A Crucifix
Recently, I have been questioned about my attitudes towards religion and science. So this is a post to clear some doubts, lest I am accused of misleading my readers.
Am I a liberal or conservative Christian?
You know, I find it hard to understand labels like this– while classifications may aid us to understand a subject, they do not totally account for the whole object itself. So let’s use me for an example, I consider myself as an Evangelical Christian, even though most Evangelical Christians reject evolutionary theory. I consider myself an orthdox Christian, although not Eastern Orthodox. I consider myself conservative, but that does not mean I am politcally Conservative.
At times, describing what type of Christian I am is very difficult. I’m Methodist by tradition, but Zwinglian when it comes to the Holy Communion. I’m Lutheran when it comes to salvation, but Calvinist when it comes to Apostolic Succession. Is your mind boogled yet?
But the safest description is this– I love Jesus.
What type of scientist am I?
I’m a biologist with a particular interest towards evolutionary theory, botany, ants and genetics. With regard to the philsophy of science, I tend to adopt this definition– science is the explanation of natural observances by natural mechanisms. It does not study supernatural occurances nor causes, simply because it is not intended to.
However, I accept that this definition is tentative at best, and no set consensus of the definition of science has been set (Ruse, 2001). If I do reject anything that is remotely related to science, I reject “scientism”, the belief that only science is the only authority that can discover truth. This not only does injustice to other disciplines such literature, philosophy and history, but itself is self-refuting (i.e. “scientism” cannot be tested scientifically) (Ward, 2006).
My attitude towards science and Christianity
One of the advantages of being Christian, is that my faith in Jesus allows me to ask questions, even difficult and uncomfortables ones. After all Jesus was the one who said He was the Truth (John 14:6), thus Christians should not be afraid to follow the Truth, whereever it may lead them.
In fact, the philosophy of science arose out of Christianity (Hannam, 2011) in medieval Europe. To put it simply, belief in a rational God allowed belief in a rational universe that can be studied.
Lastly, I would like to say that I think it is fascinating on how my faith in Jesus is both informed by theology and science. In fact, the English poet GK Chesterton (1908) described understanding via different disciplines as being able to see with two eyes– as the views of one eye seemingly contradict the other, seeing via both eyes enhances our view of the world. I am still being humbled but how much I do not understand God and his ways.
Conclusions
As one of my friends once said, “Even as a Christian, the questions don’t stop coming. We shouldn’t stop asking them, even if the answers may seem unsatisfactory. But Jesus is always there.”
References
Chesterton, G.K. (1908) Orthodoxy
Hannam, J. (2011) God’s Philosophers
Ruse, M. (2001) Can A Darwinian Be A Christian?
Ward, K. (2006) Is Religion Dangerous?
Tags: religion, science, The Confession
