In 1957 the early US rock and roll performer known as Little Richard changed his musical style from rock and roll to gospel music. He was in Newcastle, a city on Australia’s east coast, when he saw the Russian spacecraft Sputnik in the night sky. He thought it was a sign from God and changed his life accordingly.

This fact came out in a music quiz show in Australia called “Spicks and Specks” that I watched recently. In providing the correct answer to a question about Little Richard one of the panelists said to the effect “He saw the satellite and thought it was a sign from God when actually it was the opposite of God – science!”

It is a fact that many people assume that there is a clash between God and science. That science has somehow superseded God. Is this conclusion valid? No. Here’s why.

There are many definitions of ‘science’ online. I found this one particularly interesting and quote it in full. Note what it says science is and conversely what it doesn’t say!

“Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.

Scientific methodology includes the following:

• Objective observation: Measurement and data (possibly although not necessarily using mathematics as a tool)

• Evidence

• Experiment and/or observation as benchmarks for testing hypotheses

• Induction: reasoning to establish general rules or conclusions drawn from facts or examples

• Repetition

• Critical analysis

• Verification and testing: critical exposure to scrutiny, peer review and assessment”

https://sciencecouncil.org/about-science/our-definition-of-science/

‘Science’ is simply about knowledge, how things work. Complex as that is it neither proves nor disproves God. And it certainly is not opposed to God. If you believe in God, then science actually shows how complex God’s design is.

As I see it ‘science’ doesn’t tell us whether there’s a God. Or not. It deals in fact finding as described in the definition and reaches conclusions accordingly. A good example is the human body. Science can tell us in incredible detail how it works. But that does not tell us whether it evolved or was designed by God.

It’s therefore interesting to read what God’s Bible tells us. He claims to have created everything. But He tells us it is matter of faith whether we believe this. It is also a matter of faith if we do not although that has somehow become obscured by the false idea that it is unscientific to believe in God.

Here’s some particularly relevant excepts from the book of Hebrews. By the way it’s worth reading the whole chapter!

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see…

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.…. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” (Hebrews 11:1-6, NLT)

There’s so much more in God’s Bible that can help us right now, and that offers an unimaginably wonderful future. But the starting point is opening it and reading it!