Science vs Religion

**This is a combo summary of two weeks "Science has proven the Bible is a myth" (3/25) and "How can we know that God exists?"  (4/1) click here for sermon podcasts

The biggest point I want to make with this post is the title. It is science vs religion, not Christians vs Scientist and not Jesus against scientific proof and theory.

"One of the great tragedies of our time is this impression that has been created that science and religion have to be at war"

-Francis Collins

Let me give you my definition of religion- the laws and rules set by (wo)men trying to understand Jesus and the bible. So, fallible. Maybe not all ill willed, but up for debate.

That may be a broad definition, sorry.

When people try to pit religion and science against one another they are trying to get you to pick a side. But what if you don't want to. What if you believe, as I do, that our God created a beautiful world with complexities and miracles, with evolution (gasp) and dinosaurs, with quarks and forces, with unknowns. Can we need believe in science and Jesus?

"I see God's hand at work through the mechanism of evolution. If God chose to create human beings in his image and decided that the mechanism of evolution was an elegant way to accomplish that goal, who are we to say that is not the way."

-Francis Collins,  Human Genome Project

In this sermon, our pastor showed us how many of the stories in the old testament were paired with poems or songs. We read Genesis 1:1 and noticed how it is laid out with a very obvious refrain. "On the ____ day he.... and saw that it was good" And then how the following passages seem to describe creation in more detail without the refrains. Could it be the earth was not created in 6 literal days (gasp, unfriend, gasp some more).

Another thought that I love, because I love science and I love God, scientists have proven we are fearfully and wonderfully made. They have PROVEN it! Again from Francis Collins (sorry, he rocks):

"When you look from the perspective of a scientist at the universe, it looks as if it knew we were coming. There are 15 constants, gravitational, strong and weak forces etc, that have precise values. If any one of those was off by even one part in a million or in some cases by one million million, the universe could not have actually come  to the point were we see it. Matter would not have been able to coalesce, there would have been no galaxy, stars, planets or people."

WE ARE NOT AN ACCIDENT!!!! Evolution or quantum physics or whatever is not a meaningless chain of events.

Science proves God created this world for us. That comforts me. And this also leads me to worship. I think all this scientific proof leads to the unknown and spiritual as well. It's a cycle for me. I believe God created the heavens and the Earth---->Science can show me the amazing, unfathomable things he created, but it can't show me why------>I believe God created.....and so on and so forth. So, as much as I love the science, it cannot take away my faith, quite the contrary, it strengthens it. And I don't think everyone should feel like it is asking you to. I know there are people on both sides. I know there are scientists who want to prove there is no God. And I know there are faithful followers who are terrified science will take your God away.

Everyone breathe.

Dig deep in the scriptures, understand the context, understand the language of the day. This is something that drives me to a church family as well. Having a faith family that is open to discussion is helpful. And having pastor that you trust is studying the Greek and Hebrew, Old and New testament times etc. I didn't know the Old Testament paired stories with songs, but I didn't go to Bible college! (your mom goes to college...sorry I digress) 

I'm not saying you take what someone preaches from the pulpit as absolute truth all the time, I'm saying you should be in a church where you trust what the pastor is saying, or you feel comfortable debating him/her on. They should be backing it up with the Word. 

If you are intrigued, or disgusted, or angry let someone else who is WAY more informed help you out. Check out biologos.org here is their bag: (If you are skimming, as I do when I read blogs, I highlighted my favorite for the purpose of this argument)

What We Believe (Biologos)

• We believe that God created the universe, the earth, and all life over billions of years. God continues to providentially sustain the natural world, and the cosmos continues to declare the glory of God.


• We believe that all people have sinned against God and are in need of salvation.


• We believe in the historical incarnation of Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man. We believe in the historical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, by which we are saved and reconciled to God.


• We believe that God continues to be directly involved in human history in acts of salvation, personal transformation, and answers to prayer.


• We believe the Bible is the inspired and authoritative word of God. By the Holy Spirit it is the “living and active” means though which God speaks to the church today, bearing witness to God’s Son, Jesus, as the divine Logos, or Word of God.


• We believe that God also reveals himself in and through the natural world he created, which displays his glory, eternal power, and divine nature. Properly interpreted, scripture and nature are complementary and faithful witnesses to their common Author.


• We believe that the methods of science are an important and reliable means to investigate and describe the world God has made. In this, we stand with a long tradition of Christians for whom Christian faith and science are mutually hospitable.


• We believe that the diversity and interrelation of all life on earth are best explained by the God-ordained process of evolution and common descent. Thus, evolution is not in opposition to God, but a means by which God providentially achieves his purposes.


• We believe that God created humans in biological continuity with all life on earth, but also as spiritual beings. God established a unique relationship with humanity by endowing us with his image and calling us to an elevated position within the created order.


• We believe that conversations among Christians about controversial issues of science and faith can and must be conducted with humility, grace, honesty, and compassion as a visible sign of the Spirit’s presence in Christ’s body, the Church.


• We reject ideologies such as Deism that claim the universe is self-sustaining, that God is no longer active in the natural world, or that God is not active in human history.


• We reject ideologies such as Darwinism and Evolutionism that claim that evolution is a purposeless process or that evolution replaces God.


• We reject ideologies such as Materialism and Scientism that claim science is the sole source of knowledge and truth, that science has debunked God and religion, or that the physical world constitutes the whole of reality.

There is a ton more on the website, and a forum for discussions. 

Here are my two cents, God cannot be proven or disproven through the scientific method. But that doesn't mean he did not create a world and universe for us to discover and study. ( Hope we can still be friends)