Do faith in God and science contradict? | Ask the Expert: Pastor Slayden with Friendship Baptist Church

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“Do faith in God and science contradict?”

Answer: Science is defined as “the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.” Science is a method that mankind can use to gain a greater understanding of the natural universe. It is a search for knowledge through observation. Advances in science demonstrate the reach of human logic and imagination. However, a Christian’s belief in science should never be like our belief in God. A Christian can have faith in God and respect for science, as long as we remember which is perfect and which is not.

Our belief in God is a belief of faith. We have faith in His Son for salvation, faith in His Word for instruction, and faith in His Holy Spirit for guidance. Our faith in God should be absolute, since when we put our faith in God, we depend on a perfect, omnipotent, omniscient Creator. Our belief in science should be intellectual and nothing more. We can count on science to do many great things, but we can also count on science to make mistakes. If we put faith in science, we depend on imperfect, sinful, limited, mortal men. Science throughout history has been wrong about many things, such as the shape of the earth, powered flight, vaccines, blood transfusions, and even reproduction. God is never wrong.

Truth is nothing to fear, so there is no reason for a Christian to fear good science. Learning more about the way God constructed our universe helps all of mankind appreciate the wonder of creation. Expanding our knowledge helps us to combat disease, ignorance, and misunderstanding. However, there is danger when scientists hold their faith in human logic above faith in our Creator. These persons are no different from anyone devoted to a religion; they have chosen faith in man and will find facts to defend that faith.

Still, the most rational scientists, even those who refuse to believe in God, admit to a lack of completeness in our understanding of the universe. They will admit that neither God nor the Bible can be proved or disproved by science, just as many of their favorite theories ultimately cannot be proved or disproved. Science is meant to be a truly neutral discipline, seeking only the truth, not furtherance of an agenda.

Much of science supports the existence and work of God. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” As modern science discovers more about the universe, we find more evidence of creation. The amazing complexity and replication of DNA, the intricate and interlocking laws of physics, and the absolute harmony of conditions and chemistry here on earth all serve to support the message of the Bible. A Christian should embrace science that seeks the truth, but reject the “priests of science” who put human knowledge above God.

Several years ago some scientists announced that they had been able to create artificial protein in the laboratory. Since protein is the basic building block of life, this achievement took the scientific world by storm. The Saturday Evening Post interviewed a number of scientists to get their reactions. Dr. Vincent Allfrey of the Rockefeller Institute, said, “This is the biggest story of the century.” A famous bio-chemist said, “This century will go down in history as the century when life ceased to be a mystery. Life is only chemistry.” One British scientist became so confident after this discovery that he said, “I now no longer find it necessary to believe in God.” But then the Post interviewed a Roman Catholic by the name of George Kelly. George Kelly said, “When a bio-chemist is able to create matter and energy out of nothing, then I would like to talk to him.

I read a fictitious story about a group of engineers, geologists, chemists, and scientists, who came together to try to answer the question, “Where did the universe come from?” They spent years compiling information, checking it and re-checking it. They fed all of their data into a gigantic super computer. The magic moment came when they had fed all of their knowledge, theories, and hypothesis and research into that computer, and they asked it the question, “Where did the universe come from?” Everybody gathered around; there was a holy hush in the laboratory. A button was punched, lights flashed, bells rang, relays opened and closed, and finally a typed message emerged: See Genesis 1:1.