The Freedom of Christianity and the Bondage of Materialism

My gratitude to G.K. Chesterton for this point.

"Free-thinking" atheism or naturalism is really nothing of the sort. By affirming naturalism/materialism (which claims that the physical is all there is) one must by definition reject many claims which a supernaturalist would be able to evaluate evidentially. Just as a determinist must reject even a single event which falls outside of strict causal laws but an indeterminist can accept any number of determined events, so a materialist must reject even a single supernatural occurrence out of hand. The supernaturalist, at the same time, can reject any number of supernatural claims, but retains the freedom to accept those which he or she has good reason to think true.

As such, there is really more intellectual freedom in supernaturalist Christianity than in atheistic materialism. For example, suppose there is a set of propositions S which consists of claims of miracles or supernatural events. Suppose there is also a set of propositions N which consists of claims of material or natural events. The materialist must evaluate set N on the basis of facts, likelihood, etc. and, perhaps, assent to propositions N1, N2, and N4 but reject N3 as having insufficient basis for belief. The materialist must, by definition reject all propositions in set S without consideration. He or she is constrained by their philosophy.

The supernaturalist must evaluate set N in the same way as the materialist, and will, say accept the same propositions N1, N2, and N4 but reject N3. But rather than uncritically reject the propositions S1...S4, he or she is free to evaluate them on the basis of evidence and accept those which seem credible. For example, to accept S1 and reject the rest.