How to Mix Science and Faith
As a nursing student, I am taking a lot of science classes. Mostly life sciences, to be sure, but science none the less. And one thing, in all my studies, that I have noticed is how all life is intimately tied together in evolution’s intricate dance. Just look at mitochondria. Another thing I’ve noticed is that my science professors either side-step this entirely or refer to it only obliquely. Yes, this is Oklahoma, the buckle of the Bible Belt, but still. I wish that at least one professor would come out and say something along the lines of: “Life on this planet, over the course of billions of years, evolved from single-celled organisms to the myriad life forms we see today.”
One of my professors, who happens to be demonstrably conservative, very nearly came close to acknowledging this, but stopped short. He was discussing the harmful effects of artificial fats, like partially hydrogenated fats, on the human body. He told us that naturally occurring animal fats were more easily processed by the human body because…..then he stopped himself here. What he didn’t want to, couldn’t, acknowledge was that humans process animal fats more efficiently than laboratory-created fats because we evolved on this planet eating the other animals that also evolved on this planet!!!!!! But his conditioning could not allow him to admit to this simple truth. (I am in no way advocating the eating of animals or animal by-products to my readers that might have a problem with this, I am simply illustrating a point.)
But I have to say that I get it. I know why professors are reluctant to state the facts of evolution, a lot of christians get all bent out of shape and scared by the very thought of evolution. For folks that frequently decry “political correctness”, they sure are hypersensitive about this; and they stamp their widdle feet and get all pouty when presented with things that don’t fit into their neat little packages. To me, this speaks of a very childish kind of faith. If a person’s faith is shaken and devastated by learning about The Big Bang and evolutionary fact, well it wasn’t much of a faith to begin with, so he or she isn’t out much.
As a Christian, my faith is in no way threatened by evolution, or the Big Bang, or the true age of the Earth or the Universe, heliocentrism, and that the earth isn’t flat. But I don’t find it necessary to completely segregate faith and science. For most other christians, I would have to say, please separate science and religion, you aren’t any good at mixing them. Setting aside the fact that I do not hold with biblical literalism, the bible is not a scientific text!
So why do people want to use the bible as a science book? That’s easy: fear. Let’s look at the number 2 billion, that’s about how many years multi-cellular organisms have been on earth. 2,000,000,000. Looks harmless enough, right? But that is not an easy number to truly contemplate. Once a person starts really thinking about how many years that is compared to the 80-odd most people get, well, bless their pea-pickin’ little hearts, they just can’t abide it. 80 (one zero) to 2,000,000,000 (nine zeros), not really a fair fight is it? Don’t even ask most people to start thinking about the age of the universe. Which is, according to Cosmology 101, 13.7 billion years old! If we were to state that comparing the age of the universe to that of a human, with 1 year=1 billion years, then the universe is a teenager! And multi-cellular life on earth, at 2 billion, is but a mere toddler. As for homo sapiens (that’s us!), according to The Smithsonian Institution, we’ve been kicking around for only 130,000 years. If I’m figuring right, we haven’t even been conceived yet. This is where the analogy breaks down, I tend to think of humanity as in its toddlerhood. Currently raising toddler number two, I know how destructive, selfish, and unthinking toddlers can be. And yep, that’s pretty much us as a species: given to tearing stuff up and throwing temper tantrums when we don’t get absolutely everything just the way we want it and in a timely manner.
Seems like a lot of people have a real problem with not being the biggest grown-up on the block. How many among us would be comfortable admitting how scary everything can be? This fear of fact, fear of the astronomical, is a form of agoraphobia, some people have it and some people don’t. I can stand under the big, Oklahoma sky and love it, not fear it. My physical position on Earth is much like that of a microbe clinging to the surface of a soccerball, but I never fear that I will loose the bond of gravity and go spinning off into space. While I can’t truly grasp the enormity of 13.7 billion years, I don’t fear it, I don’t have to deny it. I embrace it in whatever dim fashion I can.
As for faith and science, I see the Hand of God in the majesty of the Big Bang. I cannot claim to know the mind of the Almighty, but it seems more probable to me that He is more present in the terrifyingly large number of 13.7 billion than in the mere 6000 or so that young earthers want to grant Him. As if we could box God into a less fearful package for our own comfort! The sheer sacrilege of such a thought is undeniable.
And why should my faith be threatened by the notion that my ancestors were much hairier apes and didn’t just spring from the mud wearing the latest style hat, as it were? Please don’t burden me with the “In His image” line. Here again, people want to limit God, make Him just like us, only older.
And to those who don’t want their children to learn about anything that isn’t in the bible, like dinosaurs (I’m not kidding), well don’t come crying at my door when your precious babies finally learn the facts for themselves and hate you for deceiving them. Didn’t God give us these questioning minds? These searching souls? If so, why would He want us to freeze our knowledge base at that level more suited to a nomadic, desert tribe 5000 years ago, at that time void of education and rife with superstition? The Creation Story is just that, a story, presented to a people with no scientific knowledge, in a manner that was comprehensible to them at the time. Humanity has matured in the intervening years, even if only a little and only in some ways.
I have my Truth, you have your Truth, everybody has their own, individual Truths, but facts are the same for everyone, whether you like it or not. My challenge to other Christians, heck to anyone who needs to grow a little, is this: don’t try to make God, or your Truth, more manageable by trying to shrink Him down to your size. It won’t work. Grow in your own faith, or Truth, until you can accept that others might not share that Truth or faith, but that the difference doesn’t lessen yours at all. And try not to fear the astronomical, it can’t hurt you. The only thing that will weaken your faith is fear-fear of the unknown, fear of the different, fear of feeling insignificant.
But science, science is not to be feared, but embraced. The God of Abraham, the God of Jesus, the God of the Big Bang, the God of evolution, He gave me a scientific mind and I won’t deny His gift.
[…] DavidLCross.com: On Life, Spirituality and Online Business - Ideas, suggestions, information and wha… wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt As a nursing student, I am taking a lot of science classes. Mostly life sciences, to be sure, but science none the less. And one thing, in all my studies, that I have noticed is how all life is intimately tied together in evolution’s intricate dance. Just look at mitochondria. Another thing I’ve noticed is that my science professors either side-step this entirely or refer to it only obliquely. Yes, this is Oklahoma, the buckle of the Bible Belt, but still. I wish that at least one professor wou […]
March 4th, 2008 at 7:50 pmI have never understood the literal Christians reluctance to accept the true age of the earth or evolution. And I’ve known many who are insulted at the notion that they evolved from “apes” — even if I felt a strong urge to suggest they really haven’t made much progress, truthfully. In fact I tend to view it as devolution when I look at the current state of the world.
March 26th, 2008 at 2:30 pmJust some food for thought… Who exactly are you attacking in this article?? Literal Christians understand that dinosaurs ARE in the Bible (see Job, for example). Please also note that there are 2 camps of Creationists, young earth vs. old earth. Not everyone who believes in Creation subscribes to the young earth timetable. It seems you are stamping your widdle feet about your professor who doesn’t have the same scientific pseudo-religion that you do. It takes just as much faith to believe the “facts” of evolution as it does to believe the “facts” of the Bible. I guess, being a Christian, the Bible’s just not your thing?? Science is not FACT, it’s a collection of theories. The world was flat until it was round. The sun revolved around the Earth, remember, until Galileo was severely persecuted for asserting the outlandish idea that the Earth revolved around the sun. Bloodletting was the cure for what ails you. And remember that guy who proved that maggots didn’t come from rotting meat after all?? Everything is true until it’s not. It’s not always the Bible believers who are stubborn and hostile. I just wish that some evolutionists would have civil debate about the “facts,” recognizing that nobody participating in this discussion was around billions or millions or thousands of years ago to verify these theories. Science is about inquiry, about looking for answers, not about squashing those who don’t think like we do. Please engage in some intelligent debate rather than just simplistic Creationist bashing. Also, please note that not all Intelligent Design subscribers are Biblical Creationists. There are many theories and many different thinkers. Please don’t cram everyone into the same tiny little box.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:07 amHoly crap, Dis! Where to begin?
How about with HA HA HA HA!!!!
Oh my. There isn’t even a way to answer this because you have not even the most basic understanding of science, scientific method or, for that matter, thinking.
Wow. Were you absent in third grade or what?
April 4th, 2008 at 8:41 pmAs I said, why not have some intelligent debate? Now you, Cristina, are just resorting to a personal attack rather than a simple discussion about the science. This was exactly my point. You have no knowledge of my “understanding of science.” Let’s see… scientific method in its most basic, third grade form…
1. Ask a question
2. Gather information about the question
3. Form a HYPOTHESIS (educated guess)
4. Test the hypothesis
5. Develop a theory about your hypothesis.
6. Tell others what you found.
Nothing in there about bash others who don’t agree. Here is the definition of theory (as in theory of evolution or Creation theory):
April 5th, 2008 at 4:18 pmscientific principle to explain phenomena: a set of facts, propositions, or principles analyzed in their relation to one another and used, especially in science, to explain phenomena (taken from
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861719564/theory.html, in case you’d like to look it up yourself). As you can see, a theory is SOMETIMES a set of facts, but it is also sometimes a set of propositions or principles analyzed in their relation to one another and used… to explain phenomena (like the origin of the universe).
I don’t engage in this conversation to try to sway anyone to my way of thinking. I am simply searching for someone who is open to an exchange of information and ideas so that I have a greater understanding of the “facts” behind this staunch evolutionist thinking. I seek to understand you and why you believe what you believe. You simply seek to call me stupid. What are you afraid of? It’s a shame you are so self-limiting in this regard, since I believe we have much to learn from eachother. So, Prairie, if you’re reading this, and I know you are, how about it? Are you up for a debate or do you just also simply want to call me stupid and be done with it? I find your writing to be very interesting and I’d love to hear more about why you believe what you do. Especially since I find you to be my direct opposite in almost every area of thought. Very stimulating, I think. Why are we afraid of questioning? Why do we call those who question stupid? Isn’t questioning what the scientific method is all about??
Dissenting Voice-I don’t care to debate you, I’ve been debating your ilk since childhood. I will tell you where I come from, though, which you should’ve been able to gather from this post. I grew up in a very conservative household and attended a VERY conservative evangelical church throughout. One in which dancing, drinking, and thinking for oneself were all frowned upon. We were to simply to take the word of the bantam rooster in the six hundred dollar suit who was strutting about on the stage, er, at the altar. As that child I believed in the Genesis creation myth. I would pose this to you, do you think it is possible that God, knowing that His audience had little scientific knowledge, presented the creation of the universe (via Big Bang) and of the creatures and people of the earth (via evolution) in a manner in which a nomadic, largely illiterate at the time, desert tribe could understand?
And once again, my God gave me a fine, scientific mind which I stubbornly insist on using despite all opposition. I questioned every teaching of the church I grew up in, I questioned my faith, and my faith in church is shot to hell, but my faith in God is intact.
By the way, if you fall in line with the majority of Americans who are creationists (51% as of 2005), then you really aren’t questioning are you? It doesn’t take a lot of courage to go along with the crowd. Do you believe the way you do because you grew up that way? Are your parents creationists?
In short, the reason I accept the Big Bang and evolution is because I am not afraid. I don’t need to believe the bible was faxed straight from heaven, in KJV no less, to have faith in God and in Christ. Not all christians are bible literalists and it doesn’t make us less christian. Perhaps instead of me questioning science, you should try questioning dogma.
April 5th, 2008 at 4:59 pmI have read most of your posts and you are attacking me without even asking what it is I believe. You assume you know me, but you obviously don’t. I’m not in the 51% as of 2005 that you speak of. I don’t go along with the crowd. You don’t even know what my ilk is. As I said before, I am questioning and looking for someone who can explain and discuss the science behind this whole issue. I guess I mistook you for that person. I sure am sorry that you’ve obviously been done wrong by the church, but I don’t represent them either. I thought you would be a reasonably intelligent individual that could discuss science, but you have obviously turned this into a VERY religious argument. I’m not the rooster that you are rebelling against. I wasn’t trying to have a discussion about religion, neither yours nor my lack of one. I guess science really isn’t your thing. Sorry to bother you. You know you speak with the ferver of a fundamentalist. I’m not scared of God or the BIG BANG, but I might be a little scared of you.
April 6th, 2008 at 2:13 amOnce again your reading comprehension does you no favor. If you choose to have a conversation about evolution from a scientific standpoint do not accuse me of attacking christians in your opening salvo. Do not say the bible is not my thing, do not say that science is not a fact but simply a set of educated guesses and then act surprised when people take you as a creationist or at least an I.D.er. YOU chose to frame this “debate” as a series of attacks but it was you who launched the first one. And then in your last missive you claim a lack of religion and say that science is not my thing.
In my original post, I was not attacking anyone. I simply tried to explain where I stand in relation to evolution vis a vis my faith. And I did not come to these viewpoints as rebellion against anything.
Look, if you don’t want to be crammed into a “little box” along with creationists, don’t talk like one. You know, looks like a duck, walks like duck, etc. And since you called yourself a dissenting voice then you sort of set us up as antagonists. Why don’t you set out, in black and white, EXACTLY what it is you do believe, that’s what I did in the original post. Then we can go from there.
April 6th, 2008 at 7:31 amOK, first, I followed your Cosmology 101 link that led me to the NASA website and on that website I found these quotes in their FAQ section:
"The Big Bang theory is just a theory. Couldn’t it be wrong?
Yes, it could be wrong. In science, no theory is ever absolutely proved true. Some theories, however, are stronger and better supported than others…" and then it goes on to explain that the BIG BANG THEORY is one of the most supported theories in science whilst it is still a theory, as I was saying in my earlier post. Also, there is this quote which NASA got from the NAS: "Truth in science, however, is never final, and what is accepted as a fact today may be modified or even discarded tomorrow. Science has been greatly successful at explaining natural processes, and this has led not only to increased understanding of the universe but also to major improvements in technology and public health and welfare."
This sums up my point. It is not about what I believe or don’t believe. It is also not about what you do or don’t believe. It is about the assumptions we make first. My assumption is that science is wonderful and fascinating, but still limited by what we are able to observe or extrapolate from other scientific theories (which may or may not be actual fact). My point is that we should recognize at the beginning of any scientific discussion that there are FACTS, but we don’t have them all yet. We are trying very hard to understand the origins of the universe and we have some great explanations, but they are not infallible. They continue to be built upon as we observe more, as technology advances and allows us to see more than we’ve seen before. Which theory we believe is irrelevant to the discussion of the information. We needn’t attack eachother’s beliefs to learn from eachother. I believe there is a God who is much bigger than myself. I also believe that whether I evolved or was created or whether my ancestors were created and then evolved, doesn’t matter to me. Whether God used a big bang or something else to create the universe or whether the universe came to be all by itself I cannot claim to know. I just find the science interesting. I am not threatened either way. Science doesn’t scare me, but it IS a series of educated guesses that have been tested, NOT unquestionable fact (in many cases). I don’t know which theory of the origin of the universe that I believe yet. None of them are able to be proven without a doubt. At this point, it’s just a matter of how we interpret the information we have (and all sides of this argument seem to have the same information) and very importantly, what we CHOOSE to believe. It is a choice. So evolution-theory-believers and creation-theory-believers should stop attacking eachother with their science and religion clubs, you and myself included. We all came from the same place, whatever that place might be. We should be able to have, as I said before, an intelligent scientific discussion.
Now, for my religious beliefs. I do believe in God, but like you, I think, I also believe that the Christian church and religion have done much harm to people. Therefore, I don’t belong to or attend any church and do not consider myself "religious". Furthermore, since the Bible was compiled by the Christian church, whose authority I reject, I am not decided on how infallible that book is. I can’t even find out who compiled the books of the Bible for sure, so I hesitate to blindly believe that it is the end all and be all of God’s message to man. This is to say I am not a Biblical literalist.
I keep telling you that I’m searching for reliable information, whether it is in the realm of science or religion. I seek to think. I don’t particularly care what you believe as much as I seek to know the information on which you base your beliefs. How you interpret that information into a final thought is of no consequence to me. You said that you believe what you do because you are not afraid. Is that really why you believe? It seems that you are more intelligent than that, since between fear and lack of fear, neither one seems like a rational reason for a belief in a theory. I don’t wish to argue, just to know. Just to build on my knowledge base so that I may come to conclusions of my own. I am thought of as stupid by evolutionists for not blindly following with their crowd and as a heretic by the creationists for not blindly following them. I question both theories and therefore fit into no crowd. I can’t say this any clearer: I have not decided which theory I believe and simply seek to converse with people on both sides to understand why they believe what they believe, hoping that maybe someone will have valuable information to share about this issue. Are you willing to join me in dropping our clubs to just explore the information or do I need to find someone else?
Oh, and on the dinosaur issue, I think there is some flawed science going on with that, but it is obvious they existed. I don’t think I believe that they were extinct before man came along and I think there are some very silly assumptions being taught to us in that area of science. We seem to be taking a lot of liberties in what we teach as fact regarding these ancient reptiles, but that’s another post, isn’t it?
I hope to have more discussion on these issues. Thanks for hanging in there with me thus far.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:52 pmWell, stick around, Dissenting. For years now I have been giving chapter and verse on what I believe to be wrong with the modern American church to anyone who will listen. Soon I will be starting a series on faith, as soon as I figure out where to put it.
For a purely scientific take on these matters, I recommend P Z Myers here: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/
But for now, I’m a praise-hound, if you’ve read some of my fiction, tell me what you think.
April 6th, 2008 at 6:05 pm