There is a never ending discussion about the conflict between religion and science. In reality it is not a debate between God and Science, it is a debate between a belief in God and a belief that there is no God.
For those of us that believe in God, there really is no conflict between science and religion. We believe God created everything, and therefore science is the study of God’s creation.
Often people’s success at discovering, learning, excelling and achieving sets them up to believing that they can know and control everything. I believe, as a result of manipulation by the devil, this positive drive to achieve can be turned into arrogance. This manipulation began in the Garden of Eden with the temptation of Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5 The desire to be “like God” tempted Eve to disobey God’s rules.
The similar motivation occurred in the story of the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11:3-4 writes “The people who lived there began to talk about building a great city, with a temple-tower reaching to the skies—a proud, eternal monument to themselves.” The people discovered technology allowing for construction of tall buildings, and followed this into arrogance.
Throughout the years discoveries are made, and theories are developed expanding our knowledge of the Universe. It has become quite clear to me that the fundamental dispute in this God vs Science debate is the “world view” that we start with. If we believe God created it all, we will marvel at these new discoveries of God’s fantastic creation, but if people don’t want to believe in God, they can use new discoveries to come up with interpretations to support their disbelief in God.
Dear Lord, We know that the attempts to lead people astray will continue until you return. Help us remember to use the intelligence you gave us to understand your creation rather than being manipulated into exalting ourselves over you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.