Science + Religion Part 1

Instructions

Over the past few centuries, the question of should science and faith coexist has been discussed and debated. Most people will find themselves in one camp or the other; however, throughout this article the importance of having a blend of both will be explored. Because of the Christian faith, modern science was birthed and can do what it can do and that is to experiment and explore the natural world and because of the freedom that modern science has, it will be seen that all of its evidence points to God. Science and faith. Two worldviews that at the surface appear to be totally at odds with one another, there appears to be a gap between them. People like Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins who are famous Atheists write books and speak into this gap, the difference between science and faith.1 However, throughout the history of modern science, the evidence points to God. This points to the reason for both science and faith to exist together. John Haught, an American Theologian, says that “If Science and theology are supposed to be addressing different sets of questions, it makes no sense to claim that one has defeated the other.”2 Haught's statement here opens up the possibility that science and faith address different questions, and because they answer different questions, we need them both. Science tells us that things have order and how and faith tells us who and why he ordered it3. They address different questions, and the fathers of modern science knew that. The Protestant Reformation4 in the 16th century where people were encouraged to not just blindly follow instructions of institutions like the Roman Catholic Church but to discover things themselves, especially the bible.5 Because of the reformation era scientists such as Galileo rose up. Galileo is known for his sun centric solar system model. His model changed the way we view our solar system forever, but Galileo was also a devout Christian. From a surface level, it can appear that the Church opposed Galileo's work; this helps with the argument that science and faith do not belong with each other. However, that is not exactly what happened. The Church funded Galileo’s work.6 This shows unity between science and faith. Other great Christians in the history of modern science are Francis Bacon, Johann Kepler, Blaise Pascal, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz.7 If we look at more contemporary scientists, John Houghton and Francis Gollin are great examples.8 What is interesting to note, is that in 1996 40% of scientists were Christians and 15% agnostic9. Also, another interesting thing to point out is between the years 1900 and 2000 over 60% of Nobel Prize winners have confessed they are Christians.10 Throughout history, Christianity played a role in science and has found its roots in a Christian perspective on nature.11 Christianity has influenced the intellectual landscape in which modern science arose.12 Kenneth Sample, an American author, says: “Modern science was a latecomer on the scene, emerging in Europe in the 17th century. Why didn't it come forth sooner? Not every culture subscribes to a worldview conducive of science. The foundational, philosophical thinking in many historic cultures inhibited progress toward a scientific outlook. Though several great civilizations of the ancient world (Mesopotamia, India, China, Egypt, Greece) developed some significant technological achievements and in small ways contributed to prescientific thinking, these early societies lacked the philosophical framework necessary to birth the experimental enterprise known as today's modern science because they lacked the experimental and testing emphases so central in modern western science, the foundation of which comes from the Christian worldview.13” His statement speaks of the truth. A truth that no other worldview wanted to experiment to understand their world the ways Christians do. The reason being is that Christians wanted to know their creator more. Their worldview was to prove the majesty of God. The way they proved that their evidence pointed to God was to look at creation itself. Thomas Hubble whom the Hubble Telescope was named after stated that anything that begins to exist, it has a cause. The universe began to exist; therefore, it has a cause.14 It is that cause that people try to disprove. Christians believe that it is God who caused it, but Atheists say that it was the big bang theory, which was a theory in the 1920s that Georges Lemaitre, a Belgian Roman Catholic Priest, as well as a physicist and astronomer, came up with this theory.15 The best way to discuss the existence of God is to discuss the fine-tuning argument. What is the fine-tuning argument? Fine-tuning refers to how the conditions that allow for a life-permitting universe can only occur when fundamental constants of the physical universe lie within a very narrow range of variables.16 Life did not just happen by chance, but it happened by a creator or designer.