How Do Christians Handle Tensions Between Science and Faith?
Photo by Claudio Trigueros on Unsplash
“For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.”
Are there real conflicts between science and faith? If so, how should we deal with them? While many people have concluded that science and Christianity are different and generally compatible ways of discovering truth, both fields make factual claims, and at the places where those claims intersect, there is potential for misunderstanding and conflict.
Some points of potential friction are debates over the creation of the universe, the ethics surrounding unborn life, and the special place of mankind in creation. And there are other places of possible conflict between modern scientists and average Christians. Christianity makes historical claims that can be investigated, to some extent, by using scientific methods. Christianity rests on miraculous claims, which some scientists say are disallowed in a truly scientific understanding of nature. Christianity recognizes moral boundaries that some scientists find difficult to objectively justify.
How can apparent conflicts between Christian faith and science be resolved? Since Christians believe the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, there isn't a lot of wiggle room to say, "Well, I guess that part's wrong, but the rest looks ok." When it comes to accepting scripture and trusting in the God it presents, every part of it must pass a believability test, or it can all come crashing down.
If the Church, established by God, has been inspired to declare a book canonical (Spirit-inspired, authoritative, and true), then to declare even a single passage false is to call the whole canon into question. So, when it looks like a Christian belief conflicts with a scientific discovery, Christians have to deal with that. There are several ways a believer can react.
Bible Only
One common reaction is to give the Bible the only say, and to assume that any scientific theory that appears to conflict with scripture is wrong. There are passages in the historical books of the Bible that describe ancient rulers and events which have been shown to be accurate by archeological evidence, and this gives Christians confidence to trust that extra-biblical knowledge will keep catching up to God's Word.
Science Only
The second reaction is to give science the benefit of the doubt and to call the Scriptures - as we understand them - into question. I don’t know of any Christians who claim that the sun revolves around the Earth, even though passages in Joshua 10 and Psalm 93 seem to say that it does. Because of the example of heliocentrism, some Christians are quick to assume that the Bible is often allegorical (or even mistaken) and that science has the right answers. They might dismiss the Genesis stories of creation and the flood as pure mythology, or regard the stories of Jonah and Job to be Jewish parables.
The greatest problem comes when this science-first mentality is applied to the miraculous claims of the New Testament, which form the foundation of Christianity itself. If one calls into question miracles like the virgin birth, the resurrection, or the giving of the Holy Spirit, then one has left orthodox Christianity; these events are essential for the faith to make any sense at all.
Who Cares?
The third common reaction is to simply ignore the issue. Sometimes, when a person sees a conflict between what they believe to be true and what outside evidence appears to say, they simply think about something else (like puppies or rainbows). They might adopt the attitude that "the theologians can worry about that," or trust that some solution will be found as more evidence is uncovered. These believers often find that they have more important things to spend time on than contemplating complex theological arguments and scientific evidence. Or they may feel intellectually intimidated in the cultural environment of the Western world, with its New Atheists and postmodern ethos. They know what they believe, they know how it has transformed their life, and they don't need to get bogged down by all the details.
Compatible
The fourth reaction, the one that takes place much of the time at Christian universities, is that of compatible-izing. This is based on the belief that since God inspired the Bible, and God created the universe, they cannot really contradict one another. As Galileo said, one God is the author of the Book of Scripture and the Book of Nature. So when, for instance, the book of Genesis says that the world (in its current form) was made in six days, and the geological and fossil record says it may have taken a few days longer than that (or a few billion years), the compatible-izing Christian looks at every angle: have we misread the physical evidence? Assuming that the Word of God is true, is there some way we have mistranslated it, misinterpreted it, or taken it out of context?
This kind of reaction can be messy and leaves room for mystery and incomplete knowledge, but it honors both the inspired nature of the Bible and the ability of mankind to discover truth through scientific methods. Though I sometimes use different approaches for different topics, this is my default approach to science/Christianity tensions.
Truth Matters
Any given Christian or Christian institution's belief system is likely going to include elements of each reaction to tensions between faith and science. In general, Christians hold that the Bible is literally true, but if strong scientific evidence arises that seems to contradict it, most are willing to take a longer look and investigate whether there’s been a misunderstanding.
The search for truth is paramount in the Christian life, because Christians believe that God is the fountain of all truth and knowledge. The truth is not something to be feared, and only by knowing it well can a person tell when it is being confused or distorted.
Christianity and science, though they are focused on different spheres (the supernatural and the natural), do overlap and interact. Faith can guide scientists in their ethical decisions, and motivate them to study God's handiwork. Christianity makes real historical claims that can be investigated using archeological methods. When science seems to contradict Christianity, there are several ways a Christian can react. But we would be wise to remember, as St. Pope John Paul II taught, "truth cannot contradict truth.”