Maybe some reading these blogs will not be keen on a “God” path to truth, but rather hold to a hope that science or philosophy would have the key to the answers.  So I will briefly comment first on whether science can come up with answers; then next, about philosophy.

We are all grateful for the many blessings that science has brought into our lives, from smartphones, to electric cars, to vaccinations and so much more. Although science studies the body with very positive effects in medicine, it is inept in trying to grasp the soul, our inner spiritual reality, our consciousness, our personality – in short our heart that longs for answers to questions about who we are and why we are here. 

Science brilliantly studies the physics of existence, matter, energy, scientific laws of nature etc. But our existential questions are of a different order. Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project affirms: “Science is powerless to answer questions such as, ‘Why did the universe come into being?’ ‘What is the meaning of human existence?’ ‘What happens after we die?’”

It is therefore helpful to recognise the limits of science: in its own domain, it is wonderful; but sometimes scientists use the authority of their science to endorse their personal philosophy of life or moral values. When they do that, they step out of their proper domain. They have the right to their opinions, of course, but in non-scientific matters, that is all they are – opinions. Some scientists are atheists; others are Christians. If an atheistic scientist uses his reputation as a scientist to put forward the philosophy of atheism he is misusing his authority. The unfortunate thing is that many people take the irreligious opinions of such scientists as scientific truth; they even adopt them as generally-held assumptions. But it is this that actually adds to the complication of finding real answers to our inner questions. For example, to deal with humans as if they were just complicated amalgams of matter, or freak advanced animals thrown up by chance processes, is of no help at all to people suffering with issues of self-esteem: rather such beliefs, or assumptions – for all their seeming scientific backing – actually contribute to our psychological disarray, for they undermine our personal value.

It is worth bearing in mind that according to numerous commentators, it was the Christian consensus in place after the Reformation that enabled the rise of modern science. Science flourished from Isaac Newton’s day, on the basis of the freshly rediscovered biblical worldview made widely known through the Protestant Reformation – which made a biblical basis accessible as it had not been under Roman Catholicism. Biblical Christianity is perfectly reconcilable with the efforts and findings of science – which can be seen as, in Kepler’s words, “thinking God’s thoughts after him”.

Clive Every-Clayton