Conflicts Between Science and Religion

Francis Bacon wrote: "A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to athe­ism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."'The same may be said of science.

R. H. Brown, Professor of Physics, Walla Walla College. College Place. Washington

Francis Bacon wrote: "A little philosophy in­clineth man's mind to athe­ism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."'

The same may be said of science, for as the great Lord Kelvin observed: "If you think strongly enough you will be forced by science to the belief in God, which is the foundation of all religion."

In the 145th psalm, verse 10, David ex­claims, "All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord." This text expresses a firm faith in the unity and harmony in God's activities. If there were disagreement and conflict be­tween various aspects of God's activity, the future of the universe would be darker than the most dismal predictions of cynical scientists and philosophers.

So often misunderstandings, disagree­ments, and conflicts arise over definitions of words. If by "science" we refer to organ­ized knowledge concerning the mind and character of the Creator as revealed in the materials of the universe; and if by "reli­gion" we refer to organized knowledge con­cerning the mind and character of the Creator as expressed in the revelation of His will concerning the relationships of free moral creatures with one another and with Him—then there can be no conflicts between science and religion.

This fact is aptly expressed in the book Education: "Since the book of nature and the book of revelation bear the impress of the same master mind, they cannot but speak in harmony. By different methods, and in different languages, they witness to the same great truths. Science . . . brings from her research nothing that, rightly un­derstood, conflicts with divine revelation. The book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other."—Page 128. (Italics supplied.)

It is a known fact that there have been conflicts between scientists and religionists. In some cases the conflicts have been caused by scientists who were either igno­rant of, or in rebellion against, religious truth. In other instances these conflicts have been brought on by religionists be­cause of their ignorance or rejection of truths learned from investigation in the natural sciences. Very often the partici­pants on both sides of the conflict have manifested both unverified science and un­sound religion.

"The book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other." Dim­ness of either of these lights produces shadow areas in which conflicts between science and religion may develop.

The world prior to the Flood saw a con­flict between deductions of scientists and God's revelation as communicated through Noah. The antediluvian scientists said that it could not rain, as predicted by Noah; and furthermore if it did, there would not be enough water to cover the entire earth. The deductions of these men were based on nearly two thousand years of nature study, plus the scientific knowledge carried from Eden. These deductions were as plau­sible and logical as any scientific inferences could be. The fate of the antediluvian world shows the uncertainty of speculations that are based on observations of nature but that ignore the testimony of direct reve­lation.

Attitudes of Men of Science

Galileo. In the seventeenth century a significant conflict between scientists and religionists centered around Galileo Gali­lei. In Galileo's day men believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Gali­leo's studies of motion and his observations with telescopes led him to advocate the Copernican idea that the earth and the other planets revolve around the sun. The Holy Office of the papal church branded the idea as "heretical." It was considered contrary to Holy Scripture. The idea that the earth has a rotation that causes night and day was condemned as a philosophy "erroneous as to faith."

Galileo was examined by the Inquisition under menace of torture. He recanted his Copernican views, was sentenced to im­prisonment at the pleasure of the tribunal, and was enjoined to recite once a week, for three years, the seven penitential psalms. Although the threatened imprison­ment was never carried out, Galileo spent the remaining eight years of his life in strict seclusion.

The type of uninformed and dogmatic religion that brought on the conflict with Galileo did not disappear with the passing of the Dark Ages. If it were not for the many statements in the writings of Ellen G. White that indicate that vast numbers of inhabited planets were in existence before the creation of our world, there are many among us today who would condemn as heretics and enemies of faith any who did not hold that God created all the visible stars on the fourth day of the Genesis crea­tion week.

Darwin. In the nineteenth century the ideas of Charles Darwin precipitated an­other notable conflict between scientists and religionists. Darwin and his followers studied the book of nature. From their ob­servations they drew inferences that were not in harmony with God's revelation. Many religionists of the day studied the Bible and—following the traditions of the centuries before them—came to interpreta­tions that were not in harmony with obser­vations from nature. If through the previ­ous centuries established religion had not taken an oppressive attitude toward the free experimental study of nature, and if it had not concerned itself with speculative ideas concerning nature that went beyond the simple statements in the Bible, Darwin­ism would certainly not have enjoyed the success it did.

J. J. Thomson. The great British physi­cist, J. J. Thomson, had a childhood experi­ence that illustrates the difficulty involved in many of the conflicts between scientists and religionists.

The boy's parents, to encourage his sci­entific interests, had given him a micro­scope. One day a friend of his father's was visiting the home, and young J. J., to show off his new toy, put a human hair on the microscope stage, focused the instrument, and asked the man to look. As his father's friend looked into the eyepiece, he seemed to become greatly puzzled.

"Can't you see it?" young J. J. asked.

"Oh, yes, I can see it all right," replied the friend, "but where is the number?"

"Number?" asked the boy.

"Yes, you know—it's in the Bible. All the hairs of your head are numbered." 5

We would think anyone stupid who ex­pected a series of digits to be engraved on each human hair. Many of our apparent conflicts between religion and the discov­eries of science are the outgrowth of just such misunderstandings of statements that come to us by divine revelation.

There will often be legitimate conflict between revealed truth and speculations based on scientific discoveries. Sometimes there will be legitimate conflict between scientific discoveries and misunderstand­ings of revealed truth. But there will never be disagreement between discoveries in nature and revelations by divine inspira­tion. There is perfect unity and harmony in the Godhead, and also in all the activi­ties of the Godhead.

The modern student is often led to be­lieve that men of science are generally agnostics, infidels, or scoffers. A study of the great men of science reveals that the light of scientific genius has usually burned most brightly in men who were pious and devoted believers in God.

Boyle. Robert Boyle, whose gas law is familar to students of chemisty and physics, was one of the most illustrious of the early fellows of the British Royal Society. In his day he was known as much for his piety, his benevolence, and his work in promo­tion of the circulation of the Bible as he was for his prodigious scientific activities. He published five major religious works, and instituted the Boyle lectures, which are still given annually in defense of Chris­tianity.

Boyle wrote a series of treatises that was designed to show "that there is no inconsist­ence between a man's being an industrious virtuoso [scientist], and a good Christian." He stated that "the vastness, beauty, order­liness of the heavenly bodies; the excellent structure of animals and plants; and the other phenomena of nature justly induce an intelligent and just observer to conclude a supremely powerful and just author."

In one of his treatises Boyle asks, is it wise "to dispute anxiously about the prop­erties of an atom, and be careless about the enquiry into the attributes of the Great God, who formed all things?"'

Newton. Sir Isaac Newton is considered by scientists to be one of the greatest minds the human race has produced. Physics, as we know it today, began to be a science with him. Newton wrote many divinity tracts. He produced six major theological works. They include a complete church history and his famous Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John.' This book was used as refer­ence material by Uriah Smith in preparing his Daniel and the Revelation.

Faraday. Michael Faraday, the discoverer of much of our fundamental knowledge of electricity, made his public profession of Christianity at the age of thirty. At the close of his life he said, "I am not resting my dying head on guesswork. I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard that which I have com­mitted unto Him against that day."

Maxwell. James Clerk Maxwell, who gave the world the mathematical theories of electricity and magnetism on which all of modern electrical communication is based, said, "The only desire which I can have is like David, to serve my own genera­tion, by the will of God." 9

Kelvin. Lord Kelvin, whose name ap­pears so often in both introductory and advanced textbooks on electricity and ther­modynamics, was a devout Christian.

Steinmetz. Charles P. Steinmetz, General Electric Company scientist who did the pioneer engineering work on alternating current electric power equipment, and who was the author of a number of standard electrical engineering textbooks, said, "The greatest power of all is in our midst un­scratched today. I refer to the spiritual power that comes through right living and worship." "

Millikan. R. A. Millikan, Nobel Prize winner in 1923, was described as "one of the great men of genius who never lost his interest in humanity—and whose brilliant achievements in the scientific field never conflicted with his belief in divine power, and in Christ."'

Compton. A. H. Compton, Nobel Prize winner in 1927, in describing the atom, is said to have exclaimed, "A God who can control a universe like that is too great for comprehension."

There is abundant evidence to show that the deeper one's religion is, the better are his chances for becoming a truly successful scientist. It is axiomatic that if one's reli­gion does not make him more capable of success in proper endeavor, then his reli­gious experience is not good.

Limitations of Scientific Knowledge

Conflicts between science and religion often have their basis in a failure to realize the limitations of scientific knowledge. There is more in a woman's tears than a chemist can analyze. There is more in a symphony than can be discovered from a scientific analysis of the score—more than can be discovered by even the most de­tailed acoustical analysis of the sound pro­duced by the orchestra. The laboratory ex­periments of the chemist and the physicist do not reveal ultimate reality; they only bring to light the surface manifestations of the reality behind the physical universe.

Hugh S. Taylor, dean of the Graduate School and professor of chemistry at Prince­ton University, says: "The more we pur­sue scientific investigation the more we discover that it does not lead to knowledge of the instrinsic nature of things. The knowledge it attains is symbolic knowledge rather than intimate knowledge; behind the symbolism there is a reality which es­capes the measuring techniques." This reality which Professor Taylor says escapes scientific measurement is the true objective reality of the universe.

Sir Arthur Eddington, a British physicist, wrote: "The subjective is to be identified with the physical, and the objective with the conscious and spiritual aspects of our experiences. . . . Our observational tech­niques give us many laws of nature with a small n; but the laws of Nature with a capital N are laws of the objective uni­verse." " The laws of Nature with a capital N of which Eddington speaks are generally underneath, and behind, the laws observed in the laboratories.

The Solution to All Conflicts Between Science and Religion

The apostle Paul's comment in Colos­sians 2:3 significantly refers to Christ as One "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." How blind to their own self-interests are those who are con­tent with a mere seeking after the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and fail to give their highest energies to seeking to know Him in whom all these treasures are hid! When both the religionist and the scientist seek above all, and in all, to know Him, all conflicts between their findings, and be­tween one another, will fade away.

In this age, which has so exalted scien­tific endeavor, it is necessary for all, and particularly for students in science and engineering, to make a correct emphasis in their lives. The Revised Standard Version of 1 Corinthians 13:2 reads, "If I . .. under­stand all mysteries and all knowledge, . . . but have not love, I am nothing." One may secure a Ph.D., an M.D., or a D.D.S.; but if one's life is not a demonstration of Christlike love, it avails "nothing" in true values and remains a complete failure.

In this connection the divine counsel through the ancient prophet is most apro­pos: "'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom . . . ; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practice kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord' " (Jer. 9:23, 24, R.S.V.).

To avoid involvement in the unnecessary conflicts between pseudo science and pseudo religion, it is essential to have a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ and the harmony that endures between God's works in nature and His revealed will to man.

A mere historical or intellectual knowl­edge of Jesus Christ is not enough. We must know Him as an intimate, personal friend. We must have a knowledge of God infinitely transcending the form of worship services and the data of revealed science.

To borrow the words of Sherwood Eddy we would observe that when a man is out of contact with God, "He has lost contact with the center and source of all his life and that of the universe." For "God is the only key that fits all the locks of the uni­verse." "

REFERENCES

1 Francis Bacon, "Of Atheism."

2 Sherwood Eddy, God in History, p. 29.

3 See Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.), art. "Galileo."

4 See Frank L. Marsh, Studies in Creationism and Evolu­tion, Creation, and Science (Review and Herald); Harold W. Clark, Genes and Genesis (Pacific Press).

5 Physics Today, August, 1956 (American Institute of Phys­ics, New York City).

6 Hugh S. Taylor, Religious Perspectives of College Teach­ing, pp. 9, 10.

7 See Encyclop.aedia Britannica (11th ed.), art. "Newton, Sir Isaac."

8 G. H. Minchin, Gateways to God, p. 150 (Review and Herald); see Encyclopaedia Britannica (1952 ed.), art. "Far­aday."

9 Orrin Elmer Dunlap, Radio's 100 Men of Science, (Harper and Brothers).

10 The Review and Herald, Feb. 15, 1945.

11 Dr. Rufus B. von Kleinsmid, Chancellor of the Univer­sity of Southern California (in comments made after Milli­kan's funeral).

12 Taylor, op. cit., p. 28.

13 Ibid., p. 29.

14 Eddy, op. cit., pp. 34, 32.

R. H. Brown, Professor of Physics, Walla Walla College. College Place. Washington

March 1958

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