Please tell me that there are Christians out there who respect and support modern science?

Question

There have been so many comments here today by Christians that are truly wrong-headed and hostile towards science - the pursuit of knowledge. One person, for example, recently just wrote 'Science is wrong. Religion is truth.' Dozens of other people here are suggesting that science and religion are completely incompatible with each other.

I don't have any religion, but seeing as how some 80% of the world have a religion - and about 1.5 billion of those are Christian - I need a little reassurance that Christianity is not just a huge monolithic rejection of everything scientific. Please make me feel better!

Answer 1

Christians sure wouldn't function very well in the world if we rejected science, would we? But the pursuit of knowledge has to be tempered by wisdom and justice -- certainly we'd know more about human anatomy if we cut people open while they were still alive (e.g. Nazi death camps), but we wouldn't be very just, would we?

What price are we willing to pay for knowledge? And science is much more than that -- it's the empirical process of discovering enhancement of the quality of life (or should be). Certainly no Christian is going to argue against the therapeutic benefits of aspirin or emergency gall bladder surgery. But by and large we will argue against procedures or materials (e.g. abortion, infanticide) that have no discernible benefits or any circumstance that devalues life.

Whoever wrote, 'Science is wrong. Religion is truth.", doesn't have a grasp of either. While both disciplines are set to prove different aspects of life, they don't have to be eternally hostile to each other. Certainly science is responsible for a great many innovations we enjoy today (the Internet, automobiles, anesthesia), but the fact of the matter is, religion offers a great deal in terms of how we treat one another, how we function in relationship to a personal God, and rules of daily conduct.

Maybe a good way to summarize that is religion is more concerned with HOW and science is more concerned with WHY. Both are wrong when they try to tell the other what to do, and both are right when they are willing to see more than one side to a question. I don't know if this will make you feel better, but it takes both science and religion to make a person a fully growing individual. And even the atheism which you seem to be professing ("I don't believe any religion") IS a religion, a belief system. The people who see science and religion as incompatible aren't looking hard enough -- they'd find much more agreement than not.

Sincerely yours,

a Christian

Answer 2

Yes. I don't think Christianty is a complete rejection of science. Some people feel that they need to disparage anything scientific because it doesn't line up perfectly with their religion, but I would say the majority definitely respects and supports modern science.

The pursuit of knowledge, as you put it, has been improving the lives of people as long as I can remember. Sure, it's also contributed to the cause of some evils, i.e. war, but Christianity has done the same, so there is nothing that can be said there!

As far as evolution, I think that's a personal endeavor. I have no problem believing in evolution. I don't believe it to the extent of many, so there are obviously differences, but I see no reason to consider the whole realm of science wrong because of one theory.

Part of the problem here may be that the people who support and respect science are generally the type to do research and not spout off without a good handle on the matter their disputing. Those who blindly reject science are typically more prone to coming on a site like this and declaring so. This may not be the case, but it's my experience.

Many people just can't stand the thought of being wrong. They do not attempt to incorporate anything else because they are comfrotable with the way they perceive things now and would be threatened if anything intruded.

So, I would say that those people whom you're searching for do exist. Also, many books have been written explaining how religion and science can mesh. Actually, I'm sure there's been a few books written from the other viewpoint as well, so I'd suggest exploring those options and seeing what helps you most:) Best of luck.

Answer 3

I love science, and I love god... I used to think that the bible was all a metaphor, but then I started looking deeper into science and into the bible, God created everything in 7 days right, but a minute is a million years and a million years is a minute to god. So by that conversion 7 days could be up to 1.008x10^10 years which is more than enough time to create the universe. I used to think Adam and Eve were just a representation of the first group of real humans but I have just learnt that according to the human genome project, the entire human race as we know it evolved and multiplied from 2 people. I love theoretical physics and that has given me an idea about how god operates, he could be a 6th dimentional being, this would mean he would span all space, time and (this is the important part) probability. This is how he would give us free will. He could set up the big bang so well that no matter what decisions we made the world would come to a common end. This is what I believe, and as you can see, it embraces science rather than denies it, because hey, god created science too.

Answer 4

Even Jesus said "Render unto Caeser that which is Caeser's, and unto God that which is God's" indicating that while important, religion should not exclude all other aspects of life. Science tries to answer the question "How?", while religion attempts to answer the question "Why?".

On either ends of the spectrum are scientists who reject all faith, and zealots who reject all science. Somewhere in the middle is where the truth lies.

The real question I would ask is why you "need a little reassurance that Christianity is not just a huge monolithic rejection of everything scientific" if you "don't have any religion"? Why not ask about the scientific leanings of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or even Wicca?

Answer 5

Oh, there are plenty of us out there (here? LOL) But we certainly run the gamut, don't we?

The current wave of Creationism/ID vs. Evolution, for example, is a result of the misapprehension that for the Bible to be literally true about Sin, Jesus, and the state of mankind, that it has to be literally right about the process by which the natural world came into being and developed into its present state.

The question I ask my Christian brothers and sisters when we discuss this is:

"If this very day science was to unequivocably prove that evolution by our current understanding is absolutely true, what effect would that have on your faith?"

If it would damage their faith, then they've got the cart before the horse. The point of the Bible and Christianity is the spiritual state of mankind and God's plan for the redemption of the individual through the risen Jesus Christ. If Christianity is truth, then it doesn't matter if Genesis is allegory or truth, so long as Christ has risen from the dead and interecedes on the behalf of believers.

You see, Christians should not be putting power over their faith in anyone's hands but God's.

Personally, I believe that science is, in many ways, the language of God, for if I believe that God created the heavens and the earth, and if I believe, as the Apostle Paul states, that what is true about God is evident in His creation, then the development of scientific knowledge holds no threat to me or any believer, but is simply an additional relation of His creative power.

It doesn't matter if He specially created the first human out of the dust or not. What matters is simply the finished work of the Risen Christ.

Answer 6

I am a Christian and I also respect and support modern science. I don't believe in Evolution at all, but I do believe in all the good that science has done. Medicines, Chemical reactions, ect. The list is too long to even begin to start naming what science has done to better the world. I also believe that it is God who gives us the ability to find the "science" that he has put out there. I just don't know how anyone can say that something, like science, that has brought about so much good can be wrong.

Answer 7

Science is only God's way of making faith in Him stronger. Is it possible that the Universe was made in only a week? Perhaps, perhaps. Is it possible that the Universe took uncountable millenia to make? That too is possible, and probably more probable. If God really does exist, then He clearly enjoys working behind the cover of logic and reason, so anything He does isn't DIRECTLY related to His presence. I think that belief in Him would only be MORE monolithic if He decided to put his signature on everything He made. As the world is, you really only get hints of His presence in everything. A photograph of a beautiful sunset is one thing, but actually seeing it live is another. Understand what I mean? The more scientifically the world is deduced, the more one can really ask "Hmmm.... DID God really do this, or didn't He?" If you come to the conclusion that He did, then your faith is all the more strong than it was before.

Answer 8

hey, whats up man?
to tell you the truth science isnt completely wrong. Without science we wouldnt have many things in this world. You can look around and see what science has created for technological advances to simple things that help our daily lives. The only thing some christians dont like about science the whole big bang, or evolution theory because it goes against the bible, the word of God. I am a chrisitan, and believe that God created us. You really have to do you research, start reading the bible, and follow you heart, because if you are really searching for truth, you will find it.

I have a pretty good resource, a web site check it out, answers many questions that anyone might have

http://www.answersingenesis.org/

if you got other questions msg me, peace!

Answer 9

Through time, religious beliefs have been proven through scientific investigation and experimentation. Take for example, cloning. The bible say that Eve was taken out from the rib of Adam. Now, cloning, proves it that it can be done. Creating a life with just a prick of a needle. It is what all it takes to form a new life. In some ways, science and religion may disprove each other's views but many times they kind of complement each other.

Answer 10

I certainly don't reject science!! Granted, I am considered 'outside the mainstream' for most Christians, but I certainly support science and the scientific method. Science and Christianity are not incompatible. In fact, evolution and creation are not incompatible. Evolution is the why, creation is the who. IMHO, anyway!! :o) Don't be distressed - the rejection of scientific truths is a greater reflection on people being sheeple rather than actual Christianity.