Christians and Science

by Craig Rusbult, Ph.D.

      Why should a Christian want to learn and use science?  The pages below look at this question in two ways, by addressing possible concerns about the spiritual effects of science — if you learn and use science, will this weaken your faith? — and by finding reasons to be excited about science, which can help us understand a world created by God, using minds given by God.
      a personal perspective:  I'm a Christian and a scientist, a learner and a teacher.  My goal, in these pages, is to decrease your concerns about the negatives of science (*) and increase your appreciation of the positives.
      * Yes, there are rational reasons for concern, but if we distinguish between science and scientism — and use science to answer only the questions it is designed to answer — the potential dangers of science can be minimized.

Below is a set of pages (about Christian Education, Science-Christianity Interactions, and Scientific Methods) originally written for a multi-author book project by ASA in 2004,* containing ideas — especially "Education for the Whole Person" — that I thought might be useful for the book.     {But I've made major revisions in "The Logic of Science" since 2004.}
 

Education for The Whole Person 

1. Learning and Thinking 
     Learning by Exploring
     Learning from Others
     Active Learning
     Problem Solving in Life
2. Motivations for Education 
     Are you involved in education?
     Immediate Motivation: Make it Fun
     Long-Term Motivation: Make it Useful
3. Education for Christian Living 
     Glorifying God in Our Thoughts and Actions

 

Science and Christianity — Are they compatible?

1. Science and Religion at War? 
2. Science and Natural Process 
3. Science and Miracles 
4. Science and Scientism 

 

Wisely Using the Two Books of God 
1. Using Information from Scripture and Nature 
     Realities and Interpretations (in Scripture & Nature, Science & Theology)
     General Interactions (between Science and Theology)
     Specific Interactions (between Science and Theology)
2. When we disagree, what should we do? 
     Understanding and Respect
     Understanding (in Science and Theology)
     Respect (combining Truth and Love)
     Essential Theology

 

The Joy of Science

The Logic of Science 
Reality Checks (the simplicity of science) 
     Experiments and OBSERVATIONS
     THEORIES and PREDICTIONS
     THEORY Evaluation
     THEORY Generation
Designing a Scientific Theory 
The Methods of Science 
A Model of Science (the complexity of science) 

Historical Science — Is it scientific? 

 


 
Also, a page about Science and Religion — Is it a relationsip of Conflict (as with Galileo?) and Warfare? contains excerpts from Science and Christianity: Are they compatible? including all of Section 1 and, in the appendix, condensed versions of 1, 2, 3, and 4.
 




 
OTHER PAGES:
If you like this page, you may also like the following related pages.
CHRISTIANS IN SCIENCE
( pages by other authors )

This page is
http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/science/cnsci.htm

Copyright © 2004 by Craig Rusbult
all rights reserved

  Search the Website

 
Whole-Person Education for Science and Faith