Monday, September 7, 2009

A vague opinionated thought... (about God and science)

I was reading a book the other day called Ideas that Changed the World. I don't remember who wrote it but oh well. Anyways, I didn't agree with everything it said, but what history are you going to find that you do? It was very interesting to read, and had a lot of thought provoking stuff in it. Part of those thoughts prompted a little rant... so just remember I was just kind of ranting ;)

I have had recent conversations with people who say you have to choose between God and science. Either you believe in a God who created the universe and all life, or you believe science is capable of explaining the way things work, but not both. I believe both. God created the universe and all life, but He did so in an orderly, beautiful way. He created earth to continue, refresh itself and regenerate in a wondrously scientific way. God created life with such attention to detail that He could leave if and not interfere and it continue on. To do this, it had to be orderly, exact, and extremely scientific. Of course man can find scientific explanations for the way things work. Just because God created life doesn’t mean He didn’t do it in an orderly manner. Scientists can discover wonderful things about the way the universe works, and marvel over God’s establishments of time, the human body, even atoms and mathematical perfection, but only God could get it all started. Science is the evidence and observations of the way God established the universe. For this reason, I love science. When I read about physics, I think, wow, God did a marvelous job to make motion so consistent and measurable, using the same formulas over and over without fail. Which of us could have done that, and then applied it to every thing in the world that has motion? When I read about biology, I think, wow, God did a marvelous job creating a cycle of life for each living object that coexists in harmony and promotes the continuance of life in general! Which of us could have thought of every contingency life would face, and create is in such a way that it could continue on indefinitely?

Along these same lines, I believe in miracles and natural or “man-made” changes. God has given us access to many plants and substances which have healing properties, and allows us the knowledge to use these objects to help our bodies heal or feel better when we are sick or hurt. In this case, science was useful for discovering the properties of these things God created. A natural healing would be the way God created our bodies with white blood cells and other healing mechanisms that fight infections and bacteria. In this case, science observes and marvels at the way God considered these physical needs. It is still His doing that we are eventually healed; after all, he created our bodies in this wondrous self-healing way. I believe though, that miracles exist outside both these realms of healing. A miracle is when God interrupts this natural order He has put in place in order to intercede on behalf of one of His children.