Is Science Anti-Christian?
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““Certainly I see the scientific view of the world as incompatible with religion, but that is not what is interesting about it... What is interesting about the scientific worldview is that it is true, inspiring, remarkable and that it unites a whole lot of phenomena under a single heading. And that is what is so exciting for me.””
When Atheists and others say that science is incompatible with Christianity, they typically mean one of three things:
That Christianity (and every other religion) is really just a set of supernatural explanations to fill gaps in real-world knowledge, so science is making it obsolete;
That science repudiates specific Christians beliefs or Bible passages; or
That scientism (AKA materialism) is true, and we must assume that the physical realm is all that exists.
God of the Gaps
Some critics claim that Christianity's God is simply a "God of the Gaps": a convenient explanation for things that are difficult (or impossible) to explain given current scientific progress. For instance, people of past ages who observed that a cut heals after a few days or weeks might say that God has given the body miraculous healing power, because they were unaware of things like blood clotting, cell reproduction, and a proper medical understanding of healing.
But God of the Gaps does not suffice as an explanation for the worldview of Christianity. First of all, Christianity, like most religions, is much less concerned with explaining how things happen than why. We might marvel at the physical process of how a body repairs itself, but knowing the biology doesn't make it any less wondrous; the simple fact that it happens is amazing and begs for a “why” kind of explanation.
While it's true that some people of each religion (Christianity included) have made silly claims about the "miraculous" nature of explainable natural events, these claims are less important than the real questions that religions seek to answer: Why does anything happen or exist at all? Why do people fail to live up to their own ideals? Why is the universe is ordered the way it is? Why do we perceive it as having meaning and purpose? These are questions that science does not and cannot answer. Most Christians believe that we can find clues to the "why" questions throughout creation, but ultimately it takes special revelation (the Bible) to tell us who is behind all things.
Science is not a philosophy, and it is not inherently Atheistic. It is simply a great tool that works well for answering many questions about the universe. It’s a process of making observations and systematically testing theories in order to explain natural phenomena. Those who claim that science has power to do more than this are importing that assumption from philosophy, and need to justify it with philosophical arguments.
Christianity is sometimes accused of being a lazy explanation for the mysterious. But for Christians, God is a personal, creative, purpose-bestowing, and awesome being, not just a handy way to feel less stupid when answers are elusive.
Do scientific discoveries contradict the Bible?
To Christians, the Bible is the inspired Word of God. But it is not a science textbook, and sometimes it speaks in poetic language and parables. One of the reasons for Galileo's controversy (he argued that Earth is not the center of the universe) was that the heliocentric model of the solar system appeared to contradict Joshua 10 and Psalm 93:
"Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved."
Psalm 93:1c ESV
But, Galileo argued, "Both the Holy Scriptures and Nature proceed from the divine Word," so the "two truths can never contradict each other." He quoted Cardinal Baronius, saying that in the Bible, the Holy Spirit teaches "how one goes to Heaven, not how the heavens go." ("Science and Christian Faith: Conflict or Cooperation?" Robert C. Fay www.cslewis.org/journal August 22, 2007).
Probably the most controversial Bible verses related to science are in Genesis, where we find stories about the six-day creation of the world and the flood that destroyed nearly all land-living creatures. The creation narrative deserves its own treatment, but let's just mention here that there are honest, God-loving Christians who accept a number of different interpretations for the first chapters of Genesis, from Young Earth Creationists to Theistic Evolutionists (or Evolutionary Creationists) to I-Don't-Know-or-Care-ists.
If the reason a person hasn't become a Christian is because they're afraid they'll have to take an unscientific view of the universe, they should not hesitate to study the Bible. There are great role models in Christianity no matter which position one takes about God’s process of creation.
Miracles
What about miracles? Doesn't science contradict belief in things like the virgin birth, the healing works of Jesus, and the resurrection? Not if you define miracles the way Christians usually do, as direct interventions of God in the universe that supersede, for a moment, the laws of science. Christians don't deny that those laws exist and operate in almost every circumstance. They simply believe that the one who wrote the laws can bend them when He wishes. (And I would say it is only a bending of the laws, not a breaking, because God doesn't act against His nature, revealed in creation.)
“…in the whole history of the universe the laws of Nature have never produced a single event. They are the pattern to which every event must conform, provided only that it can be induced to happen.”
C. S. Lewis (“The Laws of Nature” The Coventry Evening Telegraph, April 4,
1945)
Does science assume materialism?
Whether you call it scientism, materialism, Atheism, or something else, the belief that the physical world is the only reality is popular among modern scientists. One reason is a simple confusion of concepts. Science, to be objective and thorough, works according to “methodological naturalism,” meaning that scientists can't just throw up their hands and say, "It's a miracle!" when they don't understand something. They have to investigate every phenomenon as though it were a purely physical event, in order to make sure they don’t miss any possible natural explanations. This is how good and rigorous scientists operate; they must resist the temptation to give up too early when the answer is not obvious.
While methodological naturalism makes for good science, some scientists have jumped to the conclusion that they must also embrace philosophical naturalism. But one simply doesn't follow from the other.
Christians in scientific fields work every day assuming the regularity and predictability of the physical world. It doesn't make them bad scientists that they believe in miracles; it just means that they believe God, being omnipotent, has the power to intervene as He chooses. Materialism is not the natural philosophy of science, any more than it is the natural philosophy of carpet-cleaning or architecture or dentistry. But some people are confused between the appropriate search for natural explanations and the false assumption that no other explanations can possibly be valid.
Science and Christianity
Some scientists have unreasonably anti-Christian views. And there have been times when Christians' beliefs have led to conflicts with scientific ideas (our intellects have been tainted by the Fall, after all). But science as a whole is not anti-Christian, and there are many Christians who have long and fulfilling careers diving into the depths of God's creation, full of wonder at all He has made.
God is more than a filler of gaps. The Word of God cannot contradict the creative works of God, so when there appears to be a conflict, we are misunderstanding one or the other. And materialism is not science; it's philosophy (and not very sound philosophy). Science is work that can be offered to God as much as any other. Just ask any of the many Christians employed in the sciences, who work according to Paul’s encouragement:
"...whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
1 Corinthians 10:31b ESV