Why Science Does Not Disprove Christianity?
The debate about religion and science is oftentimes viewed as a competition between worldviews. Opposing opinions on whether the two topics can comfortably co-exist – even among scientists – are clashing in a battle for supremacy.
Some see religion and science as enemies, while others see them as completely unrelated and separate facets of existence. However, science isn’t the only stream of facts, and religion stands beyond the realm of morals and values.
To put it simply, religion can also bring a positive impact on science – as the expansion of modern medical ethics. Even more, early scientific leaders were devoted Christians, as are many scientific leaders today. While science enhances many believers’ spiritual life, it can also reveal the glory of God, the creator.
Are Christianity and science completely separate?
One way to reduce the conflicts between Christianity and science is to see them as completely separate endeavours, with different methods, purposes, and frames of knowledge. As we place science vs God, one emphasizes what the other lacks. While science is strictly a system of knowledge about the world and its behaviour, whereas Christianity is about God, morality, and the afterlife. With that in mind, science and God cannot conflict as they are addressing different kinds of questions.
Although this model isn’t perfect, it does help us understand some critical facets of the relationship. Most common conflicts between science and God appear because of a lack of understanding of the basic differences between the two. When someone claims that science answers the questions about God, the other claims that the Bible answers a scientific question and that’s how conflict appears.
Science and God interact, correcting and enhancing each other.
Much of the confusion around what people believe about religion and science relate to evolution and who those deny it. And, while many questions can be considered strictly “science” or as “Bible” questions, some questions are on the boundary.
For topics such as medical ethics, evolution and climate change, we have to consider both faith and science when seeking out God’s truth. The reason? For such intricate questions, we need all the wisdom and knowledge we can get, rather than reducing ourselves by looking only to the Bible or only to science.
And that’s where this never-ending battle streams from – if we look to only one or other, we only get a one-sided view of the problem.
What science can do for religion? As Pope John Paul II said,” science is here to purify religion from both superstition and error – while religion can purify science from false absolutes and idolatry” As it seems each can draw the other into a broader world – one in which both can flourish.
Finally, religion and science are two sides of the same deep human desire to learn the world, to understand our place in it and wonder at the miracle of life and the infinite cosmos we are surrounded by. And, while religion can provide the belief system for how and why we do science – believers need not set aside their faith when they sit down to do science.
