For centuries it has been accepted that science and human intellect are incompatible with faith in God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each scientific discovery brings us to a higher understanding of God’s creation and God Himself. St Augustine wrote, “God does not expect us to submit our faith to him without reason, but the very limits of our reason make faith a necessity.” Our finite minds can’t grasp the full magnificence of all God has created but as we learn more about our universe, our world and ourselves faith in God and His word are confirmed, not contradicted. Scientific theory and opinion often oppose faith, but scientific facts do not.
The biggest divide between faith and science had to do with the creation of the universe. Most scientists believed that the universe had no beginning or end and had always been in existence contradicting the very first verses of Genesis. A few years ago scientists discovered evidence of a single cosmic event that brought the universe into existence and suddenly the Genesis account no longer sounds so far fetched after all. Dr. Gerald Schroeder, retired MIT physicist, has an interesting video on YouTube titled “Believe in God in five minutes” that shows how scientists may have unintentionally proven the existence of God.
Not one of the countless archaeological discoveries in my lifetime has disproved anything in God’s word. On the contrary, evidence has been found to confirm Bible accounts. When scientists discovered and mapped the human genome, another barrier between faith and science came down. At the press conference announcing their work, I heard one of them state that the complexity of a single living cell makes it impossible for that first cell to have developed by chance (a common theory explaining how evolution began).
In 1981, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from a group of internationally-known geneticists and biologists representing the scientific community. Their testimony lasted two days as they each answered the question, when does human life begin? All but one agreed that life begins at conception and that lone scientist, representing the abortion industry, did not dispute the others but simply stated his opinion that it is impossible to know when life begins. Dr. Jerome Lejeune, known as the father of modern genetics, told the committee, “To accept the fact that after fertilization has taken place a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion…it is plain experimental evidence. Each individual has a very neat beginning, at conception.” Pro–choice proponents continue to ignore scientific proof that a new human is being killed each time an abortion takes place, but God knows each of us in our mother’s womb just as He did Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 1:5)
I have had the privilege to know and love some wonderful men and women who have had successful careers in medicine, biology and other branches of science and are believers. I am convinced that as science learns more about us and our environment, the easier it will be for faith and science to work hand in hand until that day when our faith will truly become sight.