So I’ve been asked to write a little bit about how science and faith in Jesus work. I’ve heard a few people saying weird stuff like “I don’t believe in Jesus, I believe in science” which is very odd and so I’ve decided to post this as a small response to engage people’s brains a little bit :0)

 

Science is all about measuring and recording HOW things work and why they do so based on measurable effects and influences. Science is BRILLIANT! I love it – I’m a big fan of people being intelligent and understanding how things work and taking the next steps to understand even more about the amazingness of all we experience around us. Not to mention how scientific understanding expands our creativity and ability to innovate and make new awesome things! Thank you science for the iPad!

 

In essence, science is about understanding everything from why my cereal goes soggy in the morning, to why the sun generates heat and how humans can have different coloured skin whilst otherwise being completely the same. Until we look at how things work, we are limited in our ability to act with confidence, knowing what effects we will cause through every tiny action.

 

Faith in Jesus is about knowing WHY everything exists – especially us humans. In the creation story, we see God explaining why He made humans (because He wanted us). The ‘how’ is really not the point of the story and so we should not read it as such.

 

In Psalm 80 it says:

1 Lord, through all the generations
    you have been our home!
2 Before the mountains were born,
    before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
    from beginning to end, you are God

 

14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love,
    so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!
    Replace the evil years with good.

17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval
    and make our efforts successful.
    Yes, make our efforts successful!

 

Firstly, we are called to know God because He wants us to enjoy our lives through His ‘blessings’ (good gifts) which He wants to give us! Verse 17 says that He wants to help us to be productive and succeed in the good things we do in our lives. Secondly, if God has been in existence for eternity (verses 1-2)  and is unchanging, then He does not fit within the measurable qualities of scientific process. And why should He? He created all things which ARE measurable through scientific process, so how can what God caused to be created (us) gain an understanding of its creator?

 

The main difference between science and God is relationship. God wants to KNOW us, not just know ABOUT us – He wants a relationship, not a reasoned understanding!

 

So hopefully this makes sense – we would never say “I love music, so I can’t enjoy food” – the two can (and should!) exist together, but they are different and have different purposes. The same is true of science and faith in Jesus.

 

Science = HOW it works and WHY it works, helping us to understand how awesome the world really is and enabling us to cure diseases, fly through the sky and do a million other amazing, creative things.

 

Faith in Jesus = the meaning of life, help and support in good times and bad, hope for an eternal, awesome, joyful future and the ability to change the world in ways which science never can...

 

Because true miracles will never be achieved by measuring what is possible, but only by believing that God can do the impossible in the darkest times, places and situations.

 

As always, feel free to disagree!

 

Your humble servant,

 

Joel

 

 

Science VS Faith...

 

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