Ask just about anyone -- Christian or not -- and they'll almost certainly agree with this idea: "Science has nothing to say about faith, and faith has nothing to say about science." Even if you're not an anti-theist -- someone dedicated to fighting Christianity -- you'll likely agree that science and faith don't mix. For most that's just fine. Science is about the natural world and faith is about the supernatural world and never the twain shall meet. You science folks go right ahead with whatever you want to do and we "believers" will keep our faith inside our private lives. That's good, thanks.
The problem, of course, is that it's wrong. It's wrong in multiple ways. Let's look at a few.
Modern science actually got its start from religion. Christians like Copernicus, Descartes, and Hobbes believed that if an Intelligent Being created the universe (you know, like the Bible says), then it would likely be logical. They believed they were "thinking God's thoughts after Him." Science and religion were working in harmony. They would have been confused by the assertion that the two -- faith and science -- have nothing to do with each other.
A second problem emerges because of the issue of premises. Today, science is premised on philosophical materialism. Science presupposes that all things in nature occur by purely natural, mechanistic means. In fact, science today militantly defends that position against any suggestion of the supernatural. They claim that it would undermine science itself. Note, however, that it is a premise, not a finding. It is a philosophy, not experimental data. It is a presupposition, not a result. As such, it is ... faith.
The third problem is for Christians. We believe that God created all things, that He sustains all things, and that all things are for Him. Then ... we cut out "science" and say, "Well, almost all." This, of course, is irrational nonsense. We either must believe that "all" in those premises means "all" including science or we must ... well, radically modify who God is. There aren't any other options.
The other difficulty that occurs here is one of values. By putting "faith" (and its resulting "values") in the "personal and private" realm and "science" in the realm of "natural" and necessarily apart from God, we actually devalue values. If you argue, in fact, as so many in the realm of science do, that all things are produced by natural, physical means, then you have to concur that human beings are produced by natural, physical means. "Yeah? So? That's exactly what we're arguing." If we are produced by natural, physical means, then human beings are simply bio-chemical bags operated by meat computers that we quaintly refer to as "brains". They're natural derivations running on millions of years of nature's programming. Like a computer, we might have the appearance of actual thought or feeling or will, but it's an illusion. Like the "supernatural" and "faith", "values", "morality", "ultimate purpose" and all that are, ultimately, lies, a myth we tell ourselves to make us feel better. It's a useful lie, likely very necessary, and we should keep it around, but it is a lie.
The final problem is for Christians as well. You see, it's not ... Christian. A biblical worldview starts with God as Creator. Human origins are defined as coming from God. In fact, they're defined in historical terms, not merely an abstraction. A biblical worldview sees the question "Why is there so much evil in the world?" as a viable question with an actual answer -- the Fall. The obvious follow-up question, "What can be done about it?", also finds an answer in a biblical worldview. A mechanistic worldview ultimately has no suggestion for actual origins, no answer for evil (or even the option of allowing for it), and no means of correcting for it. Christians, on the other hand, point to a historical event called "The Resurrection" and say, "That is an answer to the problem."
Many Christians, steeped in the world's perceptions, think that they can save Christianity from an apparent conflict with Science by disconnecting from Science. The result, however, is that none of your values count, none of your faith is real, and none of what you have to say can actually be taken seriously to a world built on an a priori faith that accepts naturalism as its god. On the other hand, the Bible suggests that Science -- all that is -- has its origins in God. If this is true, faith informs science and God isn't "a personal place", but the starting place of all of life's pursuits, values, and meaning.
1 comment:
Well as a scientist and a Christian, I can say that my scientific discoveries and things that I've learned through science only strengthen my faith and belief that God created everything, and that He sustains it by the word of his power. It just doesn't make sense to me otherwise. There is too much complexity to have arisen spontaneously, an event which flies in the face of very fundamental 'laws' of physics. What is lacking in modern science these days is a humility and acknowledgement that science cannot answer all questions, and specifically cannot answer origins type questions. Science is great at examining what we have in front of us in creation, but lousy at speculation and examination of events that happened long ago or at far distances. Just look at the margins of error for those types of measurements! Really ridiculous when you think about it, so for so many people to pin their entire worldview on them is just, well, silly in my opinion!
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