God Loves Science, and Science Loves God

Science is a very human thing. It’s in our nature to

want to find and understand order and meaning in all

creation. It probably began with studying and

mapping the stars and planets, naming them,

especially when they were thought gods and

predictors or influencers of good and bad things

(astrology). Over centuries, scientific knowledge

grew as records were kept, so that later people stood

on the shoulders of earlier and thus were able to go

further. Babylonians, Greeks and Moslems all

contributed to science, and mathematics grew as

well. The Jews were told there is only one God, and

so rejected astrology. However, star and planet

records helped astronomy, travel, and navigation on

the seas. The Catholic Church has supported

astronomy ever since it was used initially for

determining the date of Easter ech year.

Then universities began to be established, from the

1200’s on, in the cities of Europe. They were begun

by Catholic religious orders, with the support of

Popes, and included mathematics and science for all

students. Scientific progress accelerated greatly.

Leading figures, from Isaac Newton to Galileo were

among those so educated, and many priests were also

scientists. Galileo’s friend, Pope Urban VIII, was a

mathematician. Many historians of science think

that Judeo-Christian beliefs and thinking are what

made science possible.

Today the universities are in the hands of

nonreligious people, while scientific progress

continues. It matters not the worldview of the

scientist. Many are theists, many are atheists, and

many fall somewhere in between. Science itself has

no religious, nonreligious, or anti-religious view.

But since the universities, and therefore most of the

hiring and money for research, are now in the hands

of the nonreligious, many think that atheism and

science go together. Historians know that theism

and science have frequently co-existed, though

modern textbooks do not necessarily reflect that.

Science cannot ever prove God exists, nor can it

ever prove God does not exist. Both of these are

equally true, because if he caused the universe to

begin (the “Big Bang,”) he had to exist before the

universe, and is therefore outside of our ability to

observe and measure, science itself. Atheist and

other scientists held out hope the Big Bang was not

true, especially because it sounded like what the

Bible said. Nevertheless, it was finally proven, late

in the 20th century.