The God of Science (TM)

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Today I want to turn your attention to a false god that imitates genuine science. Today, we’ll examine the idol of “SCIENCE (TM).” This false god pretends to be real science - it uses laboratory studies and the language of the sciences. It capitalizes on various theories and investigative methods. It even wears white coats, holds beakers and hangs a stethoscope across it’s neck, and demands to be called “Doctor” or the titles of distinction. But this is not real science - it is a knock-off.

SCIENCE (TM)

Philosophers talk about the underlying worldview of this “SCIENCE (TM).” It’s called scientism, and it’s the belief that only scientific knowledge (things you can test or prove empirically) is a valid basis for any truth claim. Some scientism advocates don’t go quite that far, but the still believe that the best basis for knowing truth is through the scientific method.

This idea is rampant in our culture. Just listen to the news and you’ll hear talk of “the SCIENCE is settled” or “trust the SCIENCE.” They say that our climate is changing at unprecedented rates, and that we must completely overhaul how we live or the planet will soon become unbearable for humanity. They cite studies that show 90-95% efficacy for an “immunization” for COVID, but then later admit that they didn’t actually test how well their injection stopped viral transmission. They tell you that those same shots are “safe,” even though there are more VAERS reports for those shots than all other immunizations COMBINED! Then they go on TV and claim that if you’re attacking them for lying, then you are attacking science because they represent science. (Not that I have anybody particular in mind…)

But this isn’t actual science. Real science is never “settled.” Real science thrives when scientists are skeptical and always looking for better answers. Richard Feynman says that scientific integrity is “bending over backwards to show how you are maybe wrong.” What he means is that science is always about asking questions and challenging accepted answers. Science is not static or “settled” because it isn’t meant to be.

So when people claim that “the science is settled” or that all scientists agree…that’s SCIENCE, not real science. It’s making SCIENCE into an idol to worship rather than a tool for discovery. And that’s really the whole point:

SCIENCE(TM) Rejects God

This idea of scientism rejects God, putting SCIENCE at the top of the hierarchy of knowledge. It pushes God out, claiming that we don’t need God because we have a better way to know truth. It relegates God to the fringes, with a “God of the gaps” mentality while seeking to close those gaps altogether.

SCIENCE(TM) and Faith Are Enemies

Scientism by it’s definition seeks to eliminate faith. Faith is viewed as a crutch for those who cannot understand or who do not want to understand what we now know. It seeks to persuade people of faith - any faith - to ground their belief in the "proven” understanding of the scientist. If SCIENCE says you have to condone wicked acts as though they are perfectly natural, then we must re-interpret the Bible to match that. If SCIENCE claims that you’ll kill somebody by not wearing a mask to stop an airborne virus whose average size is much smaller than the holes in that mask, then we must “love our neighbor” by wearing a mask. If SCIENCE says that we’re all going to die if we don’t start eating bugs and stop burning fossil fuels, then surely we can find verses that tell us to be good stewards of the earth.

This is what SCIENCE does: it seeks to eliminate all other sources of truth so that only the naturalistic is considered an option. SCIENCE is a false god that rejects God and seeks to destroy genuine faith.

Science

True Science Reveals God

We are a culture that values scientific advancement. Scientific inquiry and discovery have powered so much that we depend upon. The heater, lights, sound system, and even the tablet I use to keep sermon notes are all developed by science. The medical discoveries that make our lives longer and healthier, the devices that make life more interesting and productive, the appliances that make dinner easier to make are all direct results of science.

Scientific knowledge also helps us know our world and discover truth. We know many of the mysteries of the cosmos because of men like Galileo, Edwin Hubble, and Neils Bohr. Sir Isaac Newton figured out why apples always fall, and NASA engineers used that same principle to figure out how to speed up spacecraft through “sling-shot” maneuvers around planets and moons. Albert Einstein saw the relationship between space and time, and now we can find distant planets around stars millions of light years away based on how objects bend light. Benjamin Franklin found out the hard way that you can’t fly a kite in a storm with a key attached, and now we use that same electricity to power hundreds of things throughout our homes. And that’s not to even mention the wonder and awe that we feel when we consider the amazing complexity of a single cell, or the incredible diversity possible using only four bases within a single strand of DNA within each of us. By the way, a single strand of human DNA, if straightened out, would be over 6 1/2 feet tall!

Science has been an instrumental tool to help us know our world and shapes how we live every day. Science is also a gift from God - it enables us to explore the world in which we live and to know more about God. Paul says in Romans:

Romans 1:20 ESV

20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

The Psalmist tells us:

Psalm 19:1 ESV

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Science and the scientific method - observing the world and investigating would causes what we observe - are good things because they help us seek for and find the truth. And this is a crucial point to get: everything God does reflects who God is. Everything he has made and everything he has ordained points to his own character. So we can echo the hymn writer who said:

Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds thy hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee

How great thou art! How great thou art!

God shows us who he is by what he has done. Which means that any and every way we can investigate his works opens us to see his nature and character too. Science is a wonderful gift of God because it provides us ways to explore God through his creation.

Unfortunately, many view science as an enemy to God, or at least to faith in God. They assume that, since we have a scientific answer for how something happens, we don’t need to believe in God to explain it. They assume that faith is, by it’s nature, blind and a crude way of understanding the world. Science, they say, offers clear truth where religion or philosophy or reason can only make assumptions and arguments that don’t hold much value. They assume that the only place for faith is in the soul - if there even is such a thing.

But we know better. We know that:

Science and Faith Are Not Enemies

Here’s a great illustration - who here has eyes? Who has ears? Do your eyes and ears fight? Not usually, right? Usually, the eyes and the ears work together - they are partners. They collaborate with your other sensory organs and your brain to figure out what’s happening all around you.

Faith and Science (true science), work like that. They don’t fight each other, vying for the top spot in the epistemological hierarchy. Instead, they serve as different ways of learning about and drawing closer to God. Look at how the writer of Hebrews defines faith:

Hebrews 11:1 ESV

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Faith is not a wishy-washy, flip-floppin’, emotion that varies based on any number of factors - how tired you are or how your day has been, or anything else. Faith is solid - it’s firm. Look at how the KJV puts it:

Hebrews 11:1 KJV 1900

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Substance - that’s what something is made of. Faith, this writer says, is the material that “things hoped for” are made up of. It’s the core essence of those things that we’re looking toward in confident anticipation (that’s what hope really is - confident anticipation). We know God’s promises, and by faith we have confidence that God will make good on those promises.

But look at the second part - faith is also the evidence of things not seen. Evidence - that sounds like something science would do, doesn’t it? One author said this of faith: “faith is a proving (or conviction about) unseen things” (BDAG). He’s leading us like a lawyer laying out the case for these things we have not yet seen, and faith is Exhibit A in this courtroom. Faith proves what otherwise cannot yet be observed.

That’s why faith and science (the real one) are not enemies at all. They are a team, along with things like logic and deduction, that seeks to find truth. Science need not be afraid of faith because faith is concerned with those things science cannot handle. And science handles the observable, giving security in the eternal God who designed and built earth from nothing. Science and faith are two peas in a pod.

Hebrews 11 is often called the Hall of Faith, or the heroes of the faith because of its’ compilation of various faithful in the OT. The likes of Noah, Abraham, Moses, and many others demonstrate faith in real life. They show us how we can trust God:

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

These individuals in Hebrews 11 trusted God - they obeyed his commands in faith that God would do his will. And God always came through. Sometimes, a physical miracle occurred, but sometimes not. Some had an idea of how God would work - God told Moses how he was going to lead God’s people out of Egypt, and how the Pharoah would only relent once God’s mighty hand worked. Moses didn’t have all the details, nor did he need them. He simply needed to trust in God enough to follow his commands. And, lo and behold, Moses followed God and God did his “part.” (Get it - he “parted” the Red Sea…)