Are Christ’s Disciples Anti-Science?

But set apart the Messiah as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. - 1 Peter 3:15 HCSB

You often hear people assert that religion (Christianity in particular) has been an obstacle in the way of science’s progress. Sometimes, they will even view Christianity as a formidable enemy. In many works of fiction, the noble scientist has to work around the rabid, sweaty Christian evangelist who is trying to stop legitimate research out of paranoia, or simple greed for power.

Like all the best lies, this one has a grain of truth at its heart. This view could actually be supported by a little bit of fact because the religion of Christianity has, in fact, often proscribed the legitimate pursuit of knowledge and understanding.

Actually, this attitude is not limited to Christianity. Even before Yeshua ben Adonai deigned tread our Earth, those who sought to go against the social grain and hold unpopular thoughts faced persecution.

Anaxagoras was arraigned for holding “impious doctrine.” His blasphemy? He held that the sun was an incandescent stone that was larger than Peloponnesus. He only kept his life through his political connection with Pericles.

Those who studied the black arts of alchemy (modern chemistry’s precursor) were often condemned as being in league with the devil and even Aquinas’ teacher, Albert the Great, did not wholly escape this suspicion. And Roger Bacon! How vehemently Christians actively opposed his desire to dissect human cadavers, something we accept without difficulty today.

Everyone knows about Galileo. Sure, like many physicists today, he was impudent enough to stray beyond the confines of physics into the realm of doctrine. But his judges were also in error for forcing an old man to perjure himself when they knew perfectly well what he still held in his heart.

Lest we begin to feel that the problem lies only in the Catholic Church, understand that Protestantism also must bear the burden of its attacks upon science. Ever since the systematic study of geology has arisen, its students have had to defend against a bitter and protracted war waged against them. As Cowper satirized,

“Drill and bore the solid earth, and from the strata there

Extract a register, by which we learn

That He who made it, and revealed its date to Moses,

Was mistaken in its age.”

A Cause of Intolerance – Erroneous Application

There are many causes for this intolerance. First, we tend to accept our religious beliefs as revealed by God and our religious beliefs as taught by our human teachers to be one and the same. For instance, Greeks, like Plato and Aristotle, believed that the stars were gods. They believed that the stars were intelligent and influenced the lives of humans. So when Anaxagoras said that stars were no more than incandescent stones, they felt that their theology was under attack. Rather than look carefully and see if they had not perhaps made some unfortunate applications from their doctrine, they chose instead to leave their theology intact and attack the facts as presented through science.

Unfortunately for the Church, Aristotle loomed large in the Patristic age. He came to be viewed by many of the early church fathers almost as God’s mouthpiece. Don’t get me wrong, Aristotle’s thoughts were useful and helped us across several important intellectual hurdles. I have nothing against the man. I appreciate his Traditional Square of Opposition as much as the next logician. It’s his followers who licked his intellectual boots in such a servile manner with whom I have a problem. As long as they maintained this unquestioning attitude to centuries old thoughts, Christianity made little to no progress.

Having said this (and probably alienated half of the Christians who may have had the temerity to actually begin reading), let me say that science as we know it would not even exist were it not for Christians. Because of this fawning attitude toward Aristotle on the part of Christians, the Arabs made some small steps forward in the Long March of Science. I say small not out of a disrespect for their advances, but out of an attempt at an honest evaluation of their part of the big picture. After all the Nestorians (a nominally Christian sect) were influential in early Arabic science and it was Syrian and Christian physicians who taught Alfarabi and Avicenna. Considering the lack of world-wide communication and modern intellectual tools, Arabic advances were quite astonishing. However, when compared to such notable names as Copernicus, Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Kepler and Newton, their accomplishments (as necessary and brilliant as they were) begin to fade.

It is interesting to note that the decline of Aristotle’s preeminence, the rise of the Reformation and the rise of modern science all seem to be interrelated. It was during this fertile period that the greatest methods, instruments and observations arose.

A Second Cause of Intolerance - Suspicion

Another reason for the unfortunate tension between religion and science is that we theologians are often a suspicious lot. Like most humans, we are slow to give up a cherished idea that has worked very well for us for a great number of years.

However, this attitude is not limited to religious men. Every new scientific idea has had to fight for its place of preeminence against a bunch of tenured professors whose comfortable university positions are either threatened by the new view, or who are stricken with terminal apathy.

Is this not the very essence of the scientific method? A type of intellectual Darwinianism? Someone comes up with some new insight that contradicts or adds to the traditional view and publishes. The idea undergoes vigorous peer review and if it manages to survive, gains a few hardy followers. With time and experimental affirmation, it becomes the new traditional view and everyone acts as though they ALWAYS held this once reviled view.

This is a very old and valuable method and it was not created by scientists. Theologians have used this very technique for millennia. We created it. This method was used to establish the Canon of Scripture. To the degree that the Church has been faithful to its Scriptural foundation, it has been a strong supporter, if not a source, of good science.

The Bible teaches that God is the source of the universe. He is the Prime Cause, the First Mover. Thus, to understand the universe is to understand something of its Architect. David agreed with this thought. He wrote: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. Their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. - Psalms 19:2-4 HCSB

Is this not the reason Paul castigated humanity saying, From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. - Romans 1:20 HCSB

Christians should be on the bleeding edge of science if for no other reason than their passion for “all things God.” Just as we rejoice at a letter from our sweetheart, tear it open while still standing by the mail box, and let our emotions rise and fall with each line, we should be endlessly fascinated by the discoveries of science.

Must we mindlessly accept all the interpretations of science? Absolutely not! Any good scientist would agree with this. The fundamental tenet of good science and good theology is “question everything”. After all, a conclusion is just where you got tired of thinking.

Do not doubt the veracity of the Bible, but be sure to question your understanding of the Bible. When God’s two books, the Scriptures and Nature, seem to disagree, be sure that they don’t. We simply don’t know enough yet to consolidate the two. Rest assured, a little more research, a little more experimentation, a little more study of the Scriptures and we will soon discover that Science and Theology are simply two paths toward one truth – Elohim.