Faith & Science

by ST–May 2024

Enlightenment vs Faith in God

The Enlightenment freed us from a superstitious belief in God as the explanation for whatever we don’t comprehend.  Science can explain more and more, so we don’t have to fall back on God or the miraculous for an explication of things.  Right? 

We understand the development of a fetus into a baby.  Yet does that make it any less miraculous?  Similarly, chromosomes, genes, the genome . . . all astounding, awe-inspiring, no matter how much we know about them.

I can’t personally prove that the sun will rise tomorrow.  I can’t entirely explain the wonders of the Universe; I take them on faith.  I have to believe that for the most part, scientists know what they are talking about, have done the work to find out, and are honest.  What is faith? 

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”    (Hebrews 11:1)  Is that “blind faith”?  We can’t see sub-atomic particles, but scientists see evidence of their existence.  There’s something substantial about that.  We hope for greater knowledge, and we pursue it.

Pursuing Enlightenment

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”  (Matthew 7:7-8).  In all the years I’ve studied the Bible, I don’t recall ever seeing a scripture saying, “Don’t ask”.  God is not afraid of our questions.  He invites us to look for answers, and I believe He often inspires people with solutions to the problems that vex them.   

Ask, seek, knock.  That is essentially the Scientific Method.  The scientist Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”   Science requires the curious mind, the questioning mind, the observant mind, the seeking mind, the reasoning mind, the theorizing, planning, experimental mind, as well as action (knocking at Nature’s door).  

God gave us those minds, those minds that are in His image.  Without faith that the Universe is reasonable, and that human reason can unlock its mysteries, we would not pursue enlightenment.  Note that a mystery is just something that is not commonly understood; as in Science, so in Faith.

Did God give us our minds, or did they evolve over millions of years?  While some say that belief in God is unreasonable, I ask, Is it any more reasonable that the Universe, as well as our minds, could have occurred by a long, long series of accidents?  Every tiny step has little chance of happening successfully (meaning survival, then replication), and the combination of millions (and more) of steps would be considered mathematically a statistical impossibility.

Humility vs Dogma

Both scientists and religionists tend to dogmatism.  It’s a human flaw, expressed in the wise saying, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” originally, “a little learning is a dangerous thing,” by Alexander Pope (1688-1744).  Many scientific theories have been taken (and preached) as fact, yet were later shown to be misleading, incomplete, or even false.  Remember the flat earth theory, the earth centrist theory? 

When a scientific theory is shown to be in error, scientists don’t give up on the Scientific Method, they double down on the research, asking better questions, seeking better reasoning/logic, looking for better answers and solutions.  Similarly, why give up on religion when certain religionists prove fallacious?  Not all religions, scientists, nor all teachers of such, are created equal (or rather, create themselves equally valid or valuable). 

We are children in our understanding of the Universe, and even of ourselves.  Hopefully we are growing, maturing–not only in knowledge, but in wisdom.   “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11)  Being childlike (humble, curious, eager . . .) and childish (self-willed, self-centered . . .) are not the same. 

Religion & Science

Are Religion and Science “at odds”, opposites?  They are both ways of seeking the Truth.  Each has its sphere.  But like a Venn Diagram, they are not mutually exclusive.  In fact, the more I learn through real science, the more I am impressed with God.  Science is not well-suited to explain intangible realities such as faith, love, and the purpose & meaning of life.  Like sub-atomic particles, science can observe effects, take surveys, yet these are very indirect ways to delve deeply into such important, essential questions of life. 

We can benefit from ages of acquired experience and thought, even that billed “revealed”.  We can admit that our minds are capable of comprehending and reacting to more than what we can directly experience or explain with our typical 5 senses (which take in data to help our minds make sense of the world).  We can look for Truth in every pursuit of life, and even when we are just living it.

What Came Before?

Some question, If God created all, where did He come from?  How did He come to exist?  But one could just as well ask, What was before the “Big Bang”?  How did the “Big Bang” come to be?  Just because we don’t know or understand everything, doesn’t mean we don’t know or understand anything.  It’s important to be humble; it’s also important to work with what we do know and understand, even when sometimes/often our knowledge & understanding are imperfect, incomplete.

The Problem of Evil

One of the charges brought against religion is that evil has been done in its name.  Unfortunately, every institution or idea is capable of corruption.  Corrupt, greedy humans corrupt any thing they can for the chance at fame, wealth, and power:  governments, armies, guilds & labor unions, trade/business/commerce, industry, educational institutions, even science, as well as religion. 

We’d all like to believe that scientists are utterly objective, not self-serving, but history has shown us differently.  Has no scientist ever defended his views for selfish reasons?  Has no evil been done in the name of science?  Nazi experiments are a well-known example; more recent examples are still so controversial and politicized, it would distract from my point to detail them.  Nevertheless, those examples still exist.

In Conclusion

Let’s not “throw the baby out with the bath”.  Evil exists, ignorance exists, but let’s not give in to them, nor refuse to do or to see good, nor be blinded by them.  Let’s keep seeking Truth, Beauty, and the Good, both through  Religion and Science.