Science Cannot Contradict Historic Christianity

When detractors of Historic Christianity claim that 'Science contradicts Religion' or 'Science contradicts Christianity,' many Christians succumb. These claims, at their face value, have rattled some Christians because their busy life precludes a possibility of undertaking an adequate research into this theme. Hence, some Christians either believe that science and Christianity are at loggerheads or they are clueless.

The truth, however, is that science cannot contradict Historic Christianity. This article will endeavor to highlight this fact.

Science Cannot Contradict Religion Does science have authority to judge religion? If eminent non-Christian scientists demarcate science's jurisdiction from religion, then there is reasonable merit in concluding that science cannot judge religion.

Science cannot deny the claims of religion, let alone Christianity. The non-Christian scientists say so.

Consider Harvard University paleontologist, Stephen Jay Gould's principle of Non-overlapping Magisteria (NOMA). NOMA proposes that science and religion represent different magisteria (domain of authority). Hence, science (which covers the empirical domain) and religion (which covers life's ultimate meaning and moral value) ought not to overlap. (Stephen Jay Gould was not a Christian.)

Dr. Francisco J. Ayala, a molecular biologist and evolutionary geneticist and the winner of Templeton Prize, contends that science cannot contradict religion. Dr. Ayala is not a Christian. He asserts:1

Science and religious beliefs need not be in contradiction. If they are properly understood, they cannot be in contradiction because science and religion concern different matters...I contend that both – scientists denying religion and believers rejecting science – are wrong. Science and religious beliefs need not be in contradiction. If they are properly understood, they cannot be in contradiction because science and religion concern different matters.

The scope of science is the world of nature: the reality that is observed, directly or indirectly, by our senses. Science advances explanations about the natural world, explanations that are accepted or rejected by observation and experiment.

Outside the world of nature, however, science has no authority, no statements to make, no business whatsoever taking one position or another. Science has nothing decisive to say about values, whether economic, aesthetic or moral; nothing to say about the meaning of life or its purpose. Science has nothing to say, either, about religious beliefs...Science transcends cultural, political and religious beliefs because it has nothing to say about these subjects...People of faith should stand in awe of the wondrous achievements of science. But they should not be troubled that science may deny their religious beliefs. (Emphasis Mine).

Therefore, since science and religion engage different realms of life, a conclusion that science cannot contradict religion is quite reasonable.

Scientists Contradict Religion Although science cannot contradict religion, certain non-Christian scientists attempt to falsify the claims of religions. Biologist and renowned atheist, Richard Dawkins, in his book "The God Delusion," ridicules God's existence, "I am not attacking any particular version of God or gods. I am attacking God, all gods, anything and everything supernatural, wherever and whenever they have been or will be invented."

These non-Christian scientists do not merely refrain from dismissing religious claims, but they pour scorn on Christian scientists as well. Richard Dawkins loves to ridicule Christian scientists, "Creation scientists have more need than most of us to parade their degrees and qualifications, but it pays to look closely at the institutions that awarded them and the subjects in which they were taken. Those vaunted Ph.D.s tend to be in subjects such as marine engineering or gas kinetics rather than in relevant disciplines like zoology or geology. And often they are earned not at real universities, but at little-known Bible colleges deep in Bush country."2