Hot Topics 2: Faith & Science
Notes
Transcript
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B: Psalm 111:1-3
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Opening
Opening
Series info. Last week, answered the question, “Why are people so often hurt by the church?”
1 Hallelujah! I will praise the Lord with all my heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. 2 The Lord’s works are great, studied by all who delight in them. 3 All that he does is splendid and majestic; his righteousness endures forever.
PRAYER
Faith. Science. Often, these two fields of knowledge are kind of pitted against each other, as if they are mortal enemies that can never coexist. So the question for this morning is this: Are faith and science in conflict with each other?
I mean, to listen to some people ON EITHER SIDE of the question, we might think so. Just the fact that I called faith a “field of knowledge” would really bother many, because they would argue that if something is taken on faith, then it has nothing to do with knowledge. And on the other side, there are some who hear the term “science” juxtaposed with “faith” and immediately think of the Big Bang, evolution, and the multiverse.
So are faith and science at odds with each other? Certainly not. In fact, much of science is actually based on faith in God. Many notable early scientists explored science specifically because of their faith. Consider a few:
Astronomer Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), who suggested and proved that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the solar system, said, “[It is my] loving duty to seek the truth in all things, in so far as God has granted that to human reason.”
Francis Bacon (1561-1626), who is credited for the creation of the scientific method, said that, “Knowledge is the rich storehouse for the glory of the Creator and the relief of man’s estate.”
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), saw a marriage of science and faith, saying, “God is known by nature in His works, and by doctrine in His revealed Word.”
Also, many modern scientists agree with at least a religious explanation of reality. In a book released in 2010 by Elaine Howard Ecklund called Science vs. Religion, What Scientists Really Think, she found that nearly 50% of scientists are religious, and only a small minority are actively hostile to religion. Here are a few notable Christian scientists:
Ard Louis, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Oxford, said, “What you can show… is that these ideas, these metaphysical underpinnings of science… go back to a long history of theological reflection on a God who is faithful and sustains the world, therefore, in a regular way.”
Kenneth Miller, Professor of Biology at Brown University: “I don’t have the faith to be an atheist.”
Troy Van Voorhis, Professor of Chemistry, MIT: “One of the joys I have in studying the natural sciences is that I learn a little bit about what God has done. And in the process, I think I come to understand a little bit of what He is like. He is much bigger, much grander, much more awesome, much more majestic than I would have previously imagined.”
This morning, we are going to delve a little bit into the relationship between science and faith. We’ll start with this:
1) Science can inform us about things the Bible isn’t meant to inform us about.
1) Science can inform us about things the Bible isn’t meant to inform us about.
Some might already be bothered by how I worded this point. But stay with me for a second. We believe that the Bible is completely true in what it teaches. But there’s a big difference between being true and being exhaustive. The Bible doesn’t teach us academically about everything. It’s bigger than that. It’s not meant to inform us about everything. I’ll go more into the purpose of Scripture in my second point, but for now, let’s camp out on this one for a moment. Consider what our focal passage said this morning, specifically verse 2:
2 The Lord’s works are great, studied by all who delight in them.
Notice what he says: that the Lord’s works are studied by all who delight in them. What works? How about what He has made and continues to govern, all around us? David reflected on the same thing:
3 When I observe your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you set in place, 4 what is a human being that you remember him, a son of man that you look after him? 5 You made him little less than God and crowned him with glory and honor.
See, science and faith actually go together. Science tells us some things that Scripture does not, and never intended to. The Bible doesn’t have a periodic table of the elements, mention electricity, describe DNA, or explain any of the laws of thermodynamics. It doesn’t explain how antibiotics work, describe aerodynamics, teach us about nuclear energy, or show a schematic of an LED. These are certainly all a part of how God has designed His universe to work, but the Bible is silent on things such as these.
Instead, we have been given the opportunity to actually engage our minds to discover the ways that God has designed our universe. In this way, we get to follow the first and greatest commandment:
37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your MIND. When we engage our minds in thinking deeply about what He has done: His “splendid and majestic” works, this is what we are doing.
God is not scared of, intimidated by, or against science. He invented it. Science only works because of how God made the universe. Consider if the physics of the universe weren’t constant: we could never predict what would happen, which is what got Newton to think about the concept of gravity: He saw a falling apple (it didn’t hit him on the head, as far as I know), and wondered why it didn’t fall sideways instead. Gravity is hard-wired into Creation. We can do chemistry and physics and math and engineering and biology and all kinds of other cool stuff because of the ordered consistency and regularity with which the universe was designed.
Francis Schaeffer wrote:
“Since the world had been created by a reasonable God, [scientists] were not surprised to find correlation between themselves as observers and the thing observed—that is, between subject and object… Without this foundation, modern Western science would not have been born.”
— Francis Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?
The scientific laws that we learn about and experience are not things to fight against. They are things that God designed, and as we have advanced in science, we keep learning more about the incredible design of our amazing God! Consider the human cell. Contained within each cell are incredibly complex systems, each completely contained within the cell. There are data replicators, waste management processes, protein folding machines, and energy creation centers, just to name a few. The better we get at scientific advancement, the more incredible God’s creation reveals itself to be. These things are just not in the Bible’s purview, but that doesn’t make them not true or useless knowledge. In fact, the more we see of God’s design, the more it pushes us to praise Him for His greatness.
So science can inform us about things that the Bible isn’t meant to inform us about. This takes us to our next point.
2) The Bible informs us about things that science cannot inform us about.
2) The Bible informs us about things that science cannot inform us about.
The great thing about science done correctly (even according to the National Academy of Sciences, ironically in a publication defending the theory of evolution) is that, “In science, explanations are limited to those based on observations and experiments that can be substantiated by other scientists. Explanations that cannot be based on empirical evidence are not a part of science.” This being the case, we find that there are things that are absolutely outside of the realm of what science is capable of doing.
“See, science—it provides a set of tools that are useful for investigating phenomenon in the natural world. But as powerful as it may be…it’s not really intended for questions like, “Why did life forms originate in the first place?”... Science is not equipped to answer questions like this.”
Praveen Sethupathy, Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences and Director of the Center for Genomics at Cornell University
This is because of two of science’s inherent limitations. The first is that science is historically not always great at making guesses about things that can’t actually be observed. Science must necessarily hold all of its conclusions loosely, because it’s entirely possible that based on another set of experiments, science might be wrong. The same publication from the National Academy of Sciences says, “Truth in science, however, is never final, and what is accepted as a fact today may be modified or even discarded tomorrow.”
The second limitation is that while scientific research is generally able to make guesses and predictions about “how” things happen, it is entirely unable to answer the question of “why.” Faith… specifically, Christian faith, holds the best answers to the big questions of life—questions that science is impotent to address.
Take the creation of the universe, for example. Science can take a decent stab at the “how,” such as: the universe originated about 14 billion years ago as a hyper-dense, infinitely hot particle that exploded and released all of the matter and energy that is currently contained in the universe, which all expanded away from that central point of origin. So that’s a scientific shot at the “how.” And to be clear, it doesn’t actually address the “how” very well because of a lack of observation... where did the hyper-dense particle come from? According to the laws of physics that we know, nothing can simply “pop” into existence. While I’m okay with the concept of the Big Bang as far as there is a central point of origin for the universe, I’m not okay with saying it was a quantum singularity (something that occurred that was and is completely unique). Unless I’m mistaken, a singularity would be outside of the realm of science, because it cannot be based on evidence. It makes much more sense that God would have created the hyper-dense particle than that it just “popped” into existence.
But the bigger issue for science to address is “why.” Why does the universe exists? Why is there something, rather than nothing?
Science cannot address this question, and it never will be able to. “Why” questions are necessarily outside of the realm of science, because they demand answers that cannot be defined empirically.
But the Bible tells us why the vast universe exists.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.
The heavens and the expanse of space declare the glory of God without speaking a word. The “why” is because God is declaring His glory through them.
Similarly, we find in the Bible the answer to the question of why was humanity exists.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
Humanity exists to bear the image of God for His purposes and for His glory, and to act as His managers of the world. This is our “why.”
Why is the universe “just so”—why is the universe set up so that humanity could live and observe it? Science would tell you that it just is. That there’s no reason to ask the question because if it weren’t set up just so, then we wouldn’t be here to observe it, so it must be set up just so. But the Bible tells us that God made the universe on purpose to support living things, at least on this little blue and green ball out here in the Milky Way galaxy.
So what we witness in creation is that God is necessary, and everything else is contingent on Him. Essentially, creation demands that someone uncreated exist outside of creation. Someone who is rational and powerful. Rational, because the universe is rational: it operates under specific laws that govern how things work, things that are predicable and understandable. Powerful, because He made all things from nothing… matter is not eternal. But it’s in the Bible that we find who this being is: relational, loving, providing, caring, involved in His creation. Nature alone cannot reveal Him to us. We need the special revelation of Scripture to know who our Creator in an intimate way.
So the Bible informs us about things that science cannot: about the universe and its creation, about us, and about God Himself. But it also tells us something else that science cannot. we know that something is inherently wrong, or broken, at least inside of us. The Bible give us that answer as well.
3) The Bible tells us what’s wrong with creation and how it will be corrected.
3) The Bible tells us what’s wrong with creation and how it will be corrected.
Science also cannot do this, because it’s not capable of making moral judgments. Morality isn’t scientifically deducible. However, even the most stalwart atheistic scientist would tell you that there are things that are just wrong. Universal things.
For many, faith in science is absolute. It is the ultimate definer of reality. In this way, science itself becomes a “god,” which ultimate makes it a religion or faith-system called scientism. Science is really only concerned with the natural world. In scientism, however, the believer clings to the belief that only scientific answers are valid, as if only the natural world exists. Therefore, they have an anti-supernatural bias, and God is necessarily outside of the natural order, since He preexists it. So they must find some other means of determining morality, but science is incapable of making moral judgments. So they have to make them up on their own, putting themselves in the place of God, but calling it science. But the Bible tells us that everything in nature, including us and our ability to think and make moral judgments, is hopelessly flawed. So those who practice the religion of scientism make incorrect judgments about what is right and wrong, and then they try to use scientific method to back it up, because they are taking their moral judgments on faith.
Christianity tells us exactly how it got broken and the result of that brokenness. The Fall. Explain.
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.
Christianity tells us what is wrong with us, and defines for us what “ought” to be. It does this based on the character of God.
13 Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. 15 But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. 17 If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers.
Since science can’t tell us what’s wrong with creation, it also can’t tell us how to fix it.
God has to fix it, because we are the ones who broke it, and we are broken right along with it.
The Gospel.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. 23 Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?
Each of us are broken, and we all need to be redeemed and made new.
Closing
Closing
Closing
Invitation
PRAYER
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Seiler Wedding
Bible reading Psalm 61
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Benediction
Benediction
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works. 32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles; he touches the mountains, and they pour out smoke. 33 I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him; I will rejoice in the Lord.