[asa] Does nature leads you to believe or to reject God?

Hello Asaers.

I ask this question in this forum for this reason: I have started this year my PhD studies in Ecology; and this topic appeared while I was talking with my advisor. He is a well known ecologist with several years of experience in the Neotropics. Mean while I was discussing my research proposal, which is in the effects of climate change on birds, we swifted to social causes of environmental degradation and he expressed his interest in how religious communities impact the environment.

I told him how I worked with a faith-based institution in my country to get christians towards nature conservation and the opennes that we found in poor rural communities; also explained him what is the responsible stewardship of creation and how to interpret the bible. He defined himself as a atheist but not a "hard-core" hater of religion. He was raised as a baptist, his parents are christian; but he lossed his faith while studying nature and as he told me, understood how cruel, irrational and  senseless the interactions of animals are.

Then I felt free to share how I became a christian a year before I entered the University when I was 16, to study my bachelor's degree as a biologist. I did see Biology as the wonders of God's creation; also how I became a young earth creationist (It was impossible to be an evangelical christian and not be a creationist in the fundamentalist environmment where I lived) and later a Theistic evolutionist.

The time for the interview reached an end, but he wants to talk more about this, I know that he has a strong spiritual need.

I will not advocate intelligent design or something similar to convince him that God is present in nature, I know that ID is not science. But if he thinks that nature led him to reject God, what can I say? Any advice of how to preach to your advisor?

Thanks,

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Received on Sat Nov 28 02:02:51 2009