible College at Oxford, Boyle was largely self-taught. He did not earn a degree or professorship. Soon, however, he would be the most eminent scientist in Britain. Robert Boyle was a self-starter. He did not need a graduate adviser to point the way. Eager to discover the natural laws the Creator had devised, and with financial resources sufficiently restored, Robert built a laboratory, equipped it, and hired assistants. His most capable assistant was a young man named Robert Hooke. What Hooke lacked in social skills he made up for engineering acumen (the prototype nerd); the master would tell him what he needed, and Hooke would invent it. Boyle had heard about interesting preliminary experiments with vacuum pumps.

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔罗伯特对弗朗西斯培根和伽利略的“新学”与”实验哲学”的作品鼓舞的前景感到兴奋。致力于科学的原则，不应当只是认识的骄傲，而是为了人类好，使用学院促进了关于各种实验：化学，物理，医学等, 在他六年与牛津无形学院非正式协会，博伊尔是自学成才的, 他没有获得学位或教授, 不久，他将是英国最杰出的科学家。波义耳是自启动。他不需要一个研究生顾问的方式。急于发现造物主制订了自然规律，充分恢复和财政资源，建立了一个实验室, 罗伯特，装备它，并聘请助理。他最得力的助手是一个年轻的男子名叫罗伯特胡克, 胡克缺乏社交技巧，他提出的工程敏锐（原型书呆子）。老师会告诉他，他需要什么，胡克会发明它, 博伊尔听说过的有趣真空泵的初步试验。

Robert Boyle Otto von Guericke had demonstrated by 1650 the ability to pump the air out of a wine barrel, and then a copper globe, but the devices were clumsy and difficult to operate, requiring the efforts of two strong men. Boyle was intrigued by the idea of creating a vacuum. Aristotle had claimed “Nature abhors a vacuum”; Descartes, many Jesuits and most others never thought to question that dogma. To Boyle, this was a chance to show the superiority of the experimental philosophy, so he asked Hooke to help him make a better air pump. What followed was groundbreaking science, methods that set standards for empirical work that survive to this day. Hooke’s ingenuity provided Boyle with an easily-operated air pump with a glass receiver, into which the duo inserted a variety of items that could be easily observed as the air was pumped out. They put a ticking clock in and noticed the sound drop to silence as air was removed. They observed that sound, but not light, was affected by the vacuum. They watched a candle go out. Each observation was meticulously recorded, but beyond the mere collection of facts, Boyle had the insight to interpret the results and formulate hypotheses that could be tested.

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔 1650年奥托冯格里克已经证明了，葡萄酒桶泵的空气出来，然后一铜球，但这些设备都笨拙，难以操作，需要两个壮汉的努力。博伊尔的想法很感兴趣的创造一个真空, 亚里士多德曾声称“自然厌恶真空。”。笛卡尔，许多耶稣会士，其余的大多数从来没有想过要询问该教条, 博伊尔，这是一个机会，表明了该实验哲学的优势，所以他要求胡克帮助他做出一个更好的空气泵。随之而来的是开创性的科学实证方法，为工作标准，活到这一天。胡克的聪明才智提供了一个带有玻璃接收器，将其二人插入一个可容易地在空中观察到的各种物品容易操作的空气泵, 波伊尔抽出。便将滴答作响的时钟，发现声音下降到沉默如空气被删除。他们指出，声音，不是光,是经真空的影响。他们看着蜡烛熄灭。每次观测经过精心录制的，但超出了单纯的收集事实，博伊尔有洞察力的结果和解释制定可测试的假说。

Robert Boyle A suite of cleverly-contrived experiments provided Boyle and Hooke with many exciting results, some that contradicted common sense, and many that contradicted Aristotle. Then, Boyle set two other important precedents: he published his results in lively English, leading to the tradition of popularizing science, and he carefully described his apparatus so that others could try to reproduce the experiments, leading to the principle of repeatability. He was even brutally honest about failures and errors, feeling these were necessary parts of the learning process. All this was almost unheard of in the practice of science. His first paper in 1660,New Experiments Physico-Mechanical Touching the Spring of the Air, and its Effects, created no small stir. Some critics thought it unwise to question the great master Aristotle. Others thought science should be published only in Latin. Most, however, read his work with great eagerness. Boyle, in effect, showed that science belonged to every man, and that it had very practical effects. It led to principles that could be tested and repeated by anyone (though few could hope to exceed the precision and thoroughness of his experiments).

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔博伊尔和胡克提供了巧妙的实验有许多令人兴奋的结果，一些违反常识，许多违反亚里士多德。然后，博伊尔有两个重要的先例：他发表了他生动的英语结果，导致了普及科学的传统，他仔细描述了他的设备，以便其他人可以尝试重现实验，导致重复性原则。甚至敢说真话关于失败和错误，这些都是在学习过程中必要的部分。这一切几乎是闻所未闻的科学实践。他在1660年的第一篇论文，新实验物理机械触摸空气弹簧和其效果，创造了不小的轰动。一些评论家认为质疑亚里士多德大师是不明智的。其他人则认为科学只应在拉丁出版。但是，大多数非常渴望读到他的作品。博伊尔，科学发现属于每一个人，而且它有非常实际的效果。它导致任何人可重复测试（虽然很少人会希望超过了他的实验精度和彻底性）。

Robert Boyle Marie Boas Hall, writing for Scientific American (1967), judged one of Boyle’s most novel creations the idea that one could prove a scientific theory by experiment – an idea we take for granted today, but nearly the reverse of the Aristotelian/deductive approach to science of his time. Boyle and Hooke’s lab teamwork led to many discoveries. Air, he proved, acted much like a spring; it acted like a “mechanical” substance (i.e., one subject to laws, not spirits or essences). Air contained ingredients essential to life and combustion. Advancing the earlier work of Torricelli, they showed air had weight and pressure. They experimented with colors, optics, and chemical analysis, including the first crude litmus test for acids and bases. By testing combinations of substances, Boyle deduced that complex chemicals could be classified into simpler elements (but not the Aristotelian view of elements such as earth, air, fire and water, of which everything was supposed to contain proportions). In his best-known experiment, he poured mercury into a J-shaped tube and observed the size of the air column trapped as he added more fluid.

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 博伊尔玛丽博厄斯厅，写作科学美国人（1967）判断，博伊尔的最新颖的作品之一，这个想法，一个可以证明通过实验的科学理论- 一个想法，我们现在视为理所当然的，但几乎亚里士多德/演绎的措施去扭转作者：他的时代。博伊尔和胡克的实验室团队，导致许多发现空气，他证明了，就像一个弹簧行事。。它像一个“机械的”物质（即一个主题的法律，而不是精神或本质）担任空气中的成分必不可少的生活和燃烧。托里切利推进的前期工作，他们表现出了空气的重量和压力。他们尝试用不同的颜色，光学，化学分析，包括第一个氨基酸和物质的组合，通过测试基地。原油试金石，博伊尔推断，复杂的化学品可分为简单的元素（但不包括如地球，空气，火和水，这一切都应该包含的元素比例亚里士多德的观点）分类。在他最著名的实验，他倒进了J型管的汞并观察了，因为他增加了更多被困流体的空气柱的大小。

Robert Boyle With fastidious measurements, he discovered that doubling the pressure cut the volume in half: P = k/V, a relationship later named Boyle’s Law in his honor. This was on the cutting edge of the concept that there existed “laws of nature” that were discoverable by experiment. Well into his senior years, Boyle continued his experiments, discoveries and publications. His work contributed to the understanding of phosphorus, acids and bases, salts, precipitates and chemical elements. His achievements in chemistry, both practical and theoretical, began to steer it from the mystical and secretive arts of the alchemists, leading many historians to consider him the Father of Chemistry. Notice how Aristotle’s statement “Nature abhors a vacuum” implied a kind of animistic character to the world; Boyle’s approach began to steer science away from a personified nature, and view it as a machine created by God and operating according to laws. Though Boyle was not alone in this approach, he showed originality and creative insight. Marie Hall Boas explains:

Robert Boyle The English scientists were much influenced by Descartes’ careful formulation of his mechanical philosophy, toward which they were further predisposed by their adherence to similar ideas of Bacon’s. ... [She describes the influence also of Gassendi and Epicurus.] By the middle 1650’s Boyle had worked out his own version of the mechanical philosophy—the “corpuscular philosophy,” as he called it—in which he drew on both the Cartesian and the atomic views but wholly accepted neither. He believed “those two grand and most Catholic [i.e., universal] principles, matter and motion,” sufficed to explain all the properties of matter as we experience it. As we experience it indicates that Boyle understood the limitations of science. His other writings, additionally, make it clear he believed in the immanence of God, that the Creator is active in his creation. Boyle was not a “mechanist” in the sense of denying the possibility of miracles. He believed only that in the normal workings of Nature, God’s providence operated through uniform mechanical principles accessible to observation. Hall describes Boyle’s disagreements with Descartes, Spinoza, and Huygens who felt that “the ultimate test of a theory was the appeal to reason.”

Robert Boyle On the contrary, Boyle believed it was possible to prove a theory by experiment. This was a novel idea, not universally accepted at the time, Hall claims, and she feels it is evidence for “the originality of Boyle’s approach to scientific proof—and to chemistry.” Obviously, the scientific world followed Boyle’s lead. This establishes his importance not only as an experimenter, but as a pioneering philosopher of science. The wealth of his experimental work demonstrates that he walked his talk. Robert Boyle was one of the 12 charter members of a new organization founded in 1662, The Royal Society for the Improving of Natural Knowledge. Its charter was to promote the experimental philosophy for the common good. In clear contradistinction to the Aristotelians, they made their motto Nothing by mere authority; in other words, submit all claims about nature to the test of experiment. The founders and early members were predominantly Christians, especially Puritans. Henry Oldenberg, Boyle’s literary assistant, was secretary. The charter issue of their publication, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society reflects the Christian and humanitarian ideals.

Robert Boyle Though Boyle refused the presidency of the Royal Society because of scruples about taking an oath, he was its most influential and esteemed member, especially at the time young Isaac Newton was just becoming a rising star. There had been academies and scientific clubs before, like the Academy of the Lynx to which Galileo belonged, but the Royal Society was the first true formal institution dedicated to experimental science, and its Philosophical Transactions is the longest-running scientific journal in the world. As the number of “fellows” grew and meetings shared the latest experimental demonstrations at Gresham College in London, the fledgling organization became the cheerleader for the scientific revolution. Why is the Royal Society the quintessential naturalist-Darwinist-atheist organization it is today? Surely Boyle, John Wilkins, Henry Oldenberg and the other founders would be appalled to see their journals filled with absurd evolutionary speculations on every subject, propounding atheism as science and ridiculing belief in the Bible and creation, as do most other scientific societies in our post-Darwinist world. What happened?

Robert Boyle In an article in Christian History magazine (issue 76 - November 2002, pp ), Chris Armstrong argues that the charter members defended religion but laid the groundwork for irreligion through compromise. The Royal Society was a curious blend of Puritan and Anglican, those who put all authority in the Bible and those who valued tradition. They thought they could ignore their religious differences and unite around the new experimental philosophy, because all of them agreed that nature’s “admirable contrivance” and “accurate order and symmetry” glorified the Creator, His power and glory. It does, of course, but this lowest-common-denominator approach glosses over deeper issues: does the authority of the word of God extend to science? Is fallen man capable of discerning truth apart from the spirit of God? “For both pragmatic and pious reasons,” Armstrong writes, “some members of the Royal Society were influenced by the rationalist approach to religion urged by the Cambridge Platonists. In their public discourse they gravitated toward an essential Christianity that affirmed only the existence of God, the soul’s immortality, and each person’s ethical obligation to others.”

Robert Boyle That is why their meetings were soon obsessed with microscopic images of fly eyes and plant seeds and euphoria about all the possible benefits of science, but lost its focus on the Creator – till the temple was filled with syncretistic idols, and like Ezekiel describes, the spirit of God, by stages, departed. Why didn’t the deeply religious members see this coming? Sadly, their compromise put them on the defensive. “They faced charges of irreligion themselves,” Armstrong notes, and Hall adds, “they were denounced from the pulpit, and its Fellows came to be touchy about any accusation of godlessness.” “They answered these charges,” Armstrong alleges, “by insisting that the evidences of lawfulness and design in the fabric of things pointed not away from by toward God.” Little did they realize, he argues, that the broadly-shared, lowest common denominator principle of design would become, in the next century, “a substitute for the Christ-centered teachings of the historic church.” There was a God, all would agree, but like Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat, He would slowly vanish till just the grin was left.

Robert Boyle The distant “clockmaker God” of the deist would displace the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because there was no need of that hypothesis. Is history repeating itself? Those in the intelligent design movement, who think Muslims and Jews and Christians and even atheists can rally around the banner of design would do well to study the history of the Royal Society. It’s not that design arguments are unsound or unconvincing; but unless men are brought all the way to the gospel of Christ and their minds are renewed by the Holy Spirit, the demon is not dislodged; he returns with seven more, till the last situation is worse than the first. This parenthesis was necessary before turning to the philosophical works of Robert Boyle. There is no question of his commitment to historic Christianity and the authority of the Bible. Mulfinger writes that he was strictly orthodox in his Christian beliefs, and “was intolerant of preachers who spiritualized or allegorized important truths of the Bible rather than accepting them at face value.”

Robert Boyle Though he remained within the Anglican church, he was a Puritan at heart, supportive of the nonconformists who had left the state church; he even supported some financially and had many Puritan friends. Boyle studied the Scriptures in the original languages and accepted the Genesis accounts as literal, historical truth. His faith was well reasoned and not traditional, refined in the furnace of dealing with intellectual doubt, as was surely a trial any must face in an intellectual climate. But he knew even as a young man that doubt was a refining fire: “He whose Faith never doubted,” he stated in 1647, “may justly doubt his faith.” That his faith passed the refinement crucible to the point of reasoned commitment was made clear when he said, “I am not a Christian, because it is the religion of my country, and my friends, when I chuse to travel in the beaten road, it is not, because I find it is the road, but because I judge it is the way.” Perhaps in hindsight the Puritan members could have taken stronger steps to steer the Royal Society away from compromise. They did oppose the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, and most of its members were godly men: John Wilkins, the first secretary, was similarly convinced of the authority of Scripture, and over half were Puritans.

Robert Boyle Nevertheless, its purpose was to promote experimental science, not theology. The unintended consequence of any institution that seeks to uncover truth apart from a prior commitment to Christian revelation is that it will never be content to stay within the bounds of observable and repeatable phenomena. It will want to explain everything, even First Causes, by natural means. Eventually, it becomes a substitute religion, arrogating to itself the right to explain all that is, was and ever will be. The Royal Society charter, God-fearing as it is, makes the hidden assumption that unregenerate men are perfectly capable of discerning truth, without having a commitment to the One who is the way, the Truth, and the Life. It presumes an incomplete Fall, treating the mind as unaffected. Given those assumptions, human pride resulting from sin will generate a science that refuses to accept its limitations and moral flaws. It gives Satan a handle to turn an honorable thing into a tool of skepticism. The end result is seen in papers published in today’s Philosophical Transactions that seek to explain the evolution of morals and the origin of the universe from nothing. It leads to arrogant addresses by its officers that “science” is superior to Christian faith.

Robert Boyle In those first decades, however, the Royal Society was blessed by the virtuous Christian testimony and reasoned faith of Robert Boyle. His integrity was impeccable. Throughout his life, Boyle was humble, gracious, prayerful, and peace-loving. He was conscientious to a fault, even stopping to pause respectfully before mentioning the name of God. He was adamantly intolerant of swearing. Never physically robust, it is remarkable how productive he was. His secret powerhouse was passionate love of God and fascination with creation. Boyle’s pastor described him in these words: “His great thoughts of God, and his contemplation of his works, were to him sources of continual joy, which never could be exhausted.” Apparently this is part of the reason he never married, along with his distaste for the abuse of marriage that was prevalent among men of his day. Instead, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to his work. Furthermore, he was strong supporter of foreign missions; For years, he financially supported Christian missionaries and Bible translations to the far east, to the Irish (those who had robbed his father’s lands), and to the Indians across the sea in the thriving American colonies. He lived frugally, but gave profligately.

Robert Boyle His zeal for spreading the good news of Jesus Christ was matched by his zeal against atheism. To him, science never rated even a close second to Christian faith in importance. He said, “For I, that had much rather have men not philosophers than not Christians, should be better content to see you ignore the mysteries of nature, than deny the author of it.” (By atheism, Boyle did not mean just philosophical denial of God, which was less common in his day, but the practical atheism that makes even a believer live as if there was no God.) In his will, he established a fund for a series of eight lectures, to be given once a year, for the defense of the historic Christian faith against atheism, and the demonstration of the superior reasonableness of Biblical Christianity against any philosophy or arguments of critics and skeptics. The “Boyle Lectures,” as they came to be known, continued for many years. In his writings, Robert Boyle advanced the study of the relationship between the Christianity and science. His words are well-reasoned, profound and enlightening. He did not fall into the trap of relegating the Bible to matters of morals and faith alone; without qualification, he applied II Tim. 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” to the entire Bible, including Genesis.

Robert Boyle Furthermore, he believed in verbal inspiration, meaning that God’s revelation was contained in the very words, not just the meaning, of the text (the latter view opening the door to unlimited human paraphrasing.) This drove him to study the ancient languages to understand the primitive sense of the original words, especially for passages that, in English translation, presented difficulties. In approaching difficulties, Boyle recognized that the Bible’s purpose was not to provide quantitative scientific descriptions of the natural world like a textbook. Using this interpretive framework, he dealt forthrightly with issues of when to evaluate a passage as poetry or narrative, and when it should be treated as descriptive vs. prescriptive. He followed Calvin’s teaching on accommodation, that the Holy Spirit used language appropriate to the common man, not specialists. The Bible contains easily-understood phrases such as the rising and setting of the sun, using the language of appearance instead of quantitative, technical description.

Robert Boyle Thus, passages that seemed to teach geocentricity could be understood as figures of speech without sacrificing verbal inspiration. As such, Boyle is a good model for today’s Christian virtuosi who desire to advance science without sacrificing Biblical authority. Michael Hunter, a Boyle historian and compiler of his voluminous output, is impressed with the depth and breadth of his thinking on these subjects: Boyle’s major preoccupation was the relationship between God’s power, the created realm, and man’s perception of it, a topic on which he wrote extensively. ... Boyle laid stress on the extent to which God’s omniscience transcended the limited bounds of human reason, taking a position that contrasted with the rather complacent rationalism of contemporary divines .... He also reflected at length on the proper understanding of final causes, and in conjunction with this provided one of the most sophisticated expositions of the design argument in his period. Boyle’s significance for the history of science depends almost as much on the profound views on difficult issues put forward in these philosophical writings as it does on his experimental treatises.

Robert Boyle Hunter goes on to describe the intense hostility Boyle expressed against any “views of nature that he saw as detracting from a proper appreciation of God’s power in his creation.” These included lengthy published arguments against Aristotelianism and the materialism of Thomas Hobbes, “despite his professed disinclination to involve himself in philosophical disputes.” On the positive side, the titles of some of Boyle’s books hint at their rich contents: Some Considerations touching the Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy; Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Receiv’d Notion of Nature; The Excellency of Theology, Compar’d with Natural Philosophy, Discourse of Things Above Reason, Disquisition about the Final Causes of Natural Things, and especially, The Christian Virtuoso. “In these,” Hunter writes, “Boyle made a profound contribution to an understanding of what he saw as the proper relationship between God and the natural world, and man’s potential for comprehending this.”It is enriching to read Boyle’s own words on the relation of science and Scripture.

Robert Boyle Among the wealth of words we could quote in closing, perhaps the most succinct is the best. It states clearly and simply the reason a Christian should be a virtuoso, which in his time meant a lover of knowledge (a synonym for natural philosopher or scientist). It echoes a familiar theme, a motivation stated by many science-loving Christians from the early middle ages on into the 21st century. Boyle encapsulates it in only ten words: “From a knowledge of His work, we shall know Him.”

Historical Witness from Scientists-3 历代科学家的见证-3

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