Are Christ’s Disciples Anti-Science?
But set apart the Messiah as Lord in your hearts, and always be
ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that
is in you. - 1
Peter
You
often hear people assert that religion, and Christianity in particular, has
been an obstacle in the way of science’s progress. Sometimes they will go so
far as to view Christianity as a formidable enemy. In many works of fiction,
the noble scientist has to work around the rabid, sweaty fundamentalist
Christian evangelist who is trying to stop legitimate research out of paranoia
or simple greed for power.
Like
all the best lies, this one has a grain of truth at its heart. This view could
actually be supported by a little bit of fact because the religion of
Christianity has in fact often proscribed the legitimate pursuit of knowledge
and understanding.
Actually
this attitude is not limited to Christianity. Even before Yeshua
ben Adonai deigned tread
our Earth, those who sought to go against the social grain and hold unpopular
thoughts faced persecution.
Anaxagoras
was arraigned for holding “impious doctrine.” His blasphemy?
He held that the sun was an incandescent stone that was larger than
Those
who studied the black arts of alchemy (modern chemistry’s precursor) were often
condemned as being in league with the devil and even Aquinas’ teacher, Albert
the Great, did not wholly escape this suspicion. And Roger Bacon! How
vehemently Christians actively opposed his desire to dissect human cadavers –
something we accept perfectly today.
Everyone
knows about Galileo. Sure, like many physicists today he was impudent enough to
stray beyond the confines of physics into the realm of doctrine. But his judges
were also in error for forcing an old man to perjure himself when they knew
perfectly well what he still held in his heart.
Lest
we begin to feel that the problem lies only in the Catholic Church, understand
that Protestantism also must bear the burden of its attacks upon science. Ever
since the systematic study of geology has arisen, its students have had to
defend against a bitter and protracted war waged against them. As Cowper
satirized,
“Drill
and bore the solid earth, and from the strata there
Extract
a register, by which we learn
That
He who made it, and revealed its date to Moses,
Was mistaken in its age.”
A Cause of Intolerance – Erroneous Application
There
are many causes for this intolerance. First, we tend to accept our religious
beliefs as revealed by God and our religious beliefs as taught by our human
teachers to be one and the same. For instance, Greeks like Plato and Aristotle
believed that the stars were gods. They believed that the stars were
intelligent and influenced the lives of humans. So when Anaxagoras said that
stars were no more than incandescent stones, they felt that their entire
theology was under attack. Rather than look carefully and see if they had not
perhaps made some unfortunate applications from their doctrine, they chose
instead to leave their theology intact and instead attack the facts as
presented through science.
Unfortunately
for the Church, Aristotle loomed large in the Patristic age. He came to be
viewed by many of the early church fathers almost as God’s mouthpiece. Don’t
get me wrong, Aristotle’s thoughts were useful and helped us across several
important intellectual hurdles. I have nothing against the man. I appreciate
his Traditional Square of Opposition as much as the next logician. It’s his
followers who licked his intellectual boots in such a servile manner with whom
I have a problem. As long as they maintained this unquestioning attitude to
centuries old thoughts Christianity made little to no progress.
Having
said this (and probably alienated half of the Christians who may have had the
temerity to actually begin reading) let me say that science as we know it would
not even exist were it not for Christians.
Because
of this fawning attitude toward Aristotle on the part of Christians, the Arabs
made some small steps forward in the Long March of
Science. I say small not out of a disrespect for their advances but out of an
attempt at an honest evaluation of their part of the big picture. After all the
Nestorians (a nominally Christian sect) were influential in early Arabic
science and it was Syrian and Christian physicians who taught Alfarabi and Avicenna. Considering the lack of world-wide
communication and modern intellectual tools, Arabic advances were quite
astonishing. However, when compared to such notable names as Copernicus,
Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Kepler
and
It is
interesting to note that the decline of Aristotle’s preeminence, the rise of the
Reformation and the rise of modern science all seem to be interrelated. It was
during this fertile period that the greatest methods, instruments and
observations arose.
A Second Cause of
Intolerance - Suspicion
Another
reason for the unfortunate tension between religion and science is that we
theologians are often a suspicious lot. Like most humans, we are slow to give
up a cherished idea that has worked very well for us for a great number of
years.
However,
this attitude is not limited to religious men. Every new scientific idea has
had to fight for its place of preeminence against a bunch of tenured professors
whose comfortable university positions are either threatened by the new view or
who are stricken with terminal apathy.
Is
this not the very essence of the scientific method? A type of
intellectual Darwinianism? Someone comes up with some new insight that
contradicts or adds to the traditional view and publishes. The idea undergoes
vigorous peer review and if it manages to survive gains a few hardy followers.
With time and experimental affirmation it becomes the new traditional view and
everyone acts as though they ALWAYS held this once reviled view.
This
is a very old and valuable method and it was not created by scientists.
Theologians have used this very technique for millennia. We created it. This
very method was used to establish the Canon of Scripture. To the degree that
the Church has been faithful to its Scriptural foundation, it has been a strong
supporter if not a source of good science.
The
Bible teaches that God is the source of the universe. He is the Prime Cause,
the First Mover. Thus, to understand the universe is to understand something of
its Architect. David agreed with this thought. He wrote:
The heavens declare the glory of God, and
the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Day after
day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. There
is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. Their message has
gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world.
In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. - Psalms 19:2-4 HCSB
Is
this not the reason Paul castigated humanity saying,
From the creation of the world
His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have
been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result,
people are without excuse. - Romans
The tzaddikim should be on the bleeding edge of science if for
no other reason than their passion for “all things God.” Just as we rejoice at
a letter from our sweetheart, tear it open while still standing by the mail
box, and let our emotions rise and fall with each line, we should be endlessly
fascinated by the discoveries of science.
Must
we mindlessly accept all the interpretations of science? Absolutely not! Any
good scientist would agree with this. The fundamental tenet of good science and
good theology is “question everything”. After all, a conclusion is just where
you got tired of thinking.
Do
not doubt the veracity of the Bible – but be sure to question your
understanding of the Bible. When God’s two books, the Scriptures and Nature,
seem to disagree – be sure that they don’t. We simply don’t know enough yet to
consolidate the two. Rest assured, a little more research, a little more
experimentation, a little more study of the Scriptures and we will soon
discover that Science and Theology are simply two paths toward one truth – Elohim.