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Most biologists and geneticists seem to have concluded that science and faith are incompatible, but few who embrace that conclusion seem to have seriously considered the evidence.

From my perspective as director of the Human Genome Project, the scientific and religious world views are not only compatible but also inherently complementary.

Hence the profound polarization of the scientific and religious perspectives, now glaringly apparent in the fields of biology and genetics, is a source of great distress.

Hard-liners in either camp paint increasingly uncompromising pictures that force sincere seekers to choose one view over the other.

How all of this must break God’s heart! The elegance and complexity of the human genome is a source of profound wonder.

That wonder only strengthens my faith, as it provides glimpses of aspects of humanity, which God has known all along, but which we are just now beginning to discover.

--Francis Collins

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The Physical Sciences in Christian Context
Biology, Chemistry, Geology, and Physics

The physical sciences often interacted with Christian culture during their development as scientific disciplines. At times, Christianity has acted as catalyst or inhibitor to the development of a discipline - sometimes both. In other cases, science has been subordinate to theology and vice-versa. In other instances science has provided support to the Christian cause. In the west, Christianity was part of early scientific culture because the Church dominated religious and public life and the universities. As the universities became independent of clerical control and the scientific disciplines began to emerge religious ties became more subtle or were deliberately avoided as undesirable.

While today, Christians in the sciences generally do not sanctify their work with Biblical references they are often called upon to comment on social questions - sometimes controversial - that have a scientific dimension that that may be informed by Christian faith. These might include items such as "the big bang," "global warming," " life on other worlds," "chaos theory," and so on.

The following articles are chosen to exemplify the diversity of potential interactions.

First an example from modern biology...

Francis S. Collins, "Faith and the Human Genome," PSCF 55.3:142-153 (9/2003). Despite the best efforts of the American Scientific Affiliation to bridge the gap between science and faith, few gatherings of scientists involved in biology include any meaningful discussion about the spiritual significance of the current revolution in genetics and genomics. Most biologists and geneticists seem to have concluded that science and faith are incompatible, but few who embrace that conclusion seem to have seriously considered the evidence. From my perspective as director of the Human Genome Project, the scientific and religious world views are not only compatible but also inherently complementary. Hence the profound polarization of the scientific and religious perspectives, now glaringly apparent in the fields of biology and genetics, is a source of great distress. Hard-liners in either camp paint increasingly uncompromising pictures that force sincere seekers to choose one view over the other. How all of this must break God’s heart! The elegance and complexity of the human genome is a source of profound wonder. That wonder only strengthens my faith, as it provides glimpses of aspects of humanity, which God has known all along, but which we are just now beginning to discover.

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Then a commentary on a disappearing resource

Glen Morton, "The Coming Energy Crisis," PSCF 52 (December 2000): 228-229. For as long as the oil industry has existed, there have been those who claimed that the world will soon run out of oil. Such claims have usually been attacked as being too pessimistic. And they were. One would seem to be a fool to say the same thing today. However, some fundamental laws of nature that cannot be avoided will show their teeth during this century. Sometime between 2004 and 2020 the world oil production will peak around thirty billion barrels of oil per year. After that, a slow but inexorable production decline will occur, creating a major societal impact enhanced by an increasing world population and the rising standards of living in the third world.

Glen Morton, "The World's Oil Supply Revisited," PSCF 57 (June 2005): 129-130.

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An old question about the structure of matter

John W. Haas, Jr., "Atoms and Atheism - the changing ways that Christians have viewed the nature of matter," (May 2007). Some of the most prominent figures in history have struggled to identify the nature of matter - including Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Galileo, Descartes, Boyle, Newton, and Einstein. The twists and turns of this 2400 year tale demonstrate the interplay of religion, philosophy and science in developing our understanding. In the end, Atomism (without philosophy) won the day because it was necessary for a coherent scientific view of the world and (for Christians) did not conflict with the biblical doctrine of creation that displaced the speculations of the Greek philosophers.

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A modern linking of science and faith

Hyung S. Choi, Knowledge of the Unseen: A New Vision for Science and Religion Dialogue," PSCF 53.2 (June 2001): 96-101. While contemporary physics and cosmology take seriously the knowledge of invisible realities, the discussion of the unseen in religion has been largely neglected in the recent science-and-religion discussion. Neglecting the issue in theology is ultimately self- defeating since God is considered the Unseen. In light of contemporary understanding of the unseen in science, we contend that that there are significant parallels between scientific and theological claims concerning the unseen. The epistemic distinction between the seen and the unseen does not necessarily imply the ontological demarcation between the natural and the supernatural. New heuristic frameworks such as a multi- dimensional model are suggested for more holistic and dynamical understanding of reality that includes both the seen and the unseen.

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Chaos and Christianity

John Jefferson Davis, "Theological Reflections on Chaos Theory," PSCF 49:2 (June 1997): 75-84. This paper reviews the historical origins of chaos theory and some of its key features, and then reflects theologically on the implications of this theory for a Christian view of the world. It is argued that chaos theory does not represent a threat to Christian faith, but in fact provides new ways of understanding the richness and complexity of God's creative work and providential ordering of the physical universe.

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Origin of the Universe

Perry G. Phillips, "The Thrice-Supported Big Bang," PSCF 57 (June 2005): 82-97.
One cannot dismiss the Big Bang as “just a theory.” Various lines of evidence confirm the “hot Big Bang” as the best model for the origin of the universe. The most widely known piece of evidence is Hubble’s Law (galaxy redshifts), but the universal abundances of light elements and the cosmic microwave background radiation add convincing support to the hot Big Bang model. This paper discusses these three lines of evidence with emphasis on the last two. Theological implications of the Big Bang are also discussed. Among ancient Near Eastern cosmologies, only the Bible presents the universe as having a beginning ex nihilo. Two historic alternatives to the Big Bang that avoid a beginning are presented and rejected. Finally, Gentry and Humphreys have proposed young-earth creationist models contrary to the Big Bang. We find their galactocentric cosmologies fail scientific and theological scrutiny.

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Causality - some heavy lifting

William R. Wharton, "The Importance of Causality in Quantum Mechanics," PSCF 57 (December 2005): 268-278. 
Christian theology preferentially favors some philosophical interpretations of quantum mechanics. By using a case study of 
stationary states of atoms, this paper examines the various interpretations. The preferred interpretation is that all 
localized events in space-time parts of chains of contiguous events traversing space-time at a rate limited by the speed
of light. This is the process of becoming, i.e., the creation of reality. It is usually not deterministic, leaving room 
for many first causes that are the initiation of new causal chains.

Ben M. Carter, "The Limitations of Mathematics in Assessing Causality," PSCF 57 
(December 2005): 279-283. From its inception in the sixteenth century, natural science has sought to 
construct a complete mathematical model of physical reality. This goal was based on three assumptions: 
(1) that mathematics was equal to the task; (2) that humans, insofar as they perceived the world, 
perceived it as it is; and (3) that the universe would reveal itself to be fundamentally fairly simple. Today we 
recognize that not only are all three of these assumptions flawed, their flaws are interrelated and, because of 
that, formulating a complete mathematical model of physical reality may
 be beyond our ability. In this paper, I discuss this development in light of William Wharton’s work and 
close with a comment on what this might mean for
 scientists who are also Christians.

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Steven M. Smith, Denver RATE Conference (Thousands ... 
Not Billions) (September 2007) A geologist provides a 
detailed report on a conference sponsored by the Creation 
Research Society dealing with the age of the earth.

Please send suggestions for additional material to: haas.john@comcast.net

Most recent entry: 02/25/2008

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