Is Christianity in Conflict with Science?

The McCrindle 2017 Faith and Belief in Australia report indicated that issues with science is one of the main reasons why Australians reject Christianity.[1] In this article, we will explore the connection between science and Christianity.

A Definition of Science

The English word “science” comes from the Latin scientia, which refers to knowledge in general.[2] However, today the field of epistemology deals with knowledge and science refers to “the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.”[3]

The History of Science

Historically Christians were one of the main drivers in the development of the discipline of science. For instance, Melvin Calvin writes, “As I try to discern the origin of that conviction, I seem to find it in a basic notion discovered 2000 or 3000 years ago, and enunciated first in the Western world by the ancient Hebrews: namely that the universe is governed by a single God, and is not the product of the whims of many gods, each governing his own province according to his own laws. This monotheistic view seems to be the historical foundation for modern science.”[4]

Accordingly, there have been several Christians who made many scientific advances. Here we can only highlight a few including Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), who formulated a model with the earth rotating around the sun; Francis Bacon (1561–1626), who developed the scientific method; Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), who advanced the telescope and made various astronomical observations; Johann Kepler (1571–1630), who purposed elliptical orbits; Robert Boyle (1627–1691), who made advances in chemistry and formulated the law named after him to do with the relationship between the pressure and volume of a gas; Isaac Newton (1642–1727), who developed calculus and formulated laws of motion and gravity; Michael Faraday (1791–1867), who invented the laws of electromagnetism and the first electric motor; James Joule (1818–1889), who discovered the electrical relationship between the current and resistance of a conductor; Gregor Mendel (1822–1884), who developed the biology of genetics; Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), who discovered that microorganisms cause disease and developed pasteurization to kill such pathogens; William Thompson, Lord Kelvin (1824–1907), who had a significant role in the development of the second law of thermodynamics and the absolute temperature scale; and James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), who developed the theory of electromagnetism.[5]

Also, there are many recent Christians who have impacted science; some of the prominent ones include Francis Collins, who led the Human Genome Project, John Polkinghorne (1930–2021), who developed mathematical models to calculate the paths of quantum particles; George Ellis, who co-authored The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time with physicist Stephen Hawking; and Andrew Pinsent, who contributed to the creation of the Large Electron-Positron Collider. All this to say, if Christianity and science are in conflict, why is it that some of the best scientists were Christians, not to mention that the scientific method grew out of a Christian worldview. Further, consideration of the presuppositions of science also reinforces this notion.

Some Presuppositions of Science

Some of the presuppositions of science include:

“1. The existence of a theory-independent, external world;

2. The orderly nature of the external world;

3. The knowability of the external world;

4. The existence of truth;

5. The laws of logic;

6. The reliability of our cognitive and sensory faculties to serve as truth gatherers and as a source of justified beliefs in our intellectual environment;[6]

7. The adequacy of language to describe the world;

8. The existence of values used in science (e.g., “test theories fairly and report test results honestly”);

9. The uniformity of nature and induction;

10. The existence of numbers.”[7]

Such presuppositions fit within the Christian worldview, and they show that beliefs such as scientism,[8] which depending on the form, holds that “one should only believe scientific truths,” besides not only undermining itself, also shows that science is a portion of knowledge and requires a robust worldview to undergird the practice of science.

How Did the Perceived Conflict Arise?

Why then is there a perceived conflict between science and Christianity on the popular level? In part because it has been popularized for over a hundred years.[9] Also, because of the interpretation of the Bible with issues including the Big Bang[10] and evolution. These are important matters, which are discussed in more detail in other articles, but in brief many Christians hold to both theories, so once again, there need not be a conflict.

Conclusion

While this is a complex matter, we have seen that science grew out of a Christian worldview, and many Christians developed the scientific method. Consequently, the claim that Christianity conflicts with science is doubtful. Instead, there are good reasons to think that faith and science can go together. Christianity teaches that humans are rational beings, and we can search out and explore the wonders of creation.

By David Graieg 20 June 2022

[1] “Faith and Belief in Australia.” McCrindle, 2017. https://faithandbelief.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Faith-and-Belief-in-Australia-Infographic_McCrindle_2017-UPDATED.pdf Similar results can be found in the US; see “Atheism Doubles Among Generation Z.” Barna, January 24, 2018. https://www.barna.com/research/atheism-doubles-among-generation-z/

[2] “Science.” Etymology Online Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=science (accessed May 5, 2022).

[3] Soanes and Stevenson, Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

[4] Calvin, Chemical Evolution, 258. Similarly, Lewis states, “Men became scientific because they expected Law in Nature, and they expected Law in Nature because they believe in a Legislator” (Miracles, 110). Also, Stark argues, “Gods are the fundamental feature of religions … The ‘wisdom of the east’ did not give rise to science, nor did Zen meditation turn people’s hearts against slavery… science was not the work of Western secularists or even deists; it was entirely the work of devout believers in an active, conscious, creator God. And it was faith in the goodness of this same God and in the mission of Jesus that led other devout Christians to end slavery … Western civilization really was God-given” (For the Glory of God, 376).

[5] For a more comprehensive list, see https://creation.com/creation-scientists

[6] Plantinga’s evolutionary argument against naturalism argues that naturalism does not provide good reason to trust one’s cognitive faculties, such that the conflict lies not between science and Christianity but between science and naturalism. See Plantinga, Where the Conflict Really Lies, chp. 10, or here is a short video summarizing the argument: “The Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism,” Center for Philosophy of Religion, February 15, 2018. https://youtu.be/qap_FyQxILM

[7] Craig and Moreland, Philosophical Foundations of a Christian Worldview, 372.

[8] Against scientism, Rescher writes, “The theorist who maintains that science is the be-all and end all- that what is not in science textbooks is not worth knowing is an ideologist with a peculiar and distorted doctrine of his own. For him, science is no longer a sector of the cognitive enterprise but an all-inclusive world-view. This is the doctrine not of science but of scientism. To take this stance is not to celebrate science but to distort it.” (Studies in Value Theory, 153–4).

[9] Cf. White, The Warfare of Science; Draper, History of the Conflict between Religion and Science.

[10] In fact, the big bang theory was first proposed by Catholic priest Georges Lemaître and was opposed because it opened the door for theism, as the following quote by Holle indicates, “The big bang theory requires a recent origin of the Universe that openly invites the concept of creation” (The Intelligent Universe, 237).

Bibliography

“Atheism Doubles Among Generation Z.” Barna, January 24, 2018. https://www.barna.com/research/atheism-doubles-among-generation-z/

“Creation Scientists and Other Specialists of Interest.” Creation Ministries International. https://creation.com/creation-scientists

Calvin, Melvin. Chemical Evolution. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.

Draper, John William. History of the Conflict between Religion and Science. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1881.

“Faith and Belief in Australia.” McCrindle, 2017. https://faithandbelief.org.au/

Hoyle, Fred. The Intelligent Universe. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1983.

Lewis, C. S. Miracles. London: Collins, 1947.

Plantinga, Alvin. Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Rescher, Nicholas. Studies in Value Theory: Collected Papers Volume 8. Deutschland: Ontos Verlag, 2006.

“Science.” Etymology Online Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=science (accessed May 5, 2022).

Soanes, Catherine, and Angus Stevenson. Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11^th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Stark, Rodney. For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts and the End of Slavery. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003.

“The Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism.” Center for Philosophy of Religion. February 15, 2018. https://youtu.be/qap_FyQxILM

White, Andrew Dickson. The Warfare of Science. New York: D. Appleton, 1876.

William Lane Craig, and J. P. Moreland. Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, 2^nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 2017.