Actually, religion and science do NOT appear to be in conflict at this time. When compared they more likely support, rather than challenge, each other.
BUT, none the less, a good proportion of society ‘guesses’ that science and religion DO challenge each other, just as I once did. And that suspicion alone prevents many of us ‘thinkers’ from even trying Christian faith for ourselves.
Let me say though, as I came to find for myself, there is just NO reason why the two even need to be compared. I am definitely not the first person to reach that conclusion! Science attempts to explain HOW things work. Religion, on the other hand, answers the big questions that begin with the word “WHY”?
But despite those theories above, I consider that many unbelievers struggle with this ‘supposed conflict’ because one area of the greater Christian Church states ‘very loudly‘ that it IS a fact (i.e. they ARE in conflict). I offer an explanation of why they believe that under the next heading.
Also, Sir Isaac Newton’s 17th century theory that our universe has existed forever, indicating we don’t even need a God, still leads to many a thinker’s disbelief (even though the theory is now ‘outmoded’). I explain about that one later as well.
2. THE ‘SO-CALLED’ CONFLICT
So, I do need to firstly explain the differences between two major ‘camps’, at odds over this issue, within the Christian Church. Firstly, both groups DO accept that the Bible is completely trustworthy as a guide for our “faith” and its practise in our lives. Those two groups simply take differing views when deciphering relative verses in the Bible’s content:
- Inerrancy Group:
Accepts ‘every word’, and ‘every statement’, in the Bible as the exact “Truth”.
Accepts the whole Bible as a completely trustworthy guide for our “faith” and its practise in our lives. - Infallibility Group:
Does NOT literally interpret every word, or statement, in the Bible as the exact “Truth” as such.
Accepts the overall contents (i.e. the “big picture”) of the Bible as completely trustworthy and a valid guide for our “faith” and its practise in our lives.
So, firstly, let’s have a look at the highly publicised views of the Christian ‘Inerrancy Group’, regarding the so-called conflict between science and religion they believe exists. I offer those scriptures below, from the Bible’s book of “Genesis”, for the discussion that follows:
The Lord God formed the man
from the dust of the ground
and breathed into his nostril
the breath of life, and the man
became a living being.
[Genesis 2:7]
Now, the ‘Inerrancy Group’ considers that the whole content of Genesis, including those words quoted above, MUST be accepted literally. As such, they believe that God actually DID create Adam from the “dust of the ground” etc. Therefore they consider modern science’s theory of creation (i.e. ‘Evolution‘) DOES conflict with those words from Genesis!
BUT, most traditional Protestant and Catholic theologians (i.e. the Infallibility Group), on the other hand, hold a very different view to the Inerrancy Group. Those theologians consider that Genesis offers ‘imagery‘ of “God’s powerful creative authority, humanities’ future purpose on Earth and its future redemption, together with God’s endless faithfulness to us all”. As such, they do NOT accept that Genesis’ wording needs to be compared with modern scientific theory at all.
From my own perspective, Genesis WAS written approximately 3,000 years ago. And its content on “creation” was meant to ‘inform’ the ancient israelites of their relationship with, and existential reliance on, God in a way they COULD understand simply at that time.
By comparison though, the New Testament (the Jesus bits of the Bible) explains details of God’s creative force, in a MUCH more sophisticated way. To my thinking, it WAS inspired by God at a time when ‘potential’ readers of the Bible were becoming more knowledgeable. Yes, those 2,000 year old descriptions in the New Testament still make sense even to us 21st Century readers. You can read about the details in the article, “Why is God invisible?“.
You can also access the article, “Our amazing Bible” written by Rev Dr Bill, one of the website’s supporting team. You will find a simple overview there, under its first heading, on how to interpret the Bible’s wording using the ‘Infallibility’ method.
(Note that I am from a senior auditing background myself but the majority of this website’s advisory team are Christian clergy. To glimpse the ‘who’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ of this website please click here.)
3. NO COMPARISONS ARE NEEDED!
So, as far as the Infallibility Group is concerned there is NO need for conflict between science and Christianity, with regards to the theory of Evolution, these days.
Mind you, as I explained in the intro, scientific evidence/ theory should NEVER affect the basis of our faith anyway! Oh yes, from my point of view, Christian faith CAN certainly ‘stand on its own two feet’.
And YES, as far as I am concerned, the existence of God CAN be proven, beyond reasonable doubt, by ANY person who is willing to truly ‘evaluate the possibility‘. That is by effectively putting Christian faith to the test, say within the Church AND our everyday lives. If you like, you can have a quick read of the article “How to believe in God” to understand where ‘I am coming from’.
Please continue reading though …
4. SCIENCE HAS MOVED ON
So right now, the conflict between science and religion, expected by so many people, is just NOT there, as explained above!
YES, it MIGHT have been true in the case of pre-twentieth century classical physics. Despite his best intentions, Sir Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727), more than any other person, is responsible for the outlook that is STILL held by many Western atheists to this day. That is, the old Newtonian idea of a ‘machine-like’ reality that has been cranking on forever raised the question, “Why do we need a Creator (God) at all?”
HOWEVER, within current scientific theory the universe is actually known to be anything but machine-like! And science’s current theory indicates that it IS also unlikely that the universe has been in existence forever.
5. THE MYSTERY OF MATTER
It is interesting to me though, that the science of this twenty first century – including the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics – still raises more scientific-related questions on the ‘basis of reality’ than it answers.
By the early twentieth century, physicists had reached the understanding that sub atomic particles could no longer be explained in a common sense manner. For example, the laws of cause and effect, which DO apply to the macroscopic (visible to the naked eye) world, do NOT fully apply to the microscopic world of sub atomic particles.
One of the oddest modern scientific theories is that of “non-local effects”. As an example analogy, a billiard ball will react when it is struck by another billiard ball. Once the two balls have separated and lost speed, neither ball can affect the other, that is unless they are physically brought into contact again.
BUT within quantum mechanics, two sub atomic particles that have interrelated locally (say within an atom) at some time, can still continue to influence each other through a concept known as ‘non-local’ effects AFTER separation. Measurements taken of one of these particles will be affected by the state of the other particle, even if it is placed on the other side of the universe. And the effect will be instantaneous. Seems impossible to us ‘thinkers’ eh? BUT this ability of sub atomic particles to influence each other after separation HAS been proven to be true!
Experimentation beginning back in the 1980s has proven ‘beyond doubt’ that non-local effects ARE real at a sub atomic level.
And, you know, if God is the ‘Ground of Being‘, as explained within that Bible-based article, “Why is God invisible?” there WOULD be a common “one-ness” existing through every sub-atomic particle in the universe, i.e. God. And this ‘could’ be the basis for that instant sub-atomic reaction mentioned above. Well … at least … I do wonder about it? Quantum physicists actually refer to a concept of underlying “wholeness” as the cause. Hmmm yes, as a Christian, I can also handle that ‘title’ as well.
My word yes, there is a lot more ‘mystery in matter’ than initially imagined by most of us. Please note that I am merely trying here to ‘set the stage’ for what follows. There are two other sub-articles, discussing more scientific and “existential” mysteries, available to read.
Links are available below in the “Conclusion”.
6. CONCLUSION
So firstly, there is NO real need for science and religion to be compared at all. Secondly there is little conflict, if any, between ‘moderate’ Christian theology (Infallibility Group) and current scientific theory. Actually … they more likely support each other!
Importantly though, it IS absolutely possible for ‘thinkers’ to ‘believe in God‘, no matter WHAT science has to say. In fact this website has been developed by one ‘thinker’ who DOES believe, with the aim of helping other ‘thinkers’ to DO the same. Yes, this website offers guidance on how this can be achieved. Of course I had a lot of help, from a team of highly qualified advisers, during the site’s development. (Yet again, to read about the ‘who’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ of this website please click here.)
Before moving on though, maybe you would like answers to the three big questions that DO arise when we seriously consider both the universe and life on Earth:
- Why does the universe EXIST at all (i.e. what put it here)?
- Why are there such extreme ODDS against our universe being ‘just as it is’?
- How do we explain away the extreme COMPLEXITIES of conditions on Earth and within life itself?
If so, please continue by reading the two following sub-articles:
They highlight the mysteries of ‘all that is‘, and support the contents of this particular article.