Why We Have No Reason To Fear Science

I've greatly enjoyed reading a number of biographies about various missionaries by Janet and Geoff Benge. These books are written for kids, but they're great for adults too. Take David Livingstone, for example. He was born in Scotland in 1813 and grew up in a family that believed that science and Christianity were opposed to each other.

David's father believed that people shouldn't go poking around inside human beings to discover what lay under their skin, nor should they try to understand how plants grew or the stars traveled. He believed that God had made the natural world to work as it did, and that was all anyone needed to know. But David Livingstone loved the natural world, thus he didn't think he could be a Christian until he was 19 and read a book by a believer who thought that Christians could better understand God by studying science. Finally, David had found a way for science and Christianity to co-exist in his mind.

Reading David Livingstone’s story reminded me some Christians today. After all, aren’t some Christians adamantly against scientists studying the origin of the earth? I think the idea is, well, God told us in Genesis that he did it and it took six days, so that's all we need to know. There's no point in trying to understand how he did it. End of story.

I sometimes get the feeling that Christians are afraid of what scientists might find. Like, what if they discover the world has been around a lot longer than the Bible seems to says? Or what if scientists find proof that God wasn't involved in creation after all? I'm not sure how they would find that, but the fear seems to be there anyway. I feel it within myself.

However, if we can better understand God by researching this world he created, we have nothing to fear from scientists striving to understand the origin of the earth. The truth of the matter is, if scientists research hard and long enough, they'll discover that an intelligent, omnipotent, designer made the earth.

Let them run tests. Let them theorize. Let them guess and do ridiculous experiments. All real scientists, and by real I mean ones that are honest, will find God's truths in the world. Some scientists discover God’s truths only after a rather ridiculous amount of research. For example, do you know the amount of research that has been done to scientifically prove that people thrive best in community? Or the technology that’s been invented to discover that some people are born with a propensity for violent crimes, that is, they can hardly control themselves from acting like sinners? Psychologists and scientists are discovering what God said thousands of years ago. And that is, God made us to be in his family; and we were born sinners.

I find it funny that David Livingstone's father eventually had a change of heart about science when he heard that medical training was one of the best ways to equip the next generation of missionaries. So David's father allowed David to train as a doctor. After much work, David saved up enough money to begin medical school where he trained in all the latest methods and theories, things like blood letting and amputation. This was as far as medicine had come at that time.

We grimace at the idea of blood letting now. Nowadays, drawing blood to run tests is far more advanced and acceptable. But you do realize that one day we may look back at this era and roll our eyes about the medical practices we do now. Maybe in fifty years blood tests will be done by simply scanning your arm.

That's the funny thing about scientific discoveries and inventions; they're always changing and being revised and amended. They're not the sort of thing to place your faith in and live upon. Only God's wisdom and knowledge and love and power are worth sinking our roots into.

Let scientists continue their seeking. Join them, if that is your calling, but remember to stand firm upon the Lord and his word.

More on Science and the Bible: John Walton's Book, The Law of Conservation,