Let’s make peace. There seems to be such antipathy between science and theology that any real peace is impossible. On the one hand, the general perception seems to be that all scientists believe that anyone who expresses faith in any God is gullible and ignorant. On the other hand, the Christians seem to believe that every scientist is an atheistic boor, and an intellectual snob.

Most folks on both sides of the equation seem to acknowledge that there are exceptions, but nobody seems to believe that there is any genuine sincerity to be found on the other side. The fact is, there is sincerity on both sides, and the devil seeks to exploit both, using the antipathy to make a mockery of faith.

While this issue might spark controversy among the rigid on both sides, there has always existed a possiblity for bridging the gap with love and understanding. Among the most vocal of the scientists, religion is given a black eye. Among the most vocal of the religionists, science is given a black eye. As is always the case in extremes, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Now the serpent was more cunning
than any beast of the field
which the Lord God had made.

(Genesis 3:1)

God does not hate scientists. Let’s get that straight. Nor is every scientist an atheist. Christianity and science are not mutually exclusive. The antipathy that exists today between religion and science is not born of godly indignation. God does not need our help in proving false science wrong. His Word does that quite well. God is not sitting in the heavens wringing His hands over the lies that some scientists are foisting upon a gullible world. Rather than being enemies, scientists and theologians ought to be allies. There is nothing inherently wrong in studying the methods that God used in creation. There is nothing wrong in attempting to understand the mechanics of what He has made. Rather, the devil has placed this enmity between the two in order to exploit both.

There is one whose motivation has been to spawn the debate, and to create the enmity that exists between science and theology. Divide and conquer is his theme, and he works not only in this arena, but in every arena where faith is an issue. This one divides families, churches, political groups, social groups, whole denominations of Christians; one who capitalizes on every dispute and debate, who seeks continuously and tirelessly to divide man from God. It is no surprise then that he sought centuries ago to create an unbridgeable chasm between science and religion. This one is so vastly more intelligent than man that he has found it a simple thing to create a great gulf and thereafter to maintain it and widen it. He is one who knows full well that science and religion ought to be in complete harmony, one sustaining and verifying the other. And what is his name? It once was Lucifer; now it is Satan.

While there are many scientists who are also capable theologians, we have reached a point where the general aim of science is no longer to prove the Word of God, but has as one of its underlying goals to dispel a faith that it cannot accept. And why can science not accept faith? Because religion has sought to hang rigidly onto doctrines that it long has held, but which the Bible does not address at all. Many of the propositions of the scientific realm do not in and of themselves do not dispute the Bible, but many of the tenets of religionists dispute the clear principles of science. This is not to say that every scientific theory is sound, but that theologians ought not delve into those areas in which they have no expertise. And where the Bible does address an issue clearly, science ought to direct its inquiries from that basis.

Galileo Galilei lived from 1564-1642. He was raised a Roman Catholic, and was a learned Italian mathematician from an impoverished family in Pisa. After a brief career as a sort of inventor, he learned of the invention of the telescope. He immediately began work on a telescope of his own, and shortly thereafter turned his attention to astronomy.

Copernicus had first proposed the theory that the earth did not lie at the center of the universe, but his ideas were refuted in both religious and scientific circles. Galileo was persuaded that Copernicus was right. He noted the mountains on the moon, the satellites of Jupiter and the constitution of the Milky Way. His discoveries earned him membership in several scientific societies, and he moved to Florence. He discovered the rings of Saturn and also sunspots, and became a champion of Copernicus.

The Dominican friars began a stout persecution of Galileo. Pope Paul V ordered a meeting between Cardinal Bellarmine and Galileo, at which Galileo was admonished not to promote the teachings of Copernicus. Galileo felt that he had been warned, but not forbidden to teach thus.

Some years later, Pope Urban VIII began a new persecution of Galileo, and the Inquisition was turned against him. At this meeting, he recanted his position, though some report that he said under his breath, “Nevertheless, it moves.” he was imprisoned, and almost immediately his imprisonment was reduced to house arrest. He continued to work and to write, but was careful to have his works published in the Netherlands. he died blind and discredited by the religious authorities.

Science did not pick a fight with theology, but vice versa. There exists such enmity today that it seems impossible to hope that it will ever cease. Now, science holds doggedly to its theories, while religion holds to its dogma.

As the devil goes about the world seeking to divide and conquer, Christians everywhere ought to be marshalling their forces in order to make peace where division exists. It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance, and the fostering of hatred and division is not God’s work, but the devil’s. As ambassadors of our heavenly home, stationed on earth, our proper role is not to deepen the divide between man and God, but to use the gospel as the bridge that brings men together. We cannot do this by backbiting, but by understanding how the devil has worked to create the divisions, and then seeking to make peace between every competing faction.

We cannot accomplish any good work by compromising the gospel, nor should we try. But we can bring the gospel of God’s grace to the forefront of every debate, being fruitful in every good work, seeking to convert souls, not minds. The fields are white already for the harvest of souls. Let us be about our Father’s business.

And it was good. The Bible does not begin with philosophical arguments for the existence of God. It begins by saying simply, “In the beginning, God...” Religionists want to dispense with the Big Bang theory, while many scientists want to dispense with God. However, there is nothing in the Bible that seeks to disprove the Big Bang (it really ought to presented in lowercase). Nor is there any reason in science to dispense with God. Science has yet to prove the big bang theory, else it would no longer be a theory. It is merely a proposition whereby science seeks to understand the origins of the universe. Indeed, the physical evidence does seem to support the initial “eruption” of matter, and its continuing expansion. there was a time when the religionists contested the centrality of the sun in our solar system, believing that the earth was at the center of the universe. They were sincere in their disbelief of science then, and are probably wrong in their sincerity today.

On the other hand, science has not given any explanation for where the initial kernel that erupted into the big bang came from. One side feeds the other side’s unbelief. Over the centuries, such an antipathy has grown that there seems little hope of our ever seeing a reconciliation between science and faith. the two are not necessarily irreconcilable, as religion’s acceptance of a sun-centered solar system has demonstrated. Now both science and religion need to understand that the big bang theory is possible, as is creation. After all, that which banged came from somewhere, and something must have caused it to go bang in the first place. There need be no conflict.