1967 Geloof en Wetenschap : Orgaan van de Christelijke vereeniging van natuur- en geneeskundigen in Nederland - pagina 90

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WILLEM KUYK

translated purely in human terms can not be meaningful for man. Their conclusions show clearly what consequences pragmatist reflection on the existence of God leads to, if one allows one's thinking to grow beyond the boundaries it is biblically confined to (compare C. S. Peirce's concept of the „holy spirit" of science*) 5)). Let it be emphasized that, basically, it is not so much a scientific finding that leads those theologians to a renewed investigation of the biblical language, as that they apply basic (but limited) linguisticalphilosophical theories to revamp Scriptures into a system acceptable by the modern mind. For instance, Paul Van Bvuren ^) concludes to the death of God, by applying semantical criteria (a la Wittgenstein) to the propositions of theology, in order to find their cognitive value. Thus, he finds the word „God" to be a noncognitive expression telling something about human attitudes and viewpoints only. Consequently he deletes the word „God" from theology because this word suggests, historically, the existence of a being, God, independent of human attitudes and viewpoints. In this way Van Buren's theology becomes a solution to a basic conflict that, he believes, exists between verifiable human experience (in a special semantical sense), and that which traditional Christian faith purports to be true (the existence of God), but which falls outside the scope of positive verification. The latter type of conflicts pertaining to the Bible now, have to be distinguished sharply from the ones arising when science limits itself to its proper territory. If, for instance scientific methods show that there is a difference in style between two parts of the book of Isaiah, or, for that matter, if the natural sciences find that man is probably millions of years old, then there is good reason to study these matters closer, and reshape older views regarding Isaiah and Genesis accordingly. However, such a re-interpretation should never be the result of guess-work and if there remain uncertainties and points of contention then the possibility of an error should be granted. In the third place mention should be made of the Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship, which, originally an organization operating on British campuses, extends nowadays throughout the five continents. The author has come to see that the Intervarsity is a body which has the very true features of the New Testament Church. Composed of students and staff of various faculties its primary task is witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is often done with an ardour and daring which reminds us of that of the apostles. Recruiting its membership from a variety of denominations, it considers the academic and

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