Science and Faith
One of the common criticisms made of Christianity by atheists is that faith is unscientific and even anti-scientific. Moreover, the general attitude in the media is that science and faith are totally unrelated. In this short article I will seek to show that this view is fallacious, and that far from being unscientific, the Bible actually provides the foundation for science.
The Basis for Science
The scientific enterprise has been of great benefit to mankind and if Christianity was anti-science that would indeed be a serious matter, but let’s look a little more closely at things. What does the whole scientific enterprise depend upon for its success? It is completely dependent upon two basic facts. First, there must be an order to the universe. There must be some logic to the way that things work and function, otherwise there would be no hope of working out what was going on. This order may be wonderfully complex and subtle, as it is with quantum mechanics, but there is order and reason nevertheless.
The second fact that the scientific enterprise depends upon is that we must have the ability to comprehend this ordered universe. I guess we all know some people who have no idea how to use a computer. You can sit them in front of a computer and very little progress will be made. This is not because there is anything wrong with the computer, but because this particular person is incapable of comprehending it.
So for science to work there universe needs to be comprehensible, and we need to have ability to comprehend it. Now what does the Bible tell us? In Genesis 1 and 2 we see that the universe was made on purpose and with order. Then we see that we were made in God’s image. So the Bible tells us that there is an order to the universe, and that we were created with the ability to make sense of that order. In fact the Bible goes further for God told us to subdue the earth and to name the creatures, ie He explicitly told us to go and make sense of the world. The Bible not only provides a basis for science, it provides a mandate as well.
Now what of atheism. Well atheism tells us that the material world is all that there is, and that we are just the product of random undirected processes. We came about by chance and with no purpose. In that case why has the universe got order? More importantly, why do our thoughts have any intrinsic value? Why do they mean anything or have any value? Under atheism science has no basis for itself.
Now I am definitely not saying that atheists cannot do good science, that would be absurd, but they do this despite their atheism, not because of it!
If you want to read further on these matters I would recommend the following books by John Lennox (a professor in mathematics at Oxford University):
(This article was originally published in a blog for Christians in Scottish Education, but doesn't seem to be online anymore)
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