Scientists’ Stance toward Religion

For most of history, up until the middle of the 19th century, science and religion were viewed as co-workers in the human quest for understanding, in which science served as an avenue to deeper faith in, and appreciation of, the Creator.

• For most of history, up until the middle of the 19th century, science and religion were viewed as co-workers in the human quest for understanding, in which science served as an avenue to deeper faith in, and appreciation of, the Creator.

• Science relied on the conviction that the universe was rational, orderly, and intelligible throughout – that it ran according to comprehensible and uniform laws that could be observed and discovered – precisely because it was designed and ordered by a rational Creator. Logically, if reality was ultimately chaotic and unintelligible, the universe would be incomprehensible, making science impossible.

• Almost all the scientists of that period believed that behind creation, there is a Creator. Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, Kepler, Pasteur, and nearly all of the founding fathers of science were men of faith who attributed their interest in science to their belief in God.

• The thoughtfulness and complexity with which the universe was meticulously crafted, all the way down to the finest details, pointed these scientists not only to God, but hinted at what kind of God He must be. Sir Isaac Newton, the discoverer of the universal law of gravitation, said, “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent Being.”