There is an age-old debate that only gets worse as time marches on.  Can science and God coexist?  Doesn’t one disprove the other?  Furthermore, in today’s world of constant bombardment by the media, almost everything you see and hear suggests you have to be on one side of the fence or the other.

The truth is that the two are not mutually exclusive.  You do not have to choose whether you believe the science or believe the Bible.  In fact, science is a beautiful and undeniable proof of a master design.

The World Around Us

Let’s consider what we’re made of.  Let’s talk about atoms.  They are so small that you need special equipment to see them.  Even at that level, so many things have to be just right in order for the atom to keep working.

Temperatures have to be within certain numbers, gravitational forces have to be perfect, as do electromagnetic forces, spacing, positive and negative charges, weights, and masses.  I could go on and on.  If any one of fifty things is out of balance, the atom fails.  There are whole fields of mathematics and science dedicated to things just at this level because the systems are so complex.

It takes on average about a hundred trillion of these atoms to make just one human cell and about a hundred trillion cells for one human body.  A hundred trillion times a hundred trillion atoms, all having very complex microsystems that have to work perfectly or they fail.  All of these atoms also have to work together perfectly under about a hundred perfect conditions at all times or bad things happen to the body.  That’s just one human body in an even bigger world and universe.

How can anyone look at such a complex and beautiful design and not see how there has to be a master planner behind it all?  All of those equations, mathematics, engineering principles, and science principles fit together perfectly.  Such complex order should only further one’s belief in God.

God and Science Aren’t Mutually Exclusive

Unfortunately, today’s world pushes the idea that you can either believe in science or believe in God, but not both.  The media tries to cement this idea.  The only major scientists and theorists that the media have promoted in the media in the last fifty years have been liberals who do not believe in God.

Schools and the media are quick to dismiss anyone who believes in God as being simply uneducated or brainwashed.  Yet schools and the media are very careful to avoid any mention of the religious beliefs of the very scientists that they themselves study and worship as being the geniuses of our time.

Galileo, Descartes, and Copernicus were all believers.  Some will say that these were from too far back in our history.  That’s fine.  Let’s talk about those scientists that are considered the fathers of modern science and math.  There’s Pascal, Faraday, Planck, and Kelvin.  I could actually name about fifteen more.

It’s quite ironic.  All of today’s academics who claim that recent big discoveries and theories in science disprove God are actually basing their life’s work and their argument on the science developed by believers in God.

In fact, there are many famous quotes from the scientists mentioned above saying that their belief in God only deepened with each new discovery.  German theoretical physicist Max Planck (1858-1947) considered science and spirituality as inextricably linked:

“Both religion and science need for their activities the belief in God, and moreover God stands for the former in the beginning, and for the latter at the end of the whole thinking.”

There have even been highly respected agnostic and atheist scientists who admit their studies of science and the Universe have either changed their minds, or at the very least made them doubt their stance against religion and spirituality.  This includes the very man who came up with the name “The Big Bang”.

The truth is that there are many, many people out there who work at high levels in science and math while also believing in God and heaven.  They do not all agree about how the Universe began.  They may not agree on how the human race began.  Not everyone even agrees about how to interpret the Bible.

The Bible tells us that we will never know or understand everything while we are on this Earth.  The good news is that it doesn’t matter.  Being unsure of how the Earth began or how humans came to be isn’t proof God and science are contradictory.  It’s just proof that we don’t have it all figured out yet.

There is a pretty cool part in the Bible.  Actually, there are several places in the Bible where an interesting question is posed.  Someone asked how a man who has never been taught about God and the Bible can be held responsible for his actions.  How can someone like that be punished for not believing and following God?  It’s a very valid question, to which the Bible provides a very clear answer.  That man need only to look around him.  He will see God in the beauty and complexity of nature.

God is revealed by nature, not contradicted by it.  Therefore, the science that governs our physical world actually helps to solidify our belief in God, not disprove his existence.

Two Last Parting Thoughts

Consider this when trying to reconcile the relationship between God and science.  Many people say that science clearly shows that God does not exist and could not have created the Universe.  However, no one has actually provided any concrete proof to support anything atheists have claimed over the years.  No one can actually prove that there is no God behind the science.

On the other hand, there is undeniable, concrete proof to support some Biblical claims.  For instance, there is widely accepted, concrete proof of a great flood.  There is scientific proof of names, families, cities, and even battles in the Bible that weren’t previously documented in human history.  Even the Smithsonian and National Geographic admit that the Bible is the one of the most accurate historical documents that has ever existed.  Sometimes it even serves as a basis or starting point from which to begin the study of certain timelines and historical events.

The second thought to consider is just how much science there actually is in the Bible.  The Bible talks about the Earth being a sphere.  It mentions the science governing wind currents, the Earth’s crust and plate tectonics, lightening, the speed of sound, blood circulation with oxygen transfer, and even the water cycle.

The Bible describes explicit directions given by leaders and even God himself on when and how to handle certain medical issues.  God gives instructions on how to reduce the spread of bacteria and diseases, and other such things.  All of these are commanded, written, and followed long before science even existed – let alone before the science behind these principles were known.

So how can we explain why the Bible contains so much science? The only explanation is that the Bible is the word of God, who created the science and math that govern the Universe.

We may never agree on or prove all the details of our Universe.  We may never agree on how or why the Universe came to be.  However, the sheer complexity of our world points to a grand design.

It’s not an all or nothing situation.  Just because you can’t figure out all of the details doesn’t mean that God can’t exist within scientific reason.  There is more than enough proof in this article to assure you that God and science are not mutually exclusive.

Living By Faith – free eBook Faithworks Centre, Prince Edward Island is a church where people from all walks of life join to grow in faith. It’s not easy to live a life of faith in today’s fast-paced world. That’s why we’ve created a 17-page, 3-part guide to Living By Faith. Learn about how to strengthen your faith, follow Jesus’ command to love and serve others, and understand how love casts out fear. Get your free guide by just entering your email address below!