Skip to main content

Faith and Science from a Scientist's Perspective

The following quotes are taken from World Magazine Article A Chemist and God. The article refers to Henry Schaeffer, who is a professor at the University of Georgia and is quoted as "in the top 10 of all researchers cited in recent years in chemistry publications"

From teaching Molecular Quantum Mechanics at the University of Georgia to studying the Bible during mid-week church fellowships, Schaefer sees cohesion between "secular" science and his Christian faith.


In Schaefer's view, a natural nexus exists between Christianity and science: "In many respects [Christians] are not different than anybody else in science, but we do have a deep-seated trust that God is a God of order and that by following rational methods we will find truth in the scientific sense."


Those scientists who speak definitively about how the universe began, though, are going beyond science: "When you read or hear anything about the birth of the universe, someone is making it up—we are in the realm of philosophy. Only God knows what happened at the very beginning."



"It was a problem for so many people that finally I decided to do a little research on whether it was true that scientists were not Christians. I discovered pretty quickly that essentially all the pioneers of the modern physical sciences were Christians. It was encouraging to me, and I think even more encouraging to others."

Comments

  1. Having not read the entire article, I can't say I agree completely with Schaeffer, but in the sense that many scientists are Christians, I think it's time that religious people recognize that.

    An interesting point: "Those scientists who speak definitively about how the universe began, though, are going beyond science."

    This is a point that I have tried to make numerous times on this site. The statement above is correct, and the statement would be just as true if it went this way:

    "Those Christians who speak definitively about how the universe began, though, are going beyond science."

    This is why creationism is not science. It is inevitably faith-based. Evolution, on the other hand, is evidence-based and deals only with how species evolved and when. How evolution got started, the "spark of life" question, is still unprovable one way or the other.

    Yes, evidence of evolution disproves the 6,000-year earth creationism myth, but it does not disprove the existence of gods. To some, that isn't an important distinction. I think it is.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eckhart Tolle - Christian Response

Unbelievable! ...The extent man not founded upon Christ will go and follow in their quest and pursuit of self and attempts to explain away reality and sin. Here's Oprah's spiritual sage... Response: 1. He resurrects errors of the past which deny reality by seeking to replace it with forms. 2. By reducing the past to forms (or photo albums) he not only denies the reality of the past but the extent of it's connectedness and relationship to the present. This error he also translates in regard to the future. 3. He establishes a false premise that one can separate the reality of the present ("now") from reality itself, which he vests in onesself (though he inconsistently goes on to suggest that life is found in abandoning oneself) 4. He has no grounds or basis for assuming reality is found in self (and apart from everything else, or only what one want's to allow) 5. By denying the truth of God, he falsely asserts that the future is no longer problematic...

Eckhart Tolle Christianity (Understanding Eckhart Tolle - Comparison / Difference with Christianity)

I believe it important that both believers and unbelievers understand the difference between the teaching of Eckhart Tolle and Christianity. Here's a brief post to introduce you to a few of the significant differences. (Note, I've just been exposed to Tolle, but it doesn't seem to take long to discern the differences) Context (the problem)Taken from here .: Despite Oprah and Eckhart's reduction of Christianity to but one "way" amongst many other equally legitimate ways to God, and their calling Christ a "revolutionary" who has been misunderstood by the Church, and who simply came to manifest "Christ-consciousness", a quick search through the internet reveals that many Christians are following Oprah in attempting to fuse together the teachings of Eckhart, and the doctrines of the historical Christian church. Great website to gain quick summary of Eckhart's beliefs/teachings: Ripples on the Surface of Being Key Responses by Eckhart To...

The Divine Eternal Covenant: A Systematic Theology of Redemption, Judgment, and Glory

Preamble: On the Need for Theological Clarity The relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility has long stood as one of Christianity's most contentious and misunderstood doctrinal territories. For centuries, theological traditions have wrestled with seemingly irreconcilable tensions: How can God be sovereign over salvation while humans remain genuinely responsible? Why does a good God permit evil and suffering? How can divine election coexist with meaningful human choice? What is the ultimate purpose behind the drama of fall and redemption? These questions have generated countless volumes of systematic theology, yet the proposed solutions often either compromise divine sovereignty to preserve human responsibility or sacrifice human accountability to maintain God's absolute control. The result has been a theological landscape marked by entrenched positions, artificial distinctions, and frameworks that frequently raise more questions than they resolve. My moti...

Search This Blog