Christian commentary has cited an “uneasy” relationship between believers and science since the days of Galileo and Darwin.[1] According to study results reported in 2014, just under half of evangelicals (and an even smaller percentage of the general public) saw science as capable of working in collaboration with religion.[2] That number may have dropped: More recent survey findings described political conservatives as more skeptical of science than previously thought—in some circles, so much so as to dismiss the field as a “liberal hobby.”[3] Many believers identify as politically conservative, meaning this may reflect views of Christians as well as non-believers. Basing our views on this type of political stereotyping, however, would be a mistake.
Science Started in a Christian Context
Despite the current perceived clash, science started in a predominately Christian context. This occurred even though other societies had “a higher level of learning and more advanced technology” at the time. [4] Scholars have cited the Christian worldview as providing fertile habitat for science to grow for several reasons. These include, among others, beliefs that God: (1) made a world that is real, good, orderly, and capable of study; and (2) endowed people with the capacity to study it.[5] Faith is also seen as supplying the motivation for scientific study—seeking to know God by studying His creation:
Up until the late eighteenth century, science was seen as a direct search for God.
Paul Brand & Philip Yancey, In His Image (Zondervan, September 1, 1997) at 1.
Science Can Still Support Our Faith
Presently, “[t]he study of quantum physics is actually causing some scientists to acknowledge there has to be a Creator, or at least some sort of intelligent design”[6]
For those who already believe, in a less recent development, the concept of “general revelation” continues to teach that although we need the specific revelation of the gospel to come to a saving faith, God reveals something of Himself in nature.[7]
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Romans 1:20
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork.”
Psalm 19:1 (AMPC)
Sermons or preaching therefore sometimes look to the function of natural laws, like gravity, to describe spiritual principles.
We Need to Be People of Principles
You may have heard people repeat with amazement information about discovery or images of the laminin molecule. The molecule is, or at least some versions of it are, shaped like a cross. Some seem to have found great meaning in that image, seeing it as science that points to God, because laminin functions to hold our bodies together.[8] They see parallels to Jesus, who “holds all creation together,” and through whom “God reconciled everything to himself.” Colossians 1:17-20 (NLT).
How can we find great meaning in a scientific discovery, however, if we simultaneously dismiss the entire discipline of science? Denying the value of a field as a whole inherently discounts that of any individual findings.
Taking such a conflicting posture could also call into question our integrity in people’s minds. For example, Christian author Phillip Yancy describes working at summer fellowship with scientists who he felt “seemed to have more integrity than the church folks who feared science as a great threat to faith.”[9]
The very idea of fearing science, to me, is not faith-boosting. Being able to learn about the natural world without the specter that science might cause me to question my faith, by contrast, feels freeing.
So Why the Conflict?
Authors have framed the true conflict as not between science and religion, but rather between materialism and theology.[10] As Wendell Berry puts it, a militant materialism rejects the existence of mystery, or even any sort of ambiguity or uncertainty.[11] Under its equation, “the unknown = the to-be-known.”[12] By denying any mystery beyond human knowledge, such materialism takes the scientist “out of the bounds of science” and into a form of religion.[13]
Science, ultimately, is a tool. Like so much else in a world still marked by effects of the fall, it can be intentionally put to good or bad ends:
We know that malevolence is always ready to appropriate the means that we have intended for good.
Wendell Berry, lIfe is a Miracle, at 11 (CounterPoint 2000).
Further, since the now-famous tobacco industry campaign of sowing doubt and claiming “‘controversy” in the face of “categorical research findings,” we now consider the potential role of public relations in distorting the state of science.[14] Conversely, fallible people may innocently make mistakes or embrace flawed theories, assigning weight we later realize was undeserved.
Finally, of course, as with so many other things, science can also be idolized. If that is the concern, from a faith-based perspective, our solution typically seems different in other areas. Rather than reject or decry a good or neutral thing, we can aim to put it in its proper place in our lives. Why would we believe we could not do the same with science?
*Yes, the topic did remind me of/the title does allude to, the 80s (Thomas Dolby) song.
[1] Where the Light Fell: An Interview with Philip Yancey – BioLogos
[2] Misconceptions of science and religion found in new study (rice.edu)
[3] https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/anti-science/us-political-conservatives-have-deep-unbudging-suspicion-science-survey-suggests
[4] Bruce Riley Ashford, Every Square Inch: An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians, at 76-77 (Lexham Press 2015).
[5] Id. at 79.
[6] Jane Hamon, Declarations for Breakthrough: Agreeing with the Voice of God, at 160 (Chosen 2021) (citing Jim Gerrish, Quantum Physics and Faith, Word of God Today, http://www.wordofgodtoday.com/quantum-physics-faith/); Ashford, supra Note 4, at 80-81.
[7] See, e.g. What is general revelation and special revelation? | GotQuestions.org; What is General Revelation? by Don Stewart
[8] Is the Laminin “Cross” Evidence for a Creator? – Reasons to Believe
[9] Where the Light Fell: An Interview with Philip Yancey – BioLogos
[10] Ashford, supra Note 4, at 80.
[11] Wendell Berry, Life Is a Miracle, at 27
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Inventing Conflicts of Interest: A History of Tobacco Industry Tactics – PMC