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Faith, Reason, And Science Are Not Incompatible

Faith, Reason, And Science Are Not Incompatible

Last updated on: April 26, 2015 at 1:52 pm by Robert Driskell

Faith, Reason, And Science Are Not Incompatible 2015-04-26T13:52:15-05:00 Robert Driskell

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There has been, and will continue to be, much discussion in ‘intellectual’ circle concerning whether or not creationists (those who believe that God created the universe and everything in it) can do good science. Some are of the mind that anyone who believes in God as a first cause, or a cause of any kind, is automatically disqualified from doing legitimate research and/or putting forth accurate hypotheses. This is often simply a tactic to marginalize anyone who holds a differing point of view.

Some secular scientists believe that only they are able to see clear enough to recognize truth when they see it. They seem to think that those who have faith in God have somehow been rendered unable to see, or think, clearly. Some even seem to believe that only secular scientific discoveries are legitimate discoveries. Let’s look a little deeper at these issues.

Dr. David Dewitt writes, “First of all, it is important to recognize that in the vast majority of cases in science, creationists and evolutionists would make the same predictions…Indeed, in most operational science investigations, there will be no difference in expected outcome regardless of the origins views of the scientist” [1]. Water is made up of the same ratio of hydrogen to oxygen for the creation scientist as it is for the secular scientist.

Everyone has presuppositions and worldviews

Christians should readily admit that the Bible is the guidebook for our lives. Although it is not a science book, it does tell us that it was God who created the universe and, even now, sustains it and everything in it. When secular evolutionists challenge that belief, the believer should be ready with an answer (I Peter 3:15), “…with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition” (II Timothy 2:24-25 NASB). “As Christians, we should have the courage and conviction to believe that what the Bible says about creation is true. Then, when we encounter evidence that at first appears to support evolution, we will not doubt the Scripture. Instead, we will press on to figure out the flaws in the evolutionary argument” [2].

The secular evolutionist will often claim to have no presuppositions or any worldview that prevents him or her from being totally objective while conducting research. However, it takes very little investigating to see the overpowering anti-God prejudice that permeates much of their research. Most of the evolutionists with whom I’ve had discussions, will not even consider the existence of God, much less His involvement in any physical processes or activities, past or present. Even if they don’t know what did it, they know it was not God. And the claim that there is no evidence for God rings hollow when it is understood that both creation scientists and evolutionary scientists have the exact same evidence to observe. Creation scientists see the amazing complexity and intricacies in nature as evidence of God’s handiwork. Secularists work within a framework that rejects beforehand the possibility that God exists; therefore, they cannot allow any theory that accepts God’s involvement. While claiming to be open to wherever the evidence leads them, they begin with one presupposition: they refuse to consider the possibility of God’s existence.

Creation scientists can do good science…and have.

Contrary to the secular claim to the contrary, scientists who believed in God have made substantial contributions to the scientific advancement. Here are but a few notable entries [3]:

Francis Bacon is usually considered the man primarily associated with the so-called ‘scientific method’. He believed God gave us two ‘books to study’: the Bible and nature.

Johannes Kepler, considered by many to be the founder of physical astronomy, discovered the laws of planetary motion and established the discipline of celestial mechanics. He famously coined the phrase, and the idea, that research and discovery was, “thinking God’s thoughts after Him”.

Blaise Pascal was involved with the development of calculus and the theory of probability and the invention of the barometer.

Sir Isaac Newton is credited with discovering the Law of Gravity, the 3 laws of universal motion, and refined calculus into a comprehensive branch of mathematics.

Scientific research, guided by the biblical record, has resulted in good science and scientific discovery.

Some scientific discoveries have been inspired by the researcher’s trust in the authority of the Bible. Here are a few examples of Bible-based predictions that led to demonstrably true scientific discoveries:

Animals reproduce and vary only within their created kinds and do not evolve into new kinds, just as the biblical record indicates.

Early nineteenth century “scriptural geologists” correctly argued that “the original created ‘kinds’ of Genesis 1 were not the same as what modern scientists classify as species or genus, but were bigger biological categories and that while variation is produced within each kind, the kinds stay distinct.

Because the Bible indicates all humans descended from Adam and Eve, Dr. [David] DeWitt—long before the Neanderthal genome had been sequenced—hypothesized that Neanderthals were fully human, as genomic evidence now makes clear.

“Creation scientists for many years have argued that junk DNA is not junk because of their starting point that God intelligently designed DNA and it does have a function (granting that DNA has been negatively affected by the curse and therefore some of its original functions may have been lost),” she explains. “Scientists have now discovered that ‘junk’ DNA has function”

Dr. [Jean] Lightner used this historical background information from the Bible to predict “that a mechanism exists for germ-line mutations (i.e. changes in the DNA sequence which are heritable) in response to environmental signals.” Since that time, she says, “Some of the mechanisms for this have begun coming to light in the scientific literature.”

Based on the biblical timeline of earth history, with the Flood about 4500 years ago burying and fossilizing animals and plants, it was predicted that fossils should still contain significant amounts of radiocarbon and thus be radiocarbon dated at only thousands of years old. The best instruments can only detect C-14 atoms equivalent to an age of 80,000 years or less but have still found an abundant presence of radiocarbon in every fossil (samples of oil, natural gas, and even limestones) so far tested, which has been reported in the secular literature, such as the journal Radiocarbon. [4]

These are but a few of the many legitimate, important, scientific discoveries made by men and women who trusted God enough to believe His Word. This trust helped guide them to truth that otherwise may have remained hidden.

Conclusion

Not only are they able to do good science, the scientist who also has faith in God actually has an advantage over the non-believing scientist. He or she is united with the Creator of the universe in a personal relationship wherein God’s spirit is able to guide the believer in his or her daily endeavors…endeavors which include, for the believing scientist, doing good science.

“…in [Jesus Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument” (Colossians 2:3-4 NASB).

Article by Robert Driskell

NOTES:

[1] [2] https://answersingenesis.org/creation-science/does-the-creation-model-make-predictions-absolutely/

[3] http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/8-famous-scientists-who-are-christian/#ixzz3Y3aW7t9C

[4] https://answersingenesis.org/creation-science/can-bible-based-predictions-lead-to-scientific-discoveries/

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