|
The UK Bible Students Website Christian Biblical Studies
|
Faith and Authority
PART I
All Scripture references
are to the King James (Authorised) Version (KJV) unless stated otherwise.
If ye have faith, and
doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if
ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the
sea; it shall be done.
Matthew 21: 21
ANY
PARENT will be familiar with the child’s
question, Why? The young mind’s inexhaustible curiosity to understand
the world is a driving force for the child’s development. The parent who
invents an answer or rebukes the tender shoots of inquisitiveness teaches the
child that ignorance or fancy is better than insight and learning.
It is
best to answer with a straightforward compliment to the child’s desire to know,
followed by a frank statement in response – even if it is a humbling “I don’t
know”. A trip to the library or a referral to someone who does know
should satisfy the inquisitive mind, or at least provide a grander question to
puzzle over.
Of
course, some answers are beyond the grasp of the immature intellect and the
wise parent will tactfully divert the curiosity, or postpone the answer to a
time when the child is better able to use the information. If the child has
been taught to trust, the loving authority of mother or father should be
sufficient to put the young mind at rest.
The
Relation of Science and Religion
Curiosity
is not, of course, limited to children. As we grow we have new, more complex
questions. The Christian is exhorted to earnestly seek wisdom and understanding
– two necessary attributes of the intellect. Proverbs 4: 7, 8, uses the figure
of a virtuous woman as an enchanting metaphor for wisdom:
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and
with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee:
she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
The
Christian ought not to be superstitious or too easily convinced, but should
establish faith firmly on facts, questioning when necessary any who claim to be
teachers of God’s truth. ‘Prove all things’ is St. Paul’s exhortation to the
church at Thessalonica. And he advises Timothy to ‘study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth’ (1 Thessalonians 5: 21; 2 Timothy 2: 15).
Faith is
not simply a naïve submission of one mind to another, but a reasoned voluntary
act of belief in things reasonably held to be true. Contrary to common
assertion, Science can be reconciled with the Bible. Reason and
intellectual honesty should be firmly seated in the Christian’s outlook.
The
Empirical Method
These
same virtues are at the heart of scientific inquiry. The nature of Science is
to so dispossess the intellect of bias and partiality that any previously-held
error can be refuted by the refinement of experiment. In seeking to impute any
law to the Universe, the conscientious scientist must ensure that the theory
holds up under all known and testable situations.
When
established scientific principles are applied within a controlled environment
with immediate results, one’s religion rarely matters – the results speak for
themselves. But if the bridge collapses, the electronic circuit fails, or the
fuel tank explodes – the law of nature leaves a signature in the trail of
evidence. In other words, the facts of the case determine the integrity of the
scientist’s work.
Both the
scientist and the Christian have a common interest – to understand and act upon
truth. On paper, there is no reason why the two cannot abide together in
harmony. In practice, the steady course of enlightened scientific inquiry
arouses controversy with the Church when experiment and theory contradict dogma
and tradition.
A
Scientist’s View of Religion
The
modern scientific psyche in its quest for answers finds its archetype in the
Royal Society. Founded in 1660, the Society met regularly to witness
experiments and discuss scientific topics, publishing the fruit of their
inquiries to much acclaim. An example is Robert Hooke’s ‛Micrographia’ –
a wonderfully illustrated book that combines observations of the natural world
with methods of their investigation.[fn1] The pattern
is one upon which today’s academic establishments have built and defined
themselves.
The Royal
Society was born in an era scarred by the turmoil of the English Civil War –
and so the Society’s motto Nullius in verba is fitting for the age. The
Society’s website explains:
‛Nullius in verba’ roughly translates as ‛take
nobody’s word for it’. It is an expression of the determination of Fellows [of
the Royal Society] to withstand the domination of authority and to verify all
statements by an appeal to facts determined by experiment.[fn2]
It is a
spirit of inquiry still strong in the elite universities of Oxford and
Cambridge which, with similar indifference to rank and hierarchy, have set
their course to advance the frontiers of science. Boundaries and limits are
those areas in which research is most concentrated. The impenetrable and
difficult terrain of the undiscovered country are where the answers lie. (At
one time both Cambridge and Oxford were explicitly Christian schools, but
religion has long since been replaced as the engine of discovery.)
The
scientist may believe he will ultimately come to the truth, but he cannot have faith
that his theory is the best explanation. Authority alone is not a sufficient
basis for certainty; the truth must be determined by experiment. And to uncover
the facts the scientist must exercise doubt – for doubt is the driving force.
Richard
Feynman, the Nobel Prize winning physicist, explains:
I believe, although I have no direct statistics, that more
than half of the scientists do not believe in their father’s God. . . . Why? .
. . There are two sources of difficulty that the young man [the scientist] . .
. would have, I think, when he studies science. The first is that he learns to
doubt, that it is necessary to doubt, that it is valuable to doubt. So he
begins to question everything. The question that might have been before,
‛Is there a God or isn’t there a God?’ changes to the question ‛How
sure am I that there is a God?’
[fn3]
Feynman
further points out that the second source of difficulty for the scientist
arises out of the conflict between facts that he learns from science and the
explanations offered by revealed religion. From the scientist’s position of
doubt, and the contemplation of all that modern science has proven to be true –
the size and age of the universe, the nature and development of life on earth,
and the ephemeral nature of the tiny atoms of which it is all made – the God of
his father’s church “isn’t big enough”.
A
Religious View of Science
For the
religious, the journey begins from the opposite end of the spectrum – the
standpoint of certainty. ‘He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him’ (Hebrews 11: 6). Once
this fundamental truth is grasped – that God is good and trustworthy – the
Christian advances in knowledge of the Creator and His plan. This type of faith
is unfathomable to pure Science, which maintains it is heresy to hold onto
adamant certainty in the face of conflicting material evidence.
The
earnest Christian is too trustful to ask God for credentials. C. S. Lewis puts
forward this eloquent case:
I do not think there is a demonstrative proof (like Euclid) of Christianity, nor of
the existence of matter, nor of the good will and honesty of my best and oldest
friends. I think all three (except perhaps the second) far more probable than
the alternatives. . . . I demand from my friend a trust in my good faith which
is certain without
demonstrative proof. It wouldn’t be confidence at all if he waited for rigorous
proof. Hang it all, the very fairy tales embody the truth. Othello believed in
Desdemona’s innocence when it was proved: but that was too late. . . . ‘His
praise is lost who stays till all commend.’
[fn4]
So while
science stands in disregard of authority as grounds for belief, to the
Christian a single word of God is sufficient. The mature Christian must be able
to trust the God whom he cannot trace. This golden thread of faith keeps the
religious mind steadfast amid severe trials of pain and suffering, at rest and
confident that in the face of opposition, God is working out a greater and
grander purpose.
On this
solid rock of trust the Christian can withstand the intellectual perplexity
which may appear to the scientist as dishonesty or stupidity. The faith of the
religious gives assurance that in time the paradox will be resolved; while to
the scientist any contrary fact disrupts certainty, and signals a return to the
blackboard to refine the theory.
A
Meeting of Minds
At the
outset of the Royal Society it could be claimed that all but a few of its
members were men of faith. Now, nearly four hundred years on, it is perhaps
only a handful that believe in God. Since the astronomer
Copernicus published his sun-centred theory of the universe, scientists entered
into controversy with the Church. The same tug-of-war exists today, as the
human genome gives up its secrets. And though there are sympathisers on both
sides of the argument, fires still burn in the border country between religion
and science.
The motto
of the Royal Society serves the honest inquirer well – take nobody’s word
for it. But to the sincere and humble, the debate seems to be poisoned by
intellectual arrogance. Science may be in danger of becoming like the religion
it seeks to discredit.
To Be Continued
________________
NOTES
Citations to Web pages are correct as of the
dates retrieved, but sites may expire or be moved.
[fn1]
An explanation of Hooke’s work and some of his illustrations
in pdf can be found at:
http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/special-collections/featuremicrographia.pdf (retrieved 27 February 2011)
↑
[fn2] The Royal Society elects its members on the merits of their
scientific work. The Society disburses grants and scholarships as well as
awarding medals and prizes for scientific achievement. A history of the Society
can be found on its website here:
http://royalsociety.org/about-us/history/?from=basefeature (retrieved 27 February 2011)
↑
[fn3] Richard P. Feynman, The Meaning of it All (1998; Allen Lane Penguin Press, London), 35-40.
↑
[fn4] C.S. Lewis, author of the Narnia series of children’s
books, also wrote extensively on Christianity. Lewis penned several private
letters to Sheldon Vanauken, who got Lewis’ permission to publish them. The
quotation is taken from
http://www.gkc.org.uk/gkc/lewis.txt (retrieved 27
February 2011)
The letters are now in the public domain and can
be found here:
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/arts/al0176.html (retrieved 27 February 2011)
↑
_______________
Article copyright February 2011 by
ukbiblestudents.co.uk
You are free to reproduce any or all of this material, but please let us know if you do.
↑