There's a big emphasis lately on the wedge that's constantly being driven between faith and science. It seems like people think you can only have one or the other (I've written about it a few times), and somehow if you cling to one you have to push the other away by default. I hear people talk about science in such strange ways, and it comes from people on both sides of the conversation--
"I don't trust science because it's just trying to take the place of God."
"It doesn't matter what you think, it's science and you have to trust science."
If you ask me, both statements are equally ignorant.
I'm a huge fan of science--I've spent a huge chunk of my life so far learning as much about it as I could (and cried way too many tears over the parts I didn't understand), and I'm one of those nerds who lights up when somebody asks me a question about it. Honestly, I get lost enough in answering that it usually takes me a while to realize that their eyes glazed over part way through my explanation...people who ask me physics questions don't typically want a physics lecture in response.
The thing is, in many ways science is no different from a hammer, a sword, or a pen--incapable of doing either good or evil by itself, but often used for both. You see, science is just a tool. It is an amazing tool that can be used to accomplish things we haven't even dreamed up yet, but it's still just something to be used.
A pen can be used to write truth or lies, which is why we're taught not to believe everything we read (though that seems to be something people are forgetting lately...). The same is true of science. It can be used to search for truth, or it can be used to perpetuate lies. Just because someone says, "It's science!" doesn't mean it should automatically be taken as true or right. Just like with what we read or hear, we need to learn to test what we're shown as science. We should study it and learn how to discern when it is being used well and when it is being used poorly. We should turn to people we trust, people who understand the science in question, people we know will be open and honest when answering our questions. That's what true science is about, after all--searching for answers and truth, not just accepting things at face value but digging deeper to gain more understanding.
The problem with science, then, is the problem that has been around since the beginning of time. In our humanity we take the things we have been given as tools and turn them into idols. There's a passage in Isaiah 44 that talks about a man cutting down a tree, using part of the wood to build a fire so he can warm himself and cook his supper, and then using part of it to carve a figurine of a god to worship. It's no different when we use science to come up with new technologies that allow us to harness solar energy, then turn to science for the answers to life's questions. The tool isn't the issue; as is always the case, the problem is with people.
God is the Creator of all--He measured the universe with the width of His hand and He set the stars in place. In Colossians, Paul tells us that it is through Christ that everything holds together. Yet it's so easy to get sucked into worshiping the wisdom and forgetting that God is the source of that wisdom. We turn to science for answers but ignore that God is the ultimate Scientist. He is the Creator of all the laws we struggle to understand. It's no better than choosing to make an idol out of a block of wood; God gave us science as a tool, something for us to use to help each other and to work toward a deeper understanding of Him. God is the source of all wisdom, and He wants to reveal that wisdom to us:
Science is an amazing tool. It can be used to do so many things, many of which we haven't even started to dream up. It has allowed us to make advances that have changed the world in amazing ways, to extend life through the invention of medications and procedures that have changed life as we know it. At the heart of science, though, is the Creator. When used correctly, science teaches us more about the One who had the wisdom to set everything into motion.
“But I do not feel obliged to believe that that same God
who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect
has intended to forgo their use and by some other means
to give us knowledge which we can attain by them.
He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters
which are set before our eyes and minds
by direct experience or necessary demonstrations.”
~Galileo
God is not limited by our imagination or our understanding. He is both the Creator of scriptures and the Creator of the universe, and He reveals Himself to us through both. As I've said before, it would be amazing to see what would happen if faith and science were used together.
"I don't trust science because it's just trying to take the place of God."
"It doesn't matter what you think, it's science and you have to trust science."
If you ask me, both statements are equally ignorant.
I'm a huge fan of science--I've spent a huge chunk of my life so far learning as much about it as I could (and cried way too many tears over the parts I didn't understand), and I'm one of those nerds who lights up when somebody asks me a question about it. Honestly, I get lost enough in answering that it usually takes me a while to realize that their eyes glazed over part way through my explanation...people who ask me physics questions don't typically want a physics lecture in response.
The thing is, in many ways science is no different from a hammer, a sword, or a pen--incapable of doing either good or evil by itself, but often used for both. You see, science is just a tool. It is an amazing tool that can be used to accomplish things we haven't even dreamed up yet, but it's still just something to be used.
A pen can be used to write truth or lies, which is why we're taught not to believe everything we read (though that seems to be something people are forgetting lately...). The same is true of science. It can be used to search for truth, or it can be used to perpetuate lies. Just because someone says, "It's science!" doesn't mean it should automatically be taken as true or right. Just like with what we read or hear, we need to learn to test what we're shown as science. We should study it and learn how to discern when it is being used well and when it is being used poorly. We should turn to people we trust, people who understand the science in question, people we know will be open and honest when answering our questions. That's what true science is about, after all--searching for answers and truth, not just accepting things at face value but digging deeper to gain more understanding.
The problem with science, then, is the problem that has been around since the beginning of time. In our humanity we take the things we have been given as tools and turn them into idols. There's a passage in Isaiah 44 that talks about a man cutting down a tree, using part of the wood to build a fire so he can warm himself and cook his supper, and then using part of it to carve a figurine of a god to worship. It's no different when we use science to come up with new technologies that allow us to harness solar energy, then turn to science for the answers to life's questions. The tool isn't the issue; as is always the case, the problem is with people.
God is the Creator of all--He measured the universe with the width of His hand and He set the stars in place. In Colossians, Paul tells us that it is through Christ that everything holds together. Yet it's so easy to get sucked into worshiping the wisdom and forgetting that God is the source of that wisdom. We turn to science for answers but ignore that God is the ultimate Scientist. He is the Creator of all the laws we struggle to understand. It's no better than choosing to make an idol out of a block of wood; God gave us science as a tool, something for us to use to help each other and to work toward a deeper understanding of Him. God is the source of all wisdom, and He wants to reveal that wisdom to us:
"Here's His objective: through the church,
He intends now to make known His infinite and boundless wisdom
to all rulers and authorities in heavenly realms."
Ephesians 3:10
Science is an amazing tool. It can be used to do so many things, many of which we haven't even started to dream up. It has allowed us to make advances that have changed the world in amazing ways, to extend life through the invention of medications and procedures that have changed life as we know it. At the heart of science, though, is the Creator. When used correctly, science teaches us more about the One who had the wisdom to set everything into motion.
“But I do not feel obliged to believe that that same God
who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect
has intended to forgo their use and by some other means
to give us knowledge which we can attain by them.
He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters
which are set before our eyes and minds
by direct experience or necessary demonstrations.”
~Galileo
God is not limited by our imagination or our understanding. He is both the Creator of scriptures and the Creator of the universe, and He reveals Himself to us through both. As I've said before, it would be amazing to see what would happen if faith and science were used together.
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~Mandy