Science and Faith

Have you ever encountered the idea that belief in God and acceptance that the theory of evolution hold some truth are diametrically opposed?  Have you ever spoken to a scientist who seemed to be "above" faith in God?  Do you think science and faith are mutually exclusive?

I love exploring the world through the eye of science.  I enjoy playing with the math of physics as it calculates the force of an object striking the ground.  I stood in awe of the possibilities of snipping genes in a bacteria and sequencing their make-up.  How fascinating is it that cells in our eyes can detect light and transform the photons into electrical energy to travel up a nerve to the brain -- and then! - and then our brains turn the electrical energy into thought as we marvel at the blue of an ocean while listening to the sounds of the waves.  Science is fascinating.

I love digging into my faith, reading biblical texts and then enriching my understanding of them by reading what others have written and engaging in conversations about the texts with other believers.  I relish handing someone a piece of communion bread and telling him that it is a gift of God.  I am strengthened when I listen to others speak about their encounters with the living God.  I believe in God, and am nurtured by expanding my faith.

I don't compartmentalize those two aspects of myself.  They are entwined together, each part of myself enhanced by the other.

I'm still reading Ortbertg's book about the Inescapable Jesus.  Did you know:
1.  According to Konrad Burdack, the Renaissance was not in opposition to Christian religions but instead grew out of the "vitality of religious revival"?
2.  Technology was developed because Jesus taught there is a difference between work and toil.  Using "creative reason to liberate people from toil is part of the redemptive work of Jesus."
3.  Science fundamentally arose because of a belief that God is a rational God.  Why study something that is a random accident?

Jesus told his disciples to love God with all they are, including their minds.  Kepler wrote, "God, like a Master builder, has laid the foundation of the world according to law and order.  God wanted us to recognize those laws by creating us after His image so that we could share in His own thought."  The study of science is pursuing the thoughts of God.

When we look at evolution, we see God's road map for creation.  We are seeing God's work in the world, and it is indeed fascinating.

I am a biologist.  I am a theologian.  I am a child of God.