Science and Faith

Has science affected how we approach the topic of God? How so, or if not, why not?

 

I think for some, science is seen as a threat to faith. For example, if science hypothesizes that the world was not created in seven days, and I believe that the world was literally created in a week, then science is a threat to faith. If this is true, then I can’t admit that any science might contain truth.

 

As a person who was trained as a scientist, I see science as a descriptor of the work of God. I don’t need to protect my faith from science – I can see the work of God in the theories of science.  My faith tells me of God, and of God’s character.  Science is more of a technical study.  For instance, when comparing the stories in Genesis and the theory of evolution, I can hear the truth in the Bible that God created the world and God declared it to be good. In science, I might see some of the how, but the Genesis truth gives it meaning.

 

Frederick Buechner's said that comparing words of science and faith is like comparing the work of a podiatrist to that of a poet. A podiatrist would describe fallen arches, and the poet would describe how a woman walks in beauty. Both are true - but which you choose depends on the truth you are looking for.

Course: Methodist Identity: Beliefs

 

God's Brushstrokes: Science

My college education - both undergraduate and graduate - is in the field of biology.  I worked 20 years in medical research before moving to my current position with The Foundation.  I am a scientist, and I am a person of faith.  I've never found that to be a contradiction.

For me, if God is the painter, then science is the study of the paint strokes.  A person can be an atheist and study science, but I don't think a person can  declare faith in God but reject science.  To do so would be to replace God's handiwork with one's own "story" of how God works in the world.  It is a rejection of the opportunity to move closer to the work of God. 

When I worked in the lab, I was always in awe of the idea of that I was adding reagents and enzymes to a small tube and the result was that DNA was snipped and proteins were captured (not in the same tube).  It was amazing to me.  The intricacies of how the DNA and the cell and the tissue and the organ and the body worked was and still is an amazing reflection of the creativity of God, and that is only enhanced by knowing the a tiny twisted ladder of nucleotides controlled it all.

For me, when I read the two creation stories in Genesis, I don't care how many days it took in the story for God to create the world.  In fact, it is not the purpose of the story to tell the how.  The purpose of the story is to explain THAT God created the world, THAT God created humankind, THAT God created you and me, out of a wonderful and boundless imagination, stamped with God's own reflection, even amid our diversity.  Evolution?  For me it is a wondrous brushstroke in the painting.

I heard the other day that we don't "believe" in science.  That's true.  Science is the study of fact.  What is it? How does it work? How does it relate to something else? Fact.  My belief is in God, and that is strengthen by the knowledge of the facts. Science doesn't lead me to reject God; science brings me closer to God.

Please remember, as we move closer to the reality and the hope of a world vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19, that we need science in order to  love our neighbors best.  Please be open to seeing God's brushstrokes in the work and advice of scientists as they tell us the facts.

 

To Protect

 I was on an elevator the other day, and it stopped on a floor to pick up a passenger.  The man asked if he could ride, and I said yes, but he wasn't wearing a mask.  He stepped on; I stepped off, and the elevator went up without me. 

When I ride an elevator, I am not alone.  With me is my husband, and my mother, and my boys, and the people with whom I work - all of those who are in my bubble.  What I do can impact them.  I try not to be rude, but I do get frustrated with those who choose not to wear a mask or keep their distance.  I don't want to get sick, but I really don't want those I mentioned to get sick because of something I did or didn't do that failed to protect them from me. 

Who do you love? Who do you want to protect? Can you allow that love to be your motivation for wearing the mask and following the guidelines given to us by scientists?   Masks help.  Distance helps.  Hand-washing helps (I hope you were already doing that!).  If they help, then I will do them, without excuse and without (much) complaint.  To protect them.

Science and Faith

I am a scientist. I have a masters degree in biology and I worked for 20 years in medical research. I loved to snip DNA and reassemble it, to measure the amount of a particular protein in sample, and to design experiments using scientific method to test a hypothesis. 

I am a minister. I see the grace of God in the world around me - in the beauty of the trees, in the laughter of children, in the way one person reaches out to help another. I believe in creator, savior and sustainer. 

On top of that, I believe the theory of evolution is the human's way of describing the miracle of creation, and I see the wonder of God in a test tube of deoxyribonucleic acid. 

I see no conflict between science and faith - unless we place one there ourselves. 

I was particularly struck this morning reading Frederick Buechner's words about science and faith. He said that comparing words of science and faith is like comparing the work of a podiatrist to that of a poet. A podiatrist would describe fallen arches, and the poet would describe how a woman walks in beauty. Both are true - but which you choose depends on the truth you are looking for.

When we try to reduce the words of the Bible to science, we are reducing the word of God to the words of man. Science is our way of describing the natural world. In the Bible, God has given us more than that. We don't need the Bible to tell us about dinosaurs - science can and does do that. We need the Bible to help us to begin to attempt to understand that which we cannot understand - the creator. It may be that poetry or story is the best way to do that; it wasn't meant to be a science book. It is a book of faith - and we need that so much more!

Proof?

Sorry to have been missing for a few days.  It was a very busy week, and I'm heading into another busy one.  I'll try to post this week, but if I'm not here, know that I'll be back soon.

Mike Slaughter's, in his book, Renegade Gospel, wrote about a scientist named Francis Collins.  Dr. Collins was the leader of the Human Genome Project.  The goal of the project was to map all of the base pairs in the human genome and to identify and map all of the human genes.  Fascinating and wonderful stuff:  Collins wrote the book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.  Slaughter quotes Collins:

It took me a while to get comfortable sharing this experience with other peope in science.  I was happy to talk about it with my family and with other people who were not in the scientific arena.  But like most scientists, I had this fear that having accepted something in the way of a spiritual world view, I would be perceived as having gone just a little bit soft; that this was not compatible with the rigorous "show me the data" attitude that a scientist is supposed to have towards all things.

Now, I might say that particular conclusion is, in itself, all wrong.  There will never be a scientific proof of God's existence.  Science explores the natural, and God is outside the natural.  So there is going to be no substitute for making a decision to believe, and that decision will never be undergirded by absolute data-driven proof.

So often I hear people say, "When I look at the sunrise, I wonder how anyone cannot believe in God. How could this be so beautiful without having been a creation of God?"  Really, though, I don't believe a beautiful sunrise is proof of God.  Don't get me me wrong; I look at a sunrise, and I am inspired by God's creative power, and yet, I know that it is my faith that allows me to see it.  It is not proof of God.

When I worked in the lab, I was fascinated with the intricacies of how our bodies work.  The idea of the chemical deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) coding our cells with the instructions to function was amazing to me.  Still is amazing to me.  In it, I can see the wonder and majesty of God.  And yet, I know I see that beauty because I already believe.  It is not proof.

You must believe without proof, and then you will see God everywhere.

Science and God

In reading Mike Slaughter's book, Renegade Gospel, I found a wonderful quote from Dr. Francis S. Collins, the head of the Humane Genome Project.

The purpose of this project was to map out and sequence the entire genome of the human species. When I worked in medical research, this was a fascinating idea to me, full of potential for scientific advancement and medical breakthroughs, and I still feel that way.

I imagine Dr. Collins is a very scientifically oriented person. What might surprise some is that he also wrote the book The Language of God.  He argues, "belief in God can be an entirely rational choice and that the principles of faith are, in fact complementary with the principles of science."  Slaughter says that Collins called the sequencing of the human genome, "both a stunning scientific achievement and an occasion of worship."

In a society where we so often think science and faith are opposites that should never mix, this is a breath of fresh air.  And it rings of truth. Science is God's art, and the study of it is an occasion for us to delve deeper into the ways of God.  I am a scientist and a lay minister, and I find those two parts of me are actually so intertwined as to be one.  They do not contradict each other but instead enhance each other.

For those who feel differently, I urge you to have a stronger faith that is not threatened by science. Science reveals God in a way that would please God, I believe.

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.