What does God have to do with mathematics?
Everything.
In this book, Vern Poythress 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. 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 fascinating book lays a theistic foundation for all mathematical inquiry.
Vern S. Poythress (PhD, Harvard University; ThD, University of Stellenbosch) is professor of New Testament interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he has taught for nearly four decades. In addition to earning six academic degrees, he is the author of numerous books and articles on biblical interpretation, language, and science.
Author(s): Vern S. Poythress
Publisher: Crossway
Year: 2015
Language: English
Pages: 208
Tags: Mathematics;Religion;God;Christianity
Introduction: Why God?
Part 1: Basic Questions
1. God and Mathematics
2. The One and the Many
3. Naturalism
4. The Nature of Numbers
Part 2: Our Knowledge of Mathematics
5. Human Capabilities
6. Necessity and Contingency
Part 3: Simple Mathematical Structures
7. Addition
8. The Idea of What Is Next
9. Deriving Arithmetic from Succession
10. Multiplication
11. Symmetries
12. Sets
Part 4: Other Kinds of Numbers
13. Division and Fractions
14. Subtraction and Negative Numbers
15. Irrational Numbers
16. Imaginary Numbers
17. Infinity
Part 5: Geometry and Higher Mathematics
18. Space and Geometry
19. Higher Mathematics
Appendix A: Secular Theories about the Foundations of Mathematics
Appendix B: Christian Modifications of Philosophies of Mathematics
Appendix C: Deriving Arithmetic
Appendix D: Mathematical Induction
Appendix E: Elementary Set Theory