Faith Based Science

On March 4^th of 2016, an article was published in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “At Its Heart, Science is Faith –Based, Too.” Written by Matt Emerson, the article detailed a February 11, 2016 experiment where scientists detected gravitational waves which emanated from a deep space collision 1.3 billion light years from Earth. The news confirmed, to their satisfaction, the 1915 theory of Albert Einstein that there was a ripple effect in space-time.

Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli, commenting on this event, stated that the scientists were pursuing a “dream based on faith in reason: that the logical deductions of Einstein and his mathematics would be reliable.”

The article goes on to point out that the work of science depends on faith/belief. Faith that the hidden architecture of the universe and all the constants and laws of nature will hold. Paul Davis of Arizona State University is quoted as saying:

“Just because the sun has risen every day of your life, there is no guarantee that it therefore will rise tomorrow. The belief that it will – that there are indeed dependable regularities of nature- is an act of faith, but one that is indispensable to the progress of science.”

Realizing this is an important step in crossing what is an artificial divide between religion and science.  People in our society falsely assume that science is the realm of certainty, and that religion is the realm of hopeful belief. Often, it seems that education and media take this divide for granted. But it is false.

The fundamental choice is not whether humans will have faith, but rather what will be the object of their faith. The scientists who set up this experiment had faith in Einstein’s calculations, and they persisted in their faith even when, after more than a decade into their test, they had no proof. This kind of tenacity sounds a lot like what the author to the Hebrews says when he declares,

Hebrews 11:1

“Now, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

NIV

The seekers after Christian truth are persuaded by preliminary evidence and the testimony of others that God is real and His Word is true. This belief is informed by credible reasons and nurtured by trust, just as Einstein’s math was trusted by the researchers in this experiment.

The combination of faith and reason eventually delivered the sound of two black holes colliding, thus it should not be at all odd to consider that the combination of faith and reason assure us that there is a God who loves us and has communicated to us through His Word. 

Indeed, everyone is living a faith based life – the issue is what and who is the object of your faith. 
Make it Jesus and know Him through His Word.

His and yours,