WHERE IS GOD IN SCIENCE?

It may be an impossible question because the relationship of God to science encounters some of the same concerns that make the separation of church and state such a valuable part of life in our country.  It is just as important that scientific principles are independent of spiritual considerations.  But  it is reasonable for legitimate governmental processes to apply and enforce moral/ethical principles when science impinges on human welfare.

Scientists, who accept God as the Creator of the world responsible for the physical/chemical principles of matter endowed with forces that interacted to produce the universe with the world as we know it, have no basis for finding the principles of science to be different from those denying God's existence.

Some who believe in God depart from evidence based science to rely on literal interpretation of biblical stories.  "Creation Science" is flawed by such a departure from valid science.  They are like the "flat earth" scientists of a few generation before them, skewing science to fit scripture.

CAUSALITY

A proper understanding of causality is important in science.  Advances in science are often tied closely to finding causes.  Projecting back in time to earlier and earlier causes, it seems like the "Big Bang" creation of the world has no understandable preceding  cause for those not believing in God as the Creator.  Even a repeated sequence of big bangs does not satisfy our reason as well as does an infinite spiritual being, infinite in goodness, power, knowledge, love, and not bound by time or any other constraints as the same Creator's will provides the good things of creation.

GOOD AND EVIL

It seems to me that good and evil did not exist in the material world until humans came along by the evolutionary process God directed in the original instructions for creation.  The celestial fireworks of heavenly bodies cooled somewhat as planets formed and the evolutionary process produced beings capable of sensing awe of the wonders of the world.  When the social structure and relationships reached a stage planned and pleasing to God a touch of spiritual life gave us the ability to understand values including good and evil.

I don't presume to speak for God.  God has left a message to us via a series of prophets and ultimately His Son.  The books of the New Testament are the clearest record of his message.  It seems that the touch of the Spirit of God reaches even those without knowledge of scripture.  The touch of God is sometimes visible in the material world as miracles that are unrecognizable by those not believing in God.

Each miracle is a unique event and as such is not accessible to a scientist to meet the criterion of repeatability needed for scientific proof.  The unbelieving scientist "knows" some of the data is missing or flawed.  Not all of them can expect  to be given a dramatic awakening such as the way St. Paul had a personal introduction to Jesus Christ.

GOD AND SCIENCE

God and Science will occupy two irreconcilable aspects of our knowledge until we personally accept God.  The acceptance may come gradually, intermittently, or instantly.  I will probably make my next post one that may help bring that acceptance for some.

Joe Engemann          Kalamazoo, Michigan      April 7, 2017

GOD

God

    infinite    pure spirit    caring    personal     creative creator

This posting should be first in order of importance and causality.  I think God has been intimately involved in my life, enabling me to see details of how he created the living world through the process of evolution.  But I cannot prove that to the satisfaction of those uncertain about God’s existence.  Nor do I rely on that belief to come to my conclusions about evolution, creativity, or science.

Old and New Testament scriptures have much to say about God being the creator, from the Genesis accounts to the epistles of St. Paul.  But the details told in stories lacking the foundations of modern science should not detract from the ultimate message of God’s awesome role in creation.

Over two thousand years ago Aristotle provided four proofs for the existence of God.  I think they are all derived from the principle of causality upon which all scientists rely.  But the transition from pure existence, the “I AM” revealed millennia ago, to the material world is beyond the understanding of many.  The hurting and evil in the world impede many from seeing the goodness and greatness of God.  A full understanding of evolution and free will is helpful in getting past those impediments.  More may eventually be said about that topic.

As a graduate student I became a close friend of a young faculty member in zoology and was an occasional guest in his home with his family.  He maintained I would be handicapped as a scientist because the dogmatic thinking associated with my religion would interfere with my thought processes.  I don’t remember if I had an appropriate response, but in the 56 years since then I do see what makes his conclusion wrong.  You don’t have to believe in God to be a “dogmatic thinker”.  And a firm belief in causality will help you look for answers when doubters lose heart.

I have been helped in my spiritual journey by association with people from many lands, of different religions, and varying views and backgrounds.  I can see the good in all of them, the flaws we share, and almost understand God’s love for all of them; I do so thankfully, perhaps motivated by the thought that then there is hope for me.

I may eventually post a few pictures of houses of worship around the world.  But great inspiration can be had in contemplating a stand of mature trees, the night sky, the waves lapping the ocean shore, the view from mountaintops, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and the myriad life forms in a drop of pond water on a microscope slide.  But to really know the creator, we should look for God's reflection in people.

Written 4/2/2011, slightly edited and posted 5/21/2013        Joseph G. Engemann