The coexistence of Religion and Science

Louis Pasteur once said, “Science brings me nearer to God.” Is this sentiment an instance of cognitive dissonance, or a model that future scientists at Rose-Hulman can learn from? On Thursday, November 2, dozens of students and even some professors showed up to a panel discussion composed of three Christian professors asking the question, “Can faith and science co-exist?” David Miller, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, made it very clear that no matter what science was capable of, it was not all-encompassing. As he put it, “Science doesn’t purport to answer all questions. If all things could be answered through the scientific method, why is there an HSS department?”

To answer the discussion question, the panelists started by answering a number of previously submitted questions, and then turned to the audience for a more spontaneous conversation. As the event was sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, three speakers were all Christian, but when one student asked why, Penney Miller, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, noted that since the panel was formed by a religious group, it was their prerogative.

She went on to say that, “I would like to encourage you to pursue organizing another panel that has other perspectives.” She also noted that, “It might have been more appropriate to entitle the outreach ‘Can Christian faith and science co-exist?’”

Of course, not all of the students in attendance were Christian. At the door, one student was handing out flyers advocating the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM). It promised a “better” heaven with a stripper factory and a beer volcano, and demanded to be taught alongside evolution and intelligent design. However, the flyer also claimed, “The Church of FSM is real, totally legit, and backed by hard science. Anything that comes across as humor or satire is purely coincidental.”

The questions were varied, but many focused on the subject of evolution and the age of the Earth. Bruce Allison, Professor of Chemistry, fielded the majority of these questions with short lectures on half-lives, radioactive decay, and radioisotope detection methods. In terms of faith, he outlined some of the main Christian views, and it seemed that the panelists largely agreed upon what he called old earth creationism (though P. Miller didn’t make her position on origins clear during the event). This view accepts scientific evidence of old age (interpreting the Genesis account as a commonly poetic type of Ancient Middle-Eastern literature) yet affirms that humans were created separately by God and not through evolution.

While evolution and origins were the topics of around half the questions, the panel remained focused on the subject of the discussion, and one theme was repeated frequently by all the panelists. As D. Miller put it, “If you’re really committed to truth, you’re always going to be questioning and investigating and learning more.” He went on to say, “If you want to find the truth, you must be willing to look for it, in particular, you must be willing to look beyond what makes you comfortable.” As all three were Christians, they made it clear that they believed that such a search would lead a person to Christ, but they made it equally clear that they believed that Christians too must constantly seek truth.

“As a Christian, I don’t stop asking questions,” mentioned P. Miller. “We should always be investigating and challenging ourselves in terms of deeper truths, even in terms of the Christian faith.’

Other questions were directed more toward personal faith and the status of faith in society. One student asked why religion has shifted from one of the leaders of science to a vocal enemy of science as fundamentalist Christianity has today. Allison immediately rejected the premise of the question noting that, “Obviously, here’s three [scientists] that haven’t rejected Christianity!”

He noted that while Einstein was a “soft agnostic” in terms of personal faith, Einstein still felt that if there was an explosion, somebody must have pulled the pin.

How can faith affect science? P. Miller certainly feels that it strongly impacts her work. “They more than co-exist, they are an integral part of each other.” She noted that her ethics and standards for intellectual honesty are strongly based on her Christian faith. She also made it clear that she strongly feels that even a creationist who rejects the conclusions made by evolutionary science on religious grounds can certainly work to advance the field. She added, “From a faith perspective, they should have no expectations that their work will not come under fire. However, if both parties are seeking a common goal - advancement of the field - they have more in common than this perceived conflict.”

So can faith and science co-exist? These three Christian professors demonstrated that it has for them. Without dissenting voices in the panel, there was little debate over the best form of faith, or even whether faith should co-exist with science. At the same time, the panel left little doubt that such a combination is possible and their advocacy of a continual search for truth, both in and out of science, is certainly something that people of any faith can benefit from.