Science and Faith
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use." -Galileo Galilei (as quoted here).
Recently, there has been this idea in our culture that science and religion are opposed; that either you can understand the world through reason or through faith, but not both. But this is a relatively recent idea that developed during the Enlightenment. In my opinion, it is also a false idea.
This debate is of great importance to me. On the one hand, I am a scientist of language, while on the other, I am a person of faith. Some people might assume, then, that I experience a great deal of cognitive dissonance--that I have two conflicting views that I need to juggle in my head. But although I do experience cognitive dissonance in some areas, this is not the case at all when it comes to science and faith.
Faith can inform science and science can inform faith, but faith has no place in the methods of science, because then it would no longer be science. Science follows a methodology whereby you test observable results, where faith is believing in something that is not observed.
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)
Although they are opposites, that does not mean that I cannot use both. Light and dark are opposites, but I prefer darkness when I am trying to sleep, and I prefer light when I am trying to read. They both have their uses. But it is not even the case that I am using either faith or science at a given moment. As I said earlier, faith can inform science and science can inform faith.
Newton provides a good example of someone for whom faith informed his scientific discoveries. Sir Isaac Newton, of course, is famous for his scientific discoveries, especially the theory of gravity. However, he also wrote a lot about faith; he apparently wrote more about theology than he did about science and math, although his theological writings weren't available for a long time (source). Newton believed that the same God governed the movements of objects on earth as well as in outer space, and so reasoned that they would follow the same principles (source). This connection between what occurred among the stars and what occurred here on earth was a piece of his theory of gravity. Thus, his faith informed his science.
Likewise, science can also inform faith. One of the reasons I love the study of linguistics is because when I see the beautiful diversity, creativity, and complexity of the languages of the world, I can't help but be in awe of God. (For a brief post about how the character of God is revealed through the study of science, see here.)
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalm 19:1 NIV)
A good scientist, as one of my professors has taught me, doesn't expect to be right, but just tries to be wrong in an interesting way. If a research approach causes people to ask more questions, to look at an issue different, to dig a little deeper, that is a success. As scientists, we have as a task to untangle the unfathomable mysteries of the universe. Of course we will not solve it all on our own. Our individual contribution is just to take one more step in the journey, so that the next generation will know just a little bit more than we did. As such, science is best when we have people from all kinds of perspectives and backgrounds working on the same problem. This includes people from different scientific backgrounds, of course, but also different faith backgrounds.
Further Reading:
Isaac Newton's story
Interview with Francis Collins, a Christian, and director of the National Human Genome Research Institute
The Network of Christian Scholars at the University of Toronto
Recently, there has been this idea in our culture that science and religion are opposed; that either you can understand the world through reason or through faith, but not both. But this is a relatively recent idea that developed during the Enlightenment. In my opinion, it is also a false idea.
This debate is of great importance to me. On the one hand, I am a scientist of language, while on the other, I am a person of faith. Some people might assume, then, that I experience a great deal of cognitive dissonance--that I have two conflicting views that I need to juggle in my head. But although I do experience cognitive dissonance in some areas, this is not the case at all when it comes to science and faith.
Faith can inform science and science can inform faith, but faith has no place in the methods of science, because then it would no longer be science. Science follows a methodology whereby you test observable results, where faith is believing in something that is not observed.
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)
Although they are opposites, that does not mean that I cannot use both. Light and dark are opposites, but I prefer darkness when I am trying to sleep, and I prefer light when I am trying to read. They both have their uses. But it is not even the case that I am using either faith or science at a given moment. As I said earlier, faith can inform science and science can inform faith.
Newton provides a good example of someone for whom faith informed his scientific discoveries. Sir Isaac Newton, of course, is famous for his scientific discoveries, especially the theory of gravity. However, he also wrote a lot about faith; he apparently wrote more about theology than he did about science and math, although his theological writings weren't available for a long time (source). Newton believed that the same God governed the movements of objects on earth as well as in outer space, and so reasoned that they would follow the same principles (source). This connection between what occurred among the stars and what occurred here on earth was a piece of his theory of gravity. Thus, his faith informed his science.
Likewise, science can also inform faith. One of the reasons I love the study of linguistics is because when I see the beautiful diversity, creativity, and complexity of the languages of the world, I can't help but be in awe of God. (For a brief post about how the character of God is revealed through the study of science, see here.)
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalm 19:1 NIV)
A good scientist, as one of my professors has taught me, doesn't expect to be right, but just tries to be wrong in an interesting way. If a research approach causes people to ask more questions, to look at an issue different, to dig a little deeper, that is a success. As scientists, we have as a task to untangle the unfathomable mysteries of the universe. Of course we will not solve it all on our own. Our individual contribution is just to take one more step in the journey, so that the next generation will know just a little bit more than we did. As such, science is best when we have people from all kinds of perspectives and backgrounds working on the same problem. This includes people from different scientific backgrounds, of course, but also different faith backgrounds.
Further Reading:
Isaac Newton's story
Interview with Francis Collins, a Christian, and director of the National Human Genome Research Institute
The Network of Christian Scholars at the University of Toronto
Comments
Post a Comment