How do Christians reconcile science with their faith?

Question

We all know that there are scientific findings that contradict the literal word of the Bible. We also know that there are Christians out there that just ignore anything contradictory that science has to say.

I am interested in hearing from Christians who do not reject science, and how they do not let this get in the way of God. Do you take the entire Bible as symbolism? Do you only take those parts described differently by science as symbolism, and the rest literally? How do you respond to accusations that you are not a true Christian for trusting in what science has to offer? Is there anything that you think is wrong with, or reject, from either science or organized Christianity?

Please no lectures on either the Biblical or scientific creed; I am already very familiar with both. This is something I am genuinely curious about: serious and thoughtful answers only.

ms8wotw: I don't mean to add an angle to this, but a scientific theory is not (as a fellow poster, whose name I sadly cannot remember, said) some scientist who just says, "I have a theory," and everyone believes him because he is a scientist. Theories are well-tested explanations for many, many pieces of solid, empirical data. To say something is "only a theory" is to misunderstand the nature of theories: in fact, generally the only difference between a scientific "law" and a well-corroborated "theory" is that the law is able to be explained more tersely.

I hate to break it to you Sol, but evolutionary theory *is* true science. Refer to my description of theories above. The evidence supporting evolution has been (and is still being) obtained following the exact same scientific method that other scientific data is gathered by. Evolution is not some strange anamolous field outside of "true science"--it is in fact intimately related to and unable to be seperated from many other fields of science today, including chemistry, physics, cosmology, geology, genetics, math, and statistics.

blizgamer333: Thank you for your detailed, honest answer. That is definitely what I was looking for. But (I bet you knew a "but" was coming), you reasoning about the 2nd law of thermodynamics is flawed: this common creationist argument was debunked long ago. I would recommend you read the "Five major misconceptions about evolution" FAQ at talkorigins.com: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html

Response to Sol's response: Wow! Someobody actually responded to my Additional Details! :D Thanks!

There are a few scientists out there that think things must be intelligently designed--or at least that if evolution occured, that it was directed by a designer. However, they are GREATLY outnumbered by the number of scientists, who while not necessarily denying the existance of God, do not feed that God is NEEDED in the process of evolution. Ever here of the "Steve" project? ;)

Answer 1

Interesting question. I am a Christian. I also believe in science and appreciate all the good things science has done. But do I think that science is infallible? No. I don't think science has all the answers. I take the Bible pretty literally, but with common sense and science in mind- always. For example, the Bible says God created the Universe in 6 days. I don't have a problem with that because a day, by definition is when the earth makes a 360 degree turn on its axis to end where it began (one rotation). At the beginning of creation (the forming of the universe) there was an incredible amout of Force that was necessary to fuse molecules, atoms, and have all the chemical reactions necessary for the universe to form. Under the great force and energy there was also a tremendous amount of gravity to fuse all the planets together. The gravity would have been so great, scientists believe it was in the thousands of Gs (gravity). Objects under greater gravity move slower than objects under less gravity. In order for the earth to have 1 day (one rotation) it would have taken thousands of years for that to happen. So, in the Bible it says 1 day, science tells us 1 day (one rotation) =thousands of years. Both correct.

I know why I believe what I believe. I have science to back up what I believe. I do not blindly follow whatever people tell me. I listen and investigate for myself what is the truth. Here are the answers to your barrage of questions:
1. Do you take the entire Bible as symbolism? No. I believe it is fact, literal, but also employs many symbols.
2.Do you only take those parts described differently by science as symbolism, and the rest literally? I take everything literally unless there is reason to believe it is symbolic.
3.How do you respond to accusations that you are not a true Christian for trusting in what science has to offer? I haven't had that accusation, but I would laugh at it. If you don't know why you believe something, you're a fool.
4. Is there anything that you think is wrong with, or reject, from either science or organized Christianity?
I got a problem with the theory of evolution. As do many real scientists. First, somehow people just started accepting it as a fact, when it is still not a fact (upgraded to a Law). Second, it goes against the 2nd Law of Themodynamics. Basically, everything in the universe moves from order to disorder. Evolution contradicts that. By Christianity do you mean catholics too? Who is included in Christianity? I do not consider catholics, mormons, jehovah's witnesses, church of Christ movement, to be Christianity. These are all cults that have skewed from the truth in Christianity.

Good question. Love to answer more like these.

Answer 2

Even an atheistic scientist is not without some unprovable belief laying at the base of his thinking because without it he could not hold any of the scientific ‘truths’ that are often contrasted with the religious ‘truths’.
If you want a properly argued justification of religious belief , written by a brilliant philosopher which is clearly written and not interminably long then you should read ‘The Will to Believe’ by the great American philosopher William James. His argument does not involve any tedious examination of scriptures etc but is compltely different and in fact is a non religious justification of belief Christian or otherwise.
I expect it is probably available on the net somewhere in full without having to buy it even.

Answer 3

Here's the thing: science does NOT contradict the Bible - true science, that is, not evolutionist theories that make no sense. There is evidence of a world-wide flood as described in the Bible, civlizations documented in the Bible have been found, the earth was described as being seen as a circle when viewed from the sky in the Old Testament milleniums before men "discovered" that it was round, etc, etc.

Additional details: You can't "break" anything to me simply because there is nothing to break. Even some non-Christian scientists who have studied evolution admit that it is seriously flawed, and think there has to be "intelligent design" even if they don't necessarily believe in the God of the Bible.

Answer 4

The Bible and science are not enemies.
Geography:
Let me quote the prophet Isaiah who wrote the following circa 740 B.C.
"It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth," that is a portion of Isaiah 40:22
It was many years after that people believed the world was not flat.

Astronomy:
Job 9:9 "Who make Arcturus ( another word for the great bear constellation) Orion, and the Pleides,"
Job 38:31 "Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleides, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth ( the 12 signs of the zodiac ) in his season?"
Amos 5:8 "Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion,"
Orion is part of the constellation Taurus

The apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:20 and 21 "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoid profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen."

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

I'm not a Christian, but my boyfriend is. From what I understand, he doesn't believe the Bible to be literally true, and he doesn't believe that the Bible is the important part of Christianity (he hasn't read the Bible, but I have, which amuses me).

I know that anyone who claims to be a "true" Christian while spewing hate and lies probably isn't. True Christians don't seem to go around condemning people and denying science just because it doesn't agree with their interpretation of some book...

I agree with Jim - Praise Bob!

Answer 6

Most definitley.
I am Catholic, but even if I were any other religious member, I could still reconcile my faith with science, because science is objective. It is fact. What is there to argue

How I see it is that human beings of all cultures throughout all the ages have beleived there to be a greater beyond than which we can see. Religion is as old as time itself. Yet we have accomplished nothing for ourselves and each other by simply sitting on our laurels and waiting for a grea, omnipresent being to provide for our every need.

We've had to toil the soil, make medicine and harness the power of nature using our brains.

Viva Science and Religion (so long as it doens't make ppl hate each other).

Much love and peace to all.

Ciao

Answer 7

i believe in science, there's nothing wrong with that, science basically shows you how things work, i.e. human body, math, rockets, etc. science is very important for astronomers, mathmatecians, scientists (of course hee-hee), doctors and so on. for me to say i don't agree or believe in science would be very narrow-minded and ignorant of me. i am a born-again Christian and i believe God created science, he put doctors, teachers and all those in autority positions for a reason. i believe the Bible is holy and is God's Word, parables are figuratively and some lessons are literal. you just have to trust in God to know the difference. Even science has proven the Bible to be authentic and that every story in the bible is true so to be science is a friend. the only thing i have against science are those that don't believe we were created by God but choose to believe that we all began as apes or bugs or whatever.

Answer 8

thanks to evolving I left "the faith"

but I can remember how I thought while in the cults

most of the time we havn't done our research and just go with supposed experts you trust have done vast research for you, and you eventually stop reading bible or praying as much, seeking god for your own faith and go with doctrines and canned answers, then mindlessly defend the answers with 'god is god' or because god said so

it's like a program in a computer that is AI, programed to remove all threats just to survive

we are told if we get resistance we are on right track, the opposition to our faith is the proof of right ness

so of course when I got flak I thought that was my proof

sick, huh?

when I found a contradiction in the Bible, I relied on others not my self or god and they kept me "in the good fight"

now out, I can't believe I was so lost I thought I had to save others

Answer 9

This Bible is not meant to be taken literally.
There's no trouble reconciling the two: the Bible records religious truth; science deals with empirical truth.
It's not a problem.

Answer 10

Faith, quite often, does not call for scientific authentication. The scientific authentication, either-way, comes afterwords, though, in most cases pertaining to faith.