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Dialogue 7(3):8-10 (1995). --- Reproduced here with permission and the accompanying acknowledgements at the end.
He was the first to use the telescope to study the skies. He was the
first to discover the moons of Jupiter, the first to announce spots on the sun, the first
to realize that the Milky Way is made up of myriad stars and to suggest that the moon is
mountainous. He was also one of the first to say that Ptolemy was wrong and Copernicus was
right: The earth did revolve round the sun, not vice versa.
These announcements brought Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), one of the
founders of modern experimental science, into conflict with the established church. The
Jesuits saw in his teaching the worst consequences for the Church of Rome. The old
scientist was tried and forced against his will to recant his teachings. He did so, but
was reported to have said under his breath, "But the earth does move." More than
350 years later, in 1992, Pope John Paul II stated that errors were made in condemning
Galileo.
The case of Galileo is perhaps the best-known illustration of the
tension between science and religion. There were others before and since, but whenever the
topic of science and Christianity is discussed, warfare and conflict come to mind. Andrew
Dickson White even published A History of the Warfare of Science With Theology in
Christendom in 1896.
Science in a Christian culture
Although tension marks the relationship between Christianity and
science, it is often over emphasized. Indeed as some historians of science have argued,
modern science could have developed only in a culture with a Christian worldview.1
Christians believe in a personal God who is independent of His creation. For
animism or pantheism, however, nature is god — less than personal, but more
than inanimate matter governed by abstract laws. Scrutinizing its secrets would be a
fearful undertaking.
Christians believe in an all-powerful God who created ex
nihilo and is in control of nature. Thus, nature is expected to be governed by exact
(mathematical) laws. God was free to create in any way He chose, and since His ways are
not our ways, our logic is likely to be insufficient for understanding nature. We must
observe and experiment to determine how God created. God's power over creation is shared
with humanity (Genesis 1:28), so we are expected to study nature. In contrast, other
traditions have ideas independent of matter, leading to an imprecise, irrational world.
For example, in the Greek system, divine creative activity was limited to what man could
logically deduce from general principles; no experimentation was necessary.
Christians believe in a good God. His creation is good and
worthy of study. Humanity is part of God's good creation. Consequently science should be
used to benefit humanity by lightening toil and tedium, and by alleviating sickness
through various discoveries. Time is linear and life can be improved. This is in contrast
with other systems that see the world as imperfect and unworthy of careful study. Manual
labor, including that necessary for scientific discovery, was not respectable. Slaves were
expendable, since they did only menial work. Time was cyclic and life was a round of
routine.
Christians believe in a rational God whose creation is
predictable, reliable, and governed by laws. Man was created as a rational being and can
discover these dependable laws. The arbitrary nature of the gods of other religions,
however, would make the study of natural cause and effect relationships seem futile.
Within this context of a Christian worldview that promotes an openness
to study God's creation, there need be no conflict between genuine Christian endeavors and
scientific quests. Let us consider some of the great scientists, past and present, who
have also been committed Christians.
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) is an example of a pre-eminent
scientist who was also a devout believer.2 He developed theories of light and
of universal gravitation, and shared in inventing calculus. An interesting evidence of
Newton's religious experience is the list of some 50 of his past sins that he drew up in
1662, such as: "Threatning my father and mother Smith to burne them and the house
over them"; "Punching my sister"; "Calling Derothy Rose a jade";
"Having uncleane thoughts words and actions and dreamese"; "Making pies on
Sunday night"; "Swimming in a kimnel [a tub] on Thy day"; "Idle
discourse on Thy day and at other-times"; "Not turning nearer to Thee for my
affections"; "Not fearing Thee so as not to offend Thee".
According to John Locke, Newton had few equals in biblical knowledge.
Newton organized this knowledge methodically and made certain of his beliefs by setting up
well defined rules for interpreting the Bible. Newton believed that he was part of a
remnant, chosen by God to restore the interpretation of the Bible. He wrote books on Bible
prophecy and on biblical chronologies. He believed that the ancient texts provided science
information, including a description of a recent creation and catastrophic destructions.
Although it was not widely realized until this century, Newton held unorthodox Arian
beliefs that led him to consider the worship of Christ to be idolatry. Because of his
unorthodoxy he would not accept induction into a religious order at Cambridge and risked
surrendering his fellowship.
The Principia was Newton's synthesis of the new scientific world
view. In the General Scholium to the 1713 edition, he states that its purpose was to
establish the existence of God, to combat atheism, and to challenge the mechanical
explanation for the operation of the universe. When Richard Bentley gave the first of the
Robert Boyle Lectures to defend religion, he drew heavily on the work of Newton. Newton
believed that the universe requires an intelligent Creator, and that it is governed by
natural laws set up by God and preserved by supernatural acts of special providence.
Michael Faraday
The example of Michael Faraday (1791-1867) effectively refutes the
viewpoint that scientists are opposed to revealed theology.3 Faraday was a
leading scientist of his generation. He devised an electric motor, invented the electrical
transformer, discovered electromagnetic induction, introduced the field "lines of
force", proposed electromagnetic waves, and is now honored by having the unit of
capacitance named after him — the farad. He was also a fully committed Christian. As
Faraday told Ada, Countess of Lovelace, he belonged to "a very small and despised
sect of Christians, known, if known at all, as Sandemanians". He viewed his
Sandemanian membership as more important than his career in science.
The Sandemanians accepted the Bible as the basis for all action and as
the rule-book for church organization. Throughout their history the Sandemanians
endeavored to keep themselves distinct from all other religious groups in the belief that
they alone accurately followed the directions given in the Bible. Sandemanians emphasized
sobriety and moderation in worldly enjoyments. Admission to the church required
demonstration before the assembled congregation of one's faith in the saving grace of God
and one's commitment to live in imitation of Jesus Christ. Faraday did all these and
served the church as an elder.
In both his science and his religion, Faraday feared
"confusion" of any kind and had a strong need to order his environment. He was
cautious about the speculative interpretation of experimental facts, just as the
Sandemanians were careful to adhere to the literal word of the Bible. Sandemanian
"exhortations" consisted of carefully chosen Biblical passages strung together
with a minimum of connecting material, just as Faraday's scientific papers consisted of
carefully chosen descriptions of experimental facts strung together with a minimum of
speculative interpretation. His Christianity infused all aspects of his life —
spiritual, social, political, and professional.
Other examples from the past
Many other scientists were devout Christians. Johannes Kepler
(1571-1630), a German astronomer and mathematician, said that the doctrine of the Trinity
suggested to him the three-part heliocentric system of sun, fixed stars, and the space
between them.4 Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), a brilliant French mathematician to
whose work our computer world is much indebted, became a devout Christian in 1654 and
continually carried with him a description of that experience. He wrote numerous
devotional thoughts in his Pensé, such as: "God wishes to move the will
rather than the mind. Perfect clarity would help the mind and harm the will."5
Robert Boyle (1627-1691), the father of modern chemistry, was well
known for his piety and his scruples in matters of religion. This prevented him from
taking the oaths required of a president of the British Royal Society. In his will he left
an endowment for an annual lectureship to combat atheism.6 Nicolaus Steno
(1638-1686), a Danish geologist and anatomist, developed principles for describing
sedimentary rocks that are still used in geology today. In his later life he was ordained
a Catholic priest, gave all his possessions to the poor, and finally died from an ordeal
of poverty and fasting.7 The Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778),
founder of modern systematic biology and the binomial naming system, invoked the language
of Genesis 1 in his definition of species.8
Lord Kelvin [William Thomson] (1824-1907) believed that the dissipation
of useful energy is a universal feature as described in Psalm 102:26, "all of them
shall wax old like a garment." This theological concept aided him in developing the
second law of thermodynamics. On the same grounds, Kelvin believed that life proceeds only
from life, that it is a mystery and a miracle, and was designed and guided by a Creator
over long periods of time.9
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) summarized all of electricity,
magnetism, and optics in a few abstract field equations that still form the basis for
electromagnetic theory today. Similarly, his religious beliefs were conceived in somewhat
abstract terms after a deep seated and very personal faith commitment in 1853 that caused
him to come away from the established churches. Maxwell was sure that the basis of
religion did not lie in rationalist elaborations. He freely acknowledged that science
should never be considered a guide to religious truth: "The rate of change of
scientific hypothesis is naturally much more rapid than that of Biblical
interpretations."10
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) of France helped lay the foundation for the
germ theory of disease and preventive vaccination. He is well known for the pasteurization
technique named after him. His experiments helped disprove the idea that life can arise
from non- life. He believed there were two distinct domains in human beings: one science
and the other sentiment and belief, and "woe to him who tries to let them trespass on
each other in the so imperfect state of human knowledge." Pasteur might have given
himself up to what he called "the enchantment of Science", but he bowed before a
greater Power. "Positivism," he said, "does not take into account the most
important of positive notions, that of the Infinite."11
Present-day scientists
Although not often realized, many present-day scientists are also
believers. The German-born rocket engineer Wernher von Braun, was director of the Marshall
Space Flight Center in the 1960s and an administrator for planning at NASA headquarters
until 1972. In a book forward, he says: "I find it as difficult to understand a
scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the
existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances
of science. And there is certainly no scientific reason why God cannot retain the same
relevance in our modern world that He held before we began probing His creation with
telescope, cyclotron, and space vehicles."12
James Irwin formed the evangelical High Flight Foundation the year
after he walked on the moon. He later led a High Flight expedition searching for Noah's
Ark on Mt. Ararat. If he had been able to dialogue with God while on the moon, he would
have asked, "Lord, is it all right if we come to visit this place?" He thought
God would have answered, "It's all right as long as you give Me the honor."13
Walter Bradley is a Senior Research Fellow in mechanical engineering at
Texas A&M University who has received several million dollars in research grants.
During the past eight years he has lectured extensively on scientific evidence for the
existence of God at most of the major U.S. universities.14 Henry Schaefer, a
quantum chemist at the University of Georgia, is a five-time nominee for the Nobel Prize
and was recently cited as the third most quoted chemist in the world. U.S. News &
World Report (December 23, 1991) quotes him as saying, "The significance and joy
in my science comes in those occasional moments of discovering something new and saying to
myself, 'So that's how God did it.' My goal is to understand a little corner of God's
plan."
In a recent book, 60 leading scientists, including 24 Nobel
prizewinners, answered questions about science and God. One of them is Arthur Schawlow, a
professor of physics at Stanford University and a 1981 Nobel laureate in physics. He says,
"It seems to me that when confronted with the marvels of life and the universe, one
must ask why and not just how. The only possible answers are religious. . . . I find a
need for God in the universe and in my own life."15
Long ago, the Psalmist recorded a gem of inspiration: "The heavens
declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands" (Psalm 19:1,
NIV). Nature calls us to recognize its Creator and nature invites us to probe its
mysteries. Within the context of that call and that invitation, there need be no conflict
between biblical Christianity and science, between faith and reason. A scientist can
indeed be a Christian.
College and University Dialogue is an international journal of faith, thought,
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Notes and References
Additional Material
Nicolaus Steno
William Buckland
Arthur Stanley Eddington
Arthur L. Schawlow
Walter L. Bradley
Henry "Fritz" Schaefer III
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