This week, we will continue our series on difficult questions that challenge our faith. We laid the groundwork for this discussion with our dive into the Bible, who wrote it, how it it was written and how we should read it.
Perhaps one of the biggest areas of disagreement among Christians has to do with our approach to science, especially aspects of science that some believe are an affront to what we know about the Bible.
The last couple weeks have prepared us to confront questions about science and faith head on.
Questions like this one: Can Christians believe in evolution?
Put simply, yes.
There are Christian biologists, chemists, geologists, medical doctors, researchers etc., all over the world, who are followers of Christ. They do not believe that the truths revealed by science and the truths revealed about God in the Bible are mutually exclusive. In fact, so much of what we discover about our universe in the field of astronomy, as one example, reveals the awesome works of God that are incomprehensibly grand, and irreducibly complex.
Many years ago, I had the opportunity to interview Guy Consolmagno, a Jesuit priest in Vatican City and one of the the world’s foremost astronomers — a.k.a. the Pope’s Astronomer. He is a brilliant astronomer and devoted man of faith. He finds no conflict between his double life, one committed to Christ and another to scientific discovery:
“I do what I do, and the Church supports what I do, because it’s so important to feed that curiosity. Man does not live by bread alone; we’re always pondering why we’re here, how did we come to be,” Consolmagno said. “But studying the universe, we get to know God the creator, know the universe that was created by Him and how it’s all beautiful. And from that, you get this sense of joy of discovery, this rush of emotion that drives you to do the science. And that’s where science and religion come together.”
The conflict between faith and science that is often ginned up in popular culture is, largely, based on false choices, like we discussed last week: Either the Bible is true, or it isn’t; either science is true, or it isn’t.
That’s just not how things work in the real world, one covered in layers of nuance — shades of gray.
As we are learning, our journey of faith is a process just like science — an ever-evolving process. So much of what we know about God is embedded in our lived experiences, our relationships with others, in service and seen in the magnificence of creation. As we discussed last week, what we can know about God is not limited by what we read in the Bible.
As Christians, we should embrace truth wherever we find it; and, like scientists, we should always ask questions and be open to new revelations about our world and, consequently, about our creator.
See you Sunday night (or maybe Saturday at the game)!
The Pipe 