Tough Questions - Are Science and Christianity Incompatible?

Today we're tackling some tough questions to do with Christian faith. The kind of questions that if you're exploring faith, they're the kind of things that you might be wrestling with, or even if you've been a Christian for a really long time, they're the kind of things that you might just not be confident about, the kind of things that you wouldn't want to discuss with someone. And so we're not bringing this to you to equip you to win a debate. That's not what this is about. We're just acknowledging really that there are some tough questions out there and giving you a Christian response to them.

And so I'm continuing that today by asking the question, are science and Christianity incompatible? And many of you would know that I'm in, I guess, a unique position to tackle that question. I work as both a pastor here, here at Horizon and as a scientist. And so that's an interesting space to sit in. As a scientist, I'm someone who really has to look at things in a logical, rational way with a lot of logical reasoning.

I have to work on problems systematically. I need to bring together things to get some evidence based results. That's what science is all about. As a pastor, I love telling people about who Jesus is and what he's done for them. I live by faith.

You know, I love exploring, you know, topics about love and hope and joy and leading people into sharing God's love with others. And so the question is, are those two things a contradiction? Have I been living a lie this whole time? Is there a conflict between Christian faith and science? And so we're going to unpack that this morning.

And there is a common belief that science is the only path to truth. Sciences like chemistry, biology, physics, they're often held up as being the only genuine way to have knowledge about the world around us. Those things to do with the humanities, for example, talking about, you know, the arts, philosophy, ethics, history, those things are often considered to be less essential or just irrelevant. And when it comes to Christian faith, if science is the only path to truth, then there is no need for God, there's no need for the wisdom of the Bible. And so I'm going to step you through three observations which highlight why I think that's not the case.

Why actually I think that Christian faith and science are complementary. So the first one is to do with the fact that the universe is orderly. And to explain this, I'm going to take you through a bit about my job as a scientist. So when I'm not working for the church. I work as a geophysicist, which just means I use physics to study rocks.

And that includes looking particularly at things like magnetics, at gravity, at radioactivity. And that tells you something about the rocks under your feet, about rocks that are even buried really deep underground. And so, on the next slide, there's an example of what that might look like for me as a geophysicist. So the image there is showing you an aircraft. It has a special sensor equipped in the tail stinger there called a magnetometer.

And it's measuring the Earth's magnetic field. It's measuring the response of some magnetic rocks that are underground, shown there with the yellow dotted lines. And so rocks contain varying amounts of magnetic minerals in them, and you can measure the strength or the intensity of the magnetic field that they produce. And this is important because those measurements tell you something about what's going on underground, and so that you can use that to map geological faults, changes in rock types, and explore for resources. So the application here, a lot of the time is for exploring for minerals, for energy, resources, for groundwater.

And this is an example of the scientific method at work. Science is a method. It allows you to understand things about the world around you. And the way it does that is through observation. So that is, we can see and measure things in the physics world and come to some understanding about them.

And in this case, we're observing that there's a change in the Earth's magnetic field, and that change is due to a difference in rock type underground. And an important part of what makes this whole thing possible is that these observations are repeatable. They're repeatable. You can go back with that magnetometer, fly over that same ground at the same height, and get the same measurement again and again. And that verifies your original observation.

And so at the heart of all science, on the next slide, please, is this conviction. The heart of all science lies this conviction that there are laws of nature which are constant. They apply to the whole universe. And so, for example, the law of thermodynamics tells me that if I leave a hot cup of coffee on the table, it will eventually become cold. If I am holding onto something and let go, the law of gravity tells me that it will fall to the ground.

There are laws which are constant. Water always freezes at 0 degrees. Speed of light doesn't change. So if the laws of the universe, if they weren't orderly, if they weren't constant, then repeatable observations couldn't be made. We couldn't do Science, like what we're showing you there, wouldn't be possible.

So for science to work, the universe needs to be orderly. And that's really important because from a purely scientific point of view, there's no reason why you should expect the universe to be like that. Science doesn't have anything to say about why the universe is that way. However, from a biblical point of view, an orderly universe is exactly what you would expect.

There are lots of verses in the Bible that reference how God is the creator of the universe, a lawmaker, constant himself, constant and unchanging, how he is the one who sets the laws of nature in place. And verses like this, they're all throughout the Bible. And they build a picture of a God who not only created the universe, but created it with laws, created it with order. So let me give you an example. From Jeremiah 31:35 to 36, it says this.

It is the Lord who provides the sun to light the day, and the moon, and stars to light the night, and who stirs the sea into roaring waves. His name is the Lord of Heaven's armies. And this is what he says. I'm as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to abolish the laws of nature. Now in these verses, God is making a promise to the people of ancient Israel, and he's saying that he will not abandon them, that he'll be faithful to them, even if they aren't being faithful to him.

But if you look at how God is making that promise, that's the interesting part, you might be amazed to find that it's in reference to the constant laws of nature. The rising and the setting of the sun, the tides, they're all these orderly and repeatable observations. They're governed by laws of nature. So God is saying, I'm as reliable as the laws of nature, as reliable as the orbit of the planets, the pattern of the tides. And so the point to emphasize here is that these verses suggest that we should expect order in the universe, right?

These aren't obscure one off verses either. And that is amazing because it gives us the grounds for science to take place. Science works on the assumption that nature is orderly. And if there is order in the universe, as people who are made in God's image, people who have the characteristics and qualities of, of God, we should be able to observe how that works for ourselves. And that's exactly what the first scientists did.

And so the second point to discuss is the fact that science arose out of a Christian worldview. What you probably didn't learn at school. And what you, I think, will find surprising is that science arose out of a Christian worldview. There's. There's no other worldview that allowed science to arise and flourish like Christianity did.

And C.S. lewis, he's a theologian and a scholar. He noted this, and he says men became scientific because they expected law in nature, and they expected law in nature because they believed in a legislator. So let me share with you some thoughts from the people who are accredited with the rise of modern science.

This here is Francis Bacon. He was a philosopher in London who, in 1620, he wrote a book where he advocated for this organized system of obtaining knowledge which relied on observation. And so this work was essential in establishing the scientific method. And because of that, he's sometimes referred to as the father of modern science. He has this to say.

He says God has in fact written two books, not just one, of course, we're all familiar with the first book he wrote, namely Scripture. But he's written a second book called Creation. So he thought that to fully understand God, we needed to study both the Bible and nature. He believed that what he saw in nature reflected God's qualities. It's quite amazing.

Another example is Galileo Galilei. Galileo made fundamental contributions to the sciences of motion, astronomy, and to the scientific method. But what he's probably most well known for is how he championed heliocentrism, this idea that the Earth and the planets revolve around the sun at the center of our solar system at the time, a very controversial view to hold. And so his story is a complicated one. But the short of it is that he did face huge opposition from other astronomers of his time, and he made some very powerful enemies in his day.

But what you might find surprising is that his struggle was never against Christianity, which is sometimes how the story is misconstrued. At no point did Galileo stop believing in God, right? He held this. He says the laws of nature are written by. By the hand of God in the language of mathematics.

Another example is Isaac Newton, widely recognized as one of the most influential scientists of all time, with one of the most famous things that he's known for is developing the law of gravitational law of universal gravitation. So the story goes that one day Newton was sitting under an apple tree and he sees an apple fall to the ground. And that's enough to spark his interest. He wants to know why it is that objects behave in that way. And he successfully uses the scientific method to work out why that was the case.

And so he discovered that gravity is a force that draws objects towards each other. And he published his findings in 1687. What is less well known about Newton is that he's also a devout Christian. Right. In the Principia Mathematica, which is regarded as his greatest scientific work, he wrote this.

He said the most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets could only proceed from the council and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being. Newton, he saw God as this masterful creator who set the laws of physics in motion. And so belief in God at the highest levels, it wasn't seen as a contradiction, it was just the opposite. It was seen as the inspiration and the motivation for their work. And so what I have there is a list of some of the most influential scientists in history who also believed in God.

There's Blaise Pascal, who laid the foundation for the theory of modern probabilities. There's Robert Boyle, who's credited with being the founder of chemistry. James Clerk Maxwell, very important in geophysics, formulated the electromagnetic theory, right? So for many of the great scientific figures who contributed to the rise of science, it was belief in God that they found stimulating. And for many of them, it was their, their prime motivation for scientific work.

That's quite amazing. They would have agreed with the Apostle Paul who says in Romans 1:20, forever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky through everything God has made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. The Apostle Paul is saying that nature itself forms part of the evidence for the existence of God.

And the founders of modern science would agree with him.

The final point, final observation that I'll make here is that there is actually a limit to science. There are limits to science. And so of course, belief in God is not a requirement to do science. And today science has been adopted all over the world in places with vastly different worldviews. Not because there isn't necessarily a conflict with people's own personal beliefs, but because science is successful at explaining things know.

And for many people, I think that that really encapsulates the, the power and the fascination of science. Science enables us to understand what we didn't understand before. And by giving us understanding over nature, it gives us power over nature. And because science is so powerful, it's so successful, many people tend to believe that it has no limits, that science is the, the only way to truth, and that it can in principle explain everything. And so a good example, I think, that demonstrates the limits of science is a cake example.

I've taken this From a guy called Professor John Lennox. He's a professor of mathematics, an apologist, a Christian author. And he describes this really well. So I borrowed this example from him. He says, suppose that you were given a cake.

You don't know anything about the cake, but what you do have at your disposal is science.

You can use any scientific methods you wish to understand the cake. And so what you do is you take it to the world's leading experts in science and you ask each of them for an exhaustive explanation of the cake. And this is what they give you. You take it to a nutritional scientist and they tell you something about the number of calories in the cake and its nutritional effect. You take it to a biochemist, who informs you about the structure of the proteins, the fats, the sugars in the cake.

You take it to a chemist, and they tell you about the elements involved and their bonding. You take it to a physicist, and they analyze the cake in terms of its fundamental particles. The mathematician provides a set of equations that describes the behavior of those particles. Now, each of these experts has given you an exhaustive description of the cake in terms of their scientific discipline. But at the end of it, could you say that the cake has been fully explained?

What if you ask one final question? What if you ask them, why was the cake made? Would they be able to answer it? They're disciplines which can cope with the questions to do with the nature and the structure of the cake. They're the how and the what questions.

Know how is the cake made? What is it made of? They can't answer the why questions, questions about the purpose for which the cake was made. And that really is the reality, rather, is that the only way we'll ever get an answer to that is if we ask the person who made the cake. They're the only person who can reveal the answer to us.

But if they don't disclose the answer to us, then no amount of scientific analysis will give you that answer. And so the person who made it must reveal it to us. But just because science can't tell us the answer to that question doesn't mean we can't know it. You just have to go and ask the person who made the cake, right? And maybe talk to them, and they say, yes, I made it for someone's birthday.

That's an example of a question that science can't answer. As it turns out, there are lots of things that science can't give us an answer to. History, philosophy, literature, the arts, they all lie outside the scope of science. So for example, science can't tell us whether a painting is a masterpiece. We're just a confusing smudge of colors.

It can't tell us about the political power that various historical figures held throughout history. And on top of that, science can't tell us anything about morality, about things to do with ethics. You know, whether something is good or bad, right or wrong. In fact, some of life's biggest questions can't be answered by science. Francis Collins, he's the former director of the Human Genome Project, also a Christian author.

He emphasizes this really well. He says this science is powerless to answer questions such as, why did the universe come into being? What is the meaning of human existence? What happens after we die? Now, science can't answer some of the really big questions in life.

But for scientists like Francis Collins, there's no inconsistency involved in being a scientist at the highest level and simultaneously recognizing that science can't answer every question that you might have.

And so this is the main point I'd really like you to take from this, this morning, is that science and Christian faith do actually complement each other. I like to think of science as the study of how God makes the world work. Science is a way for us to understand the laws of nature that God put in place. And so this is not about using God to fill the gaps. Don't hear me say that.

It's not about reading the Bible as a science textbook. It definitely shouldn't be read that way. Right. It's just about coming to that understanding about where science and Christian faith fit in the bigger picture. The idea that science and Christian faith are in conflict is a myth.

Science and Christian faith do complement each other. And there's a few good reasons to come to that conclusion. The first one we looked at is to do with the fact that science requires an orderly universe within science itself. There's no reason to expect that. But the Bible gives us an answer to that question.

It tells us why we should expect an orderly universe because we have a lawmaker. We also saw that that understanding led to the rise of science, that people who understood that the world was orderly, who understood that they were made in God's image and could understand the world around them, developed the scientific method. That itself is absolutely amazing. And then finally, we looked at how there is a limit to what science can explain. And so what does this mean for you?

For you this morning? This is about coming to that realization that science can't answer every question that you're going to have in life. And it's no discredit to science to say so. But what that means is that you will require another source of information to answer the big questions in life, like why does the universe exist? Why do I exist?

What is my purpose? You will need another source of truth. And I would argue that Christianity, the worldview that gave rise to science, is a really logical place to start. In John 8, 31, 32, this is what Jesus said to the people who believed in him. He says, you are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings and you will know the truth and the truth set you free.

So in these verses, Jesus is talking to people who followed him and he's saying to you, if you choose to follow him, if you choose to become his disciple, there is a truth for you to discover and a freedom for you to experience. The reality is that science can't tell you what is morally right or wrong, but Jesus can. And he says to love your neighbour. Science can't tell you how much you matter, but Jesus can. And he says that you are loved beyond measure, that he would lay his life down for you.

Science can't tell you why you are here, but Jesus can. And he says that you are essential. He says that you're not a mistake, you're not an accident, that you are here for a purpose. And so, as we reflect on that, there is a truth to be discovered outside of science and it can be found in Jesus, in his life, his death and resurrection. Let's pray.

Dear Lord, as we come before you this morning, we just want to thank you for science. Lord, we just want to thank you for how amazing it is that we can comprehend and understand the world around us. Lord, you have given us, as people made in your image the ability to do that and all the good things that have come for that, Lord. Lord, all the quality of life that we enjoy because of science. But I pray, Lord, as well, that we would never put any of that above you.

That there would be a recognition, Lord, that our own knowledge, our own power, Lord, could never exceed yours. And so we come before you, Lord, just recommitting ourselves to you with that understanding, Lord, that. That you are the creator of this universe, Lord, that you are the one who has instilled us with life, Lord, that you love us and you care for us. And as we reflect on that, Lord, we're just in awe of who you are. And we just thank you for that, Lord.

In Jesus mighty name, amen.