Science Versus Religion

So, I wasn't sure that I wanted to tackle this topic. But after Pope Francis talked about the Theory of Evolution and the Big Bang theory, I felt like I had to at least throw my hat in the ring. Now, to be clear, I am not Catholic, and I don't really have any strong feelings about the Catholic church in general. In fact, this post is really more about the relationship that science and religion (namely Christianity) have had since their inception. And also what I believe that relationship should evolve into. Now, contrary to what the media would have you believe, Pope Francis did not actually say that he believes that the Theory of Evolution and the Big Bang theory are scientific fact. Time Magazine did a pretty good article clearing up the confusion about what the Pope actually said. I highly suggest you go read it here:
  Sorry, But Media Coverage of Pope Francis is Papal Bull

Bad puns about the Catholic church aside, it's actually rare and refreshing to see the media point out its own mistakes. Even if it's pointing out the mistakes of rival news sites. The moral of the story? Don't believe everything you read. And don't feel bad, I was fooled too.

The point of this post is to address the supposed war between science and religion. People seem to want one or the other. Science wants religion's conviction, and religion wants science's affirmation. Science won't back down from their theories and hypothesis, and religion won't back down from their faith and doctrine. The irony here?
   There should not be any conflict between science and religion at all. 

That's it. Period. Science and religion are two beasts that should be entirely capable of coexisting. Let's look at the definitions of science and religion:

sci·ence
/ˈsīəns/
noun
  1. the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.

re·li·gion
/rəˈlijən/
noun
  1. the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.

In layman's terms, science is the study of the physical world. And religion is the study and worship of the spiritual world. From these definitions it's easy to see the potential for conflict. Now, an important note that I need to make before going on is that I am a Christian. Yes, I believe in Christ as the literal Son of God and yes I believe that the Bible is God's truth and word to us. Everything I say, do and write stems from those beliefs. So when I talk about the relationship between science and religion, I'm really talking about the relationship between science and the Christian church. Not the relationship between science and religion as a whole. Because for many religions, science is the enemy. But for us as Christians, science should be the ultimate tool for revealing the glory of God's creation to us. Now, to be fair, the church has a checkered past when it comes to science. One only needs to read about Galileo to see that the church hasn't always had science's back. But I would challenge that many scientists are hampered in their efforts by their refusal to consider the possibility of an intelligent designer. Some would have you believe that science and religion are like oil and water. They can't mix no matter how hard you try. But I would compare science and religion to the Chinese philosophy Yin and Yang. Yes, I realize that I'm referencing another religion in my attempt to illustrate my beliefs about science and religion but bear with me and I promise it will make sense.

Without going into Taoist beliefs, the concept of Yin and Yang simply describes how two seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected or interdependent to each other and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to each other. I really like that concept. Maybe it just speaks to my inner Star Wars nerd but I feel like this concept applies to a lot in life.

Consider this statement:

    "Religion finds its validation in science, and science finds its aspiration in religion."
Who said that? I did. Just now. This pretty much sums up my idea of how science and religion should interact. To put it another way:
We as Christians use science to explore the wonders and glories of the creation; all in an effort to praise and honor the one who created it. 
The purpose of science should be to unravel the mysteries and complexities of creation; all in an effort to praise and honor the one who designed it. 
Now as we see in the world around us these ideas are rarely put into practice. There are plenty of Christians who are so dogmatically entrenched in doctrine that they label anything discovered by science as heretical and refuse to listen to common sense. Likewise there plenty of intellectuals who are so committed to reason and rationale that they refuse to even consider any possibility of an intelligent designer. But what happens when these two antitheses meet? What happens when people of faith take up the mantle of scientific study and vice versa? You get some of the greatest scientific discoveries ever made. Scientists the likes of whom the world has yet to see again. Scientists like Sir Francis Bacon, Johannes Kepler, Rene Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Robert Boyle, Michael Faraday, William Thomson Kelvin and Sir Isaac Newton himself. When Christians are inspired by the glory of the creation and the power of the Creator, they study the creation as closely as possible in order to learn more about the Creator. And by doing so, discover things like the laws of physics, modern philosophy, even the scientific method, oftentimes the most holy doctrine for atheists, was developed by a devout Christian!

My point is that Christians shouldn't be afraid of science and reason. Instead we should view it as a tool and a method by which we learn more about the Creator of the universe. We should by no means view science as an enemy to our faith. No matter how hard people try to present it that way. Either science is a proof of our faith, or a challenge to it. Science will never be able to disprove the existence of God. No more than it will be able to prove the legitimacy of macro evolution. The irony is that science cannot really prove anything. Read here for more on that:

           Science Can’t Prove Anything
In the same way that science will never be able to disprove the existence of God, religion will never be able to discredit the merit and observations of science. And the more we as Christians stand in the way of scientific progress, the more we jade the hearts of the people we wish to reach with the love of Christ. Now, I'm not saying that we should blindly accept everything that science proclaims to be fact. I would also say that we shouldn't blindly accept everything that we hear in church as truth. It's a constant push and pull. A perpetual give and take. So, in closing, I call on all Christians who read this post to stop blindly opposing science. Instead, get out there yourself! Research and learn more about the topic that challenges your faith! Who knows? You just might learn something. And to all the scientists and intellectuals who read this post, stop entrenching yourselves in the dogma of reason. Remember that science is always changing as our understanding of creation changes. Instead of fighting to suppress ideas that are anathema to your own, (kinda like the church) welcome them! Learn about them and test their merits. That's what scientists are supposed to do. When science and religion cooperate to learn more about the world around us, everyone benefits. Only when science finds its aspiration in religion, will religion find its validation in science.

Well, this was a fun topic to write about. I promised myself when I started writing again that I would stay away from hotly debated topics. I'm a terrible debater. I take everything way too personally. But sometimes things just need to be said. And unfortunately all of my upcoming blog posts also feature controversial subjects. We'll see how this goes. Thanks for sticking with me all the way through this wall of text. I've been editing the layout of my blog and now there's a page where you can find my social media if you wanna connect with me there as well as a a page where you can support me on Patreon. Shameless self promotion out of the way. I that hope at the very least this post has made you think about your personal beliefs concerning science and religion. I'm sure there are dozens if not hundreds of  points that I missed so I encourage you to research some more yourself. Let me know in the comments what conclusions you come to. And if you gave up on reading this after the first paragraph, thanks for stopping by!

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