So much discussion on this forum inevitably seem to concentrate on perceived differences between the Christian faith and science. There seems to be the two routes to sorting out what is truth. The first is the scientific, which largely relies on empirical evidence. The second is the philosophic or theological which relies more on observation and intuition. My belief is that both are important and relevant.
In addition other threads have asked for evidence of those who have come to their faith through reason. Although this interview only touches on that lightly would this would appear to be an example of someone who came to the Christian faith through reason.
It is to the detriment of all, that science and religion aren't always working in harmony. As you can see from the following bit of the interview this is a man who thinks that religion and science should complement each other.
excerpt from interview writes:
Where do science and religion meet?
I think of God as the greatest scientist. We human scientists have an opportunity to understand the elegance and wisdom of God's creation in a way that is truly exhilarating. When a scientist discovers something that no human knew before, but God didthat is both an occasion for scientific excitement and, for a believer, also an occasion for worship. It makes me sad that we have slipped into a polarized stance between science and religion that implies that a thinking human being could not believe in the value of both. There is no rational basis for that polarization. I find it completely comfortable to be both a rigorous scientist, who demands to see the data before accepting anybody's conclusions about the natural world, and also a believer whose life is profoundly influenced by the relationship I have with God. Science is our most powerful tool for studying the natural world, but science doesn't necessarily help us so much in trying to understand God; that's where faith comes in.
This conversation with Francis Collins goes right to the heart of everything that is at the center of discussion on this forum. He is a Director of the Human Genome Project, with a PHD in Physical Chemistry, and MD and a background in QM. He also is a Christian and the link is to an interview in Christianity Today.
As a non-literalist Christian with no background in the sciences I find this interview compelling. I'm interested to hear the response of those with a scientific background to the ideas of Francis Collins.
Here is the link. The link also provides other links that relate to Collins.
The Genome Doctor |
Christianity Today
™ Version 4.2