Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The Christian And The Scientist

The Scientist and the Christian

"We have been told that the scientist thinks it his duty to proportion the strenth of his belief exactly to the evidence; to believe less as there is less evidence and to withdraw belief all together when reliable adverse evidence turns up. We have been told that on the contrary, the Christian Regards it as positively praiseworthy to believe with evidence, or in excess of the evidence, or to maintain his belief unmodified in the teeth of steadily increasing evidence against it. Thus a 'faith that has stood firm,' which appears to mean a belief immune from all assaults of reality, is commended."

-C.S. Lewis, On Obstinacy and Belief

Christians use a scientific mindset to rationalize their belief in God. They tell of the wonders of creation and how if the earth were one millionth of a centimeter this or that way then it would either freeze or burn. They mention how improbable it is that 66 writers authored the Bible without one contradiction. Yet, their bias does not allow any evidence that contends their belief system, evolution, the Jesus tomb, alternative views of miracles, etc.

Christians have confided in science instead of surrendered in trust. Science cannot possibly quiet any Christians doubts successfully because God doesn't fit inside a test tube or under a microscope.

The conclusion must be made that there is no parallel between the scientists and the Christian, because Christians are not conducting an experiment on natural phenomena but reacting to a divine being that they have met.

God is not a specimen that we may test, instead we are at His disposal. The dog must trust the caring human to get him out of the trap and the child must trust the adult to carefully take the thorn out of his/her finger. In that sense, there is no hypothesis to rationalize God but only our finite trust to lay at his feet.

--Adam