This is an short 1000 word essay that I had to write for a final in my Freshman Seminar class. The topic is "Science and Christianity According to X." X being the person that is writing the essay. So basically, this is my view of the relationship between Science and Christianity, in a short 1000 words. I thought I would share...
“In the beginning, God...” (Genesis 1:1a) What a perfect place to start, and that is, in fact, exactly where my beliefs begin when it comes to the topic of Science and Christianity. I have lived in a Christian home all my life, born and raised. My dad is a pastor, my mom homeschooled my siblings and me until we were in high school, and I became a Christian myself when I was just shy of five years old.
I have been always been taught that God created the world and have known all the Bible stores since my elementary years. Even though some young adults doubt the existence of God when they leave the nest, I have never, always believing that the world was created by God. I have, however, had the chance to develop my beliefs for myself and not just take my parents’ word for it. This is my take on the link of Science and Christianity.
First, let me define what I mean by a particular term that is overused in this age. The term is Christianity. Most Americans, if asked, would say that yes, they are indeed a Christian. But just because they go to church, sometimes only at Christmas and Easter, try to do good things, and give to charity, by no means makes you a Christian. A true Christian is one who is “saved by grace, through faith…and not of works” (Ephesians 2:8-9) solely because of the work that Christ did on the cross 2000 years ago. This is Biblical Christianity. That is the foundation of where I am coming from when it comes to relating Science and Christianity.
My beliefs about the relationship of Science and Christianity begin in the book of Genesis. It is quite simple. In six days God created the world and everything in it. He spoke one word, and it all came into existence. I guess you could say that I somewhat believe in the “big bang,” but my version is different from the evolutionists. I believe that God said “light” and BANG, there was light!
God made man as well. He made man out of the dust of the ground, and from His very breath He made them come alive. Adam was the first man He made, and out of this man Adam, and his wife Eve, would come the rest of the human race. I believe God made Adam as a full man from the first second of his life. No evolution from ape to Homo sapiens occurred.
The theory that man evolved from an ape to a human over billions of years is insulting to me personally and should be to everyone else on the planet as well. This theory says that we are no more than animals that just happen to live in houses made of trees instead of the tree itself. Why would anyone like that idea? It gives us no purpose to life except one of working to make more money so we can enjoy the next pleasure. Realizing that the universe was made by a God that gives us a purpose, to glory Him and expand His kingdom on earth, brings so much more to life than just going through the motions of everyday life. Without Him and a purpose, our goal in life is, to quote one of my favorite shows, House, to simply “live as long and as well as we possibly can.”
There are two bits of data that I encounter on a daily basis that prove to me again and again the existence of a Creator God. The first is that our world has a system of order. When I look at how everything works together and makes sense, it makes a statement to me that this world could not be an accident. How else would a bee know just how to pollinate a flower? How would birds have the knowledge to fly south when it starts getting cold during the winter in the north? Being in Chemistry this semester, I am currently studying all the trends of the periodic table. There is a tremendous system of order in those one hundred plus elements. Their placement on the chart shows so much order in and of itself. Without a God that created this world to have order, how else would all of those elements fit together perfectly according to atomic number and with all their properties following specific trends based on their placement on the chart?
The second evidence, of a Creator God that I see, is in how the human body works. So much goes on underneath the skin that only the medical field can discover. Just the thought of toe nails growing, blood clotting, and the miracle of cells dividing to create new human life is enough to make me marvel and worship at the One who created it all. There is so much detail in the human body for it to be an accident. This could only be the work of some higher power. For me, that higher power is the One true God of the Bible.
To me, science and Christianity go hand in hand. It is true that you cannot prove God in a lab, but you cannot disprove Him either. Studying the sciences is all about the great adventure of learning the handiwork of God. I find it a great privilege to be allowed by the owner of the Earth to be a steward of all that He possesses. I learn more about my God and the relationship between Him and me, which I call Biblical Christianity, when I am learning about His marvelous creation.
I feel sorry for those who believe in such a system of random happenings that brought about the earth by accident. I personally could not live without the belief in a God that wants a personal relationship with me as well as having a purpose for me. As a popular song states, “I don’t want to go through the motions.” I believe the Lord has given me a passion for science, particularly the biological sciences, with His purpose for me being one in the medical field. The rest of my life will be filled with the combination of Science and Christianity, and I am so excited to see what that is going to look like.
