Science and Christian Faith

Science and ChristianFaith
To learnmore about this topic, which many people (maybe you?) think is fascinating andimportant, see the homepagefor ESL Cafe (mywebspace.wisc.edu/crusbult/web/eslcafe/index.htm#science)which includes a link to this page, written byCraig Rusbult, Ph.D.

Worldviews
As individuals and in groups, we have a worldview — our view ofthe world, used for living in the world — that includes our views of nature andscience, humans and God. Mypesonal worldview, and your personal worldview, influence our answers for awide range of questions: What arehumans, why we are here, and what is our purpose in life? and our goals for life? Time is very valuable (it's "thestuff life is made of") so how should we use our time? Do we think reality includes onlymatter/energy, or is there more? What can we know (and how) and with how much certainty? Can we know if God exists? If God exists, whatcharacteristics does God have, and what relationship does God have with theuniverse, and what actions does God do in our world?

     God'sActions — Natural and Miraculous
    Christians believe that God works in two related ways — usually natural-appearing, and occasionally miraculous-appearing — because this iswhat the Bible teaches, and (for many of us) because of our personalexperiences.
     We believe that"natural" does not mean "without God" because Goddesigned and created natural process; and natural does not mean "without control" because God cansupernaturally guide natural process to produce a desired natural-appearing resultinstead of another natural-appearing result.
     We believethat God does miracles, so (if science claims that miracles do not occur) doesthis produce a conflict between faith and science? No, because science does not claim that miracles areimpossible; the goal of science is to understandnatural process (the way God usually works) and scientific research requires aworld that is usually-natural (not an "Alice in Wonderland" worldwith frequent surprises) but it doesn't have to be always-natural.
     Theseprinciples (re: natural process and miracles) are explained in The Myth of Warfarebetween Science and Religion which also looks at misunderstandings(involving the complexities of Galileo, and non-belief in a Flat Earth) aboutthe history of relationships between science and religion.    { This page also explainsthe difference between science and scientism. }

     Evidencefor the Existence & Actions of God ?
     Science is based onobservable evidence. Do we havestrong evidence for the existence & actions of God?   If not, we should ask Why isn't God more obvious?and my answer is: "God seems toprefer a balance of evidence, withreasons to believe and disbelieve, so a person's heart and will can makedecisions freely (without being coerced by overwhelming evidence) and so we candevelop a ‘living by faith’ character with a trust in God serving as thefoundation for all thoughts and actions of daily living."
     And more fromthis "Why...?" page:  Even though proof is impossible, observable evidence (scientific,historical, personal, and interpersonal)can affect our estimates for the plausibility of various worldviews, and (asrational beings created by God) we should try to logically analyze evidence(from observations & scripture) in our attempts to find truth.   If there is not enough evidencefor certainty, is deciding to "not decide" justifiable? Yes, I think a moderate (notpostmodern) intellectual agnosticismis logically rational, but... a commitment agnosticism seems personally unwise. Proof is impossible, so each of us must "live byfaith" in whatever worldview we have decided to construct and accept.     {also: Ideas from C.S. Lewis, and Life as Educational Drama}
     For example, evidence seems insufficient for thisscience question: When we ask "whydoes our world have natural characteristics that allow it to be at leastpartially self-assembling", scientists agree that a non-designed universeseems extremely improbable. But anon-designed multiverse (containing an immense number of universes, with atleast one universe [ours] evolving life) seems plausible (so those who reallywant to not believe in God have a rational reason to not believe) but so do amultiverse divinely designed by God, or a universe divinely designed byGod.    AnthropicPrinciple and a Fine-Tuning of Nature: Multiverse and/or Intelligent Design

The 6 Days of Genesis1
Inone interpretation of Genesis 1, the six days describe a 144-hour creation thatocccurred 6,000 years ago. In myopinion, young-earth advocates should be admired for their desire to determinewhat the Bible teaches, and believe it. But I think their interpretation is not logically justified and isoverly rigid. Instead, I think thesix days form a logical framework for describing actual historical events, but thelogical arranging of events is topical instead of chronological. Genesis 1:2 describes the earth as"formless and empty," so there are two problems. The twosolutionsare to produce form, and to fill. The first 3 days produce form (by separations, in timeor space, that produce day and night, sky and sea, and land with plants) andthe second 3 days fill these forms (with sun for day and moon fornight, birds for sky and fish for sea, and land animals that eat plants):

	separate to produce form		create to fill each form
1	separating day and night	4	sun for day, moon for night
2	separating sky and sea	5	sky animals, sea animals
3	separating land and sea, land plants are created	6	land animals and humans, plants are used for food

The"form and fill" structure describes two related aspects of creationin Days 1 and 4 (for light), 2 and 5 (for sea and sky), 3 and 6 (for land), ina logical framework for the history of creation. I think the framework is clearly in the text, and thisinterpretation — which is neutral regarding age of the earth —correctly defines the intended meaning of the six days; if we look onlyat the text, the days could be logical and chronological, but nonchronological daysproduce a better match between what we see in the Bible and in nature. { The Framework inGenesis 1 Young-EarthTheology Young-EarthScience }

     NaturalEvolution(s)
     Whatcan a Christian believe about evolution? I think "anything" is the correct answer, because humilityseems justified when we examine everything we know about science and theology,as explained in my FAQ aboutCreation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design. Some devoted Bible-believing Christians think God didmiracles in the Salvation History of humans (as recorded in the Bible) but notin the Formative History of nature, while others (including me) think that Godused two modes of action, usually natural-appearing (divinely guided sometimes)and occasionally miraculous-appearing, during both Formative History &Salvation History.
     When we studyevolution (E) during the history of nature, and ask "is the universe is100% self-assembling by natural process?", my own views are: astronomical E (yes) to form stars,galaxies, solar systems, and heavy elements; geological E (yes) to form the geological formations weobserve on earth; chemical E (no) to form the firstcarbon-based life; and biologicalEshould be split into small-scale E (yes) by micro-E within a species or minormacro-E between similar species, fossil E (yes) over billions of years in thegeological record of earth, full common descent (yes) with all speciesrelated by ancestry, and 100% natural large-scale E (probably not, but I'mless confident about this than my "no" about chemical E) to produceall of the biocomplexity and biodiversity we observe.
     What aboutIntelligent Design? Three types ofDivine Design (design of the universe, guiding of natural process, andmiraculous-appearing design-directed action) are discussed in Sections 6A-6Band 7A-7D of my FAQ.

     HumanEvolution and Human Salvation
     Can weharmonize what's in the Bible (especially Genesis 2-4) with theevidence-and-logic of science?  I think "yes" and some possibilities are examined in mylinks-page about Human Evolution:Science (genetics,...) and the Bible (Genesis, Adam & Eve,...).
I think our ancestors included apes and hominids, but God guided the process(and perhaps also did miracles) to create humans with the characteristics(physical, mental, emotional, social, moral, spiritual) that He wanted us tohave, and we became fully human when God decided we would become human, becauseHe made Adam & Eve fully human when he established a personal relationshipand
a "spiritual connection" with them in Genesis 2, and gave them stewardshipresponsibilities, holding them accountable (in a covenant relationship) forobeying His commands and obeying their consciences that were now guided by Hisspirit.
     Then whathappened? God offered the gift offull life (with relationship, quality, and immortality) to the first humans,but Adam rejected it by his sinful disobedience when he chose to make moraldecisions independent from God, instead of trusting and obeying God. This "fall into sin" brokeAdam's part of a conditional if-then covenant with God, and God said " Theman has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not beallowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, andlive forever. (Genesis 3:22)"  When the supernatural support provided by God (symbolized by the"tree of life") was removed by God, Adam and Eve began to perish,with natural processes temporarily allowing life while gradually leading totheir death.
      We haveearned this divine judgement of death, because we are sinners. We need a savior, and God is merciful,so the gift of life was won back for us by our savior. Jesus Christ accepted the penalty ofdeath that each of us earns (by our sinful disobedience) and in doing this He(by living in sinless obedience to the Father) earned the right to make His ownEternal Life available, as a gift of grace, for all humans who will accept:"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in ChristJesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)" Everyone who accepts this gift will live forever, in a second life(after our first life on earth, and biological death) with God in heaven.
     How did Jesus"live in sinless obedience to the Father"? We cannot do this because we are weak and self centered,un-humble and rebellious. Bycontrast, Jesus could live without sin because He has always been part of thetri-une God (often called the Trinity) who is one God existing in three persons— Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit — and when Jesus became ahuman (so he could become our savior) He was both God and human. Therefore, he was able to live withoutsin. Peter Rust describesthis: "In Jesus Christ, God‘emptied himself’ and ‘became flesh’ in human weakness; this is God's method of salvation. But [since he was God] Jesus remained in perfect communion with theFather and in subjection to him, so the Father could guide him [through theHoly Spirit] continuously."