Science and Belief in God

Do Science and Belief in God really conflict?

We may admit that some Christians do bad science.
This may be especially true of those who argue for a young earth (e.g.
one less than 50000 years old). But belief in God and even the Bible itself
does not require one to believe in such theories. Even the word for day
“yom” in the Biblical accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 certainly need not stand
for 24 hours. See Reasons to Believe
and other writings by Dr. Hugh Ross and others for more on this. The best
astronomical estimates indicate that the Big Bang happened about 17 billion
years ago. It turns out that even with billions of years of time, there
still just isn’t enough time for life to appear by random chance.

Click here for some recent quotes
by secular astronomers

Science is a method in which observations about
the physical universe are made, patterns are observed, theories
and mathematical models are proposed and experiments are constructed to
verify the accuracy or otherwise of the theory. Understanding more about
the normal operation of the physical universe will never demonstrate that
a spiritual world does not exist. In fact, for theistic thinkers, the incredible
‘lucky’ co-incidences in the laws of physics which make a physical universe
like ours possible strongly suggest that there must be a Designer out there.
Even a famous agnostic physicist has said, ‘It seems that someone has monkeyed
with the laws of physics’. This evidence for design extends to the realms
of chemistry and biology.

Many of the greatest scientists the world has
known were Christians (e.g. Pasteur, Pascal, Newton, Faraday). Many more
scientists, although not Christians, were convinced by what they
observed in the Universe that there must be an intelligent Designer – a
Creator God. Albert Einstein was in this category. Although the religion
of secular humanism has largely hijacked the sciences and the education
system in general, there are still many brilliant Christian scientists
in the world today (e.g. Dr. Hugh Ross, Dr. A.E. Wilder Smith et. al.).

A lot of scientists may come out in favor of an
agnostic, materialistic world-view. It is the natural tendency of any kind
of specialist to try to reduce the world to the terms of his particular
field of interest. Remember that not everything scientists say is scientifically
based (just ask their wives – or husbands!) It is actually outside the
scope of science as such to make pronouncements on the existence or otherwise
of things not describable by mathematics. Science can never prove that
there is no God, because science can never reveal everything, even about
the physical universe. (The uncertainty principle of Heisenberg is a small
example of this). Science can help us see how things work, but not why
they exist. Science cannot prove or disprove the existence of a spiritual
world.

What we actually see on the earth and in the cosmos
would lead us to doubt that this Universe and all it contains is actually
the product of time, chance, matter and energy.

It is outside the scope of this page to cover
ground that others have already covered better than myself. You don’t have
to believe everything “Creation Science” people insist on in order to believe
that God created the world. Let every theory stand or fall on its own merits.

Suggested Links for Further Study

Reasons to Believe
– Dr.Hugh Ross, former research fellow at Caltech, with his colleagues
bring scientific evidence virtually proving scientifically the existencee
of a Creator God.

Recent Quotes by Secular Astronomers

From “Creation and Time”, pg. 126, by Dr. Hugh Ross:

Since 1985 the evidences for a divinely caused and designed universe
have been accumulating dramatically. Consequently, a growing number of
astronomers and physicists have been making theological inferences. For
example, American astronomer George Greenstein, in The Symbiotic Universe
(1988), concluded:

As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that
some supernatural agency – or rather, Agency – must be involved. Is it
possible that suddenly, without intending to, we have stumbled upon scientific
proof of the existence of a Supreme Being? Was it God who stepped in and
so providentially crafted the cosmos for our benefit?

The laws [of physics] … seem themselves to be the product of exceedingly
ingenious design … The Universe must have a purpose.

[I see] powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it
all. The impression of design is overwhelming.

scaling the mountains of ignorance, … conquering the highest peak,
… pulling [themselves] over the final rock … [to be] greeted by a band
of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. (God and
the Astronomers: W.W. Norton, 1978), page 116.