Trusting in science or in God?
Sermon preached in St Salvator's Chapel, St Andrews on the 25th January, 2009 by Professor Eric Priest
Readings: Pslam 62: 5 - 12 and Mark 1: 14 - 20
Sermon
May our thoughts be now and always inspired by God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen
1. Introduction
In Psalm 62 verse 8 we heard 'Trust in God at all times, O ye people'. But a fundamentalist atheist such as Dawkins may reply: 'That's an old-fashioned notion in a modern world. We should instead trust in Science.'
Well, we certainly do trust in Science -- as we rely on computers & mobile phones. And, if we want to stand a chance of tackling many global problems in 21st C, such as energy provision, feeding the hungry & global warming, we shall certainly need to harness tools of Science (which God, after all, has given us).
To me, there are in a sense different worlds:
a physical world of space & time & matter;
a mathematical world of theorems, which John Howie and I love so much;
a world of consciousness, both personal and communal;
and a world of what may be called 'cosmic consciousness', where ultimate questions are addressed, such as the nature of reality or our origin, purpose & destiny.
All these worlds are important to me as human being: they interact, and I need them all for a full understanding.
2. The World of Modern Science
is wondrous and often much stranger than fiction.
But it is important to distinguish between:
Mainstream or core science, which is well established, unlikely to change and which you can trust;
and speculative or newer aspects, where we are in process of discovering and which you can't yet trust, but which in future will either become the new mainstream or be proved wrong.
An example is the Big Bang: we know that:
the whole universe is expanding & cooling from a point 13.7 by ago;
at the very early stages (after 10-30 secs), there was pure energy & one unified force;
then quarks combined to form protons and neutrons;
after a trillionth of a second (10-12 secs) the whole universe filled a volume about the size of the solar system with a temperature of 10,000 trillion degrees;
after 3 mins, all the hydrogen ad helium nuclei in the universe had been created;
after a billion years, the first galaxies & stars were born, where the other elements from which you and I are composed were formed;
after 9 billion years, (4.7 by ago) the Earth came on the scene;
and only a billion years ago humans appeared - a twinkling of an eye on the timescale of the universe.
Most of this is mainstream and well understood, but what about the more speculative parts of cosmology? Well, standard big bang cosmology is based on Einstein's theory of General Relativity, which implies that space & time were created at the beginning. But the problem with this is that general relativity & quantum mechanics break down at the earliest times, and so we need a new theory that can replace and unite them. One possibility is so-called 'superstring theory', in which the elementary particles are tiny strings rather than points and in which space has 6 extra dimensions at each point of our three-dimensional universe.
Possible implications of this (if it's correct) are:
(1) that the big bang is perhaps not really the beginning of time and that before this the universe collapsed and bounced, so that the term 'big bounce' would be more appropriate than big bang;
(2) that our universe is maybe a three-dimensional membrane cruising through higher-dimensional space, and that the big bang is really a collision of two such membranes.
But these are both highly speculative. There is no evidence whatsoever for them at the moment - and so in future perhaps they will be ruled out by observations (such as at the LHC in Geneva).
Other Examples of Mainstream Science which we as community should accept since they are well established are: evolution & the role of natural selection;
and the basic facts of Global Warming
Dawkins defines faith as 'Blind trust in the absence of evidence, even in the teeth of evidence'. But to me faith & trust do not at all mean ceasing to question, or parking your brain outside! At the core of science & faith is the need to maintain a questioning mind. That, after all, is central to being in a University.
Indeed, when we are wrestling with new ideas at fringe of knowledge, it is
questioning and debate that lead to new discoveries.
So what we trust in Science are the mainstream results and the process of debate whereby that mainstream is extended. If you want to learn more about science, I recommend that, like Jamie Walker and I, you try and attend Inaugural Lectures (on both Science and Arts) - they are usually very good and highly accessible.
3. Let's Tease out the Similarities & Differences between Science & Religion:
Both are concerned with a Search for Truth.
But they ask different questions about the nature of reality:
Science asks How and Theology asks Why?
Science looks at world impersonally as an 'it' - often using experiments or the language of mathematics (which I and John Howie love so much). It is open to testing. But trust is also at the core of Scientific endeavour:
For example, I cannot prove Fermat's last theorem (like Andrew Wiles) or the results about the Big Bang that I described earlier, but I do trust those who have checked them - and in principle if I had enough time to learn the background (many years), I probably could prove them.
Religion, on the other hand, looks at reality from a personal perspective and talks in terms of relationships, which are experienced through trusting rather than testing. It¿s no use testing God by asking Him to write a message in clouds
'Hello Eric' --- He doesn't play such a silly game.
In same way, the trust we give a friend does not involve testing: if I continually set traps to test whether you're my friend, that would soon destroy our relationship.
However, we can ask both How & Why about same event.
For example, the kettle is boiling because the gas heats water or because I (or more probably my wife, Clare) want a cup of tea. We need both to understand the boiling kettle.
So - we need insights of both Science & Religion to fully understand the rich reality we inhabit. How & Why are distinct inquiries. But there is a consistency between them -
If I put kettle in the fridge, you would be suspicious that I don't really want hot cup of tea.
This consistency implies the likelihood of a fruitful dialogue between Science & Religion as they compare their insights into reality - they are friends, not foes. This has been the main object of the James Gregory Lectures - we have for next year a superb series of lectures planned on Evolution, The Brain & Mind, the Big Bang ¿ and the first one on Feb 19 is on Global Warming.
4. The Question 'Should We Trust Science or God?'
suggests that Science and Religion are at War. But this is to misunderstand the nature of both Science & Religion - and also to misread the history of science:
For example, it is not true that, when Darwin proposed his theory, all scientists supported it and all Christians opposed it - in fact many scientists did not accept it and many Christians did!
For me, Science & Religion are instead complementary in what they tell us about life.
Science has revealed the incredible beauty of Universe.
The Way of Scientist is not cold, purely logical, or arrogant
-- but it is a voyage of discovery, which involves openness, creativity, imagination and often leads to a sense of wonder and also humility (as we realise how little we know).
In other words, the Way of Science is very similar in its nature to the Way of Faith. Both Science & Religion can point us to God and so should be consistent:
Bruno Guiderdoni (a Moslem astrophysicist) was one of our James Gregory public lecturers - I took him into local school, where he was asked by one of the school students:
'If Sc & Islam disagree on a given question, what would you do?'
He replied 'I would go back to my Koran and try and see where I had misunderstood it!'
That surely is also the response of the Christian when asked the same question.
They also asked him:
'How do you know Islam is truer than Christianity?'
'I don't' he replied, 'I happen to follow Islam, but I worship the same God as Christians & Jews. We are on a journey climbing a mountain by different paths, but I expect we shall meet at the top of mountain!'
5. It is Because of this Journey that We Need Trust
We heard in the second reading (Mark 1 v20) that Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee when he saw Simon and Andrew fishing. He said 'Follow me' - and immediately they left their nets and followed him!
This was clearly start of a journey - they knew not where, but they trusted Him. There was something new and intriguing about Him, but above all trustworthy - without that trust they would have never started out.
-- and neither would we, for we too are on a Journey of learning & discovery
-- in which we take with us the skills that we have learnt, and the talents we have honed at this University
-- but we have no idea who we shall meet tomorrow,
-- what we shall discover,
-- what joys we shall experience if we are open to them.
There will certainly be moments of difficulty/hardship which at times may overwhelm us
-- but there is a deep sense that God will be with us
-- even though He may at times seem absent.
'The Shack' by William Young is a remarkable book which I read over Christmas & which is having a profound effect on many of us. It tells of a man called Mack who has a terrible tragedy in his life, so that he becomes stuck and paralysed in his journey by 'a great sadness'.
But he has an encounter with God in the shack, which reveals to him
and to us many new insights into the nature of God ---
one of them is the reality of the resurrection
and another is a new sense of His presence with us on our journey.
Those of you who have this Christmas instead read Barack Obama¿s autobiography 'Dreams of My Father' may have been struck by the sense of a quest for identity - an urge to know who he is - and the importance of following your heart as well as your head (when e.g. you decide on a career).
And at Obama's amazing inauguration on Tuesday there was
an awareness at this historic moment,
of the need for new ways of coming together in community,
of breaking down the barriers and the prejudices that divide us -
appreciating and valuing each other
surely another key aim of our time at university.
For we are not isolated individuals, journeying alone -
and are not called to be largely independent,
but instead to help each other in community.
It was heart-warming to hear Obama's awareness of the global community,
of the need for a new engagement with the world in this century -
of a vision where poverty is eradicated and wars have ceased.
6. So Should We Trust Science or God?
My answer is clearly both - but in different ways.
Science & Religion are much closer in approach than perhaps you realised.
We all need Science to learn more of the nature God's universe and to tackle problems of 21st century.
But we are each on a journey of discovery in this life,
In company of the communities of which we are part
And with the guidance & support right at core of reality
of a God whose Holy Spirit cares for each one of us.
So let us pray:
Lord Jesus, we pray that you will continue to guide and inspire us,
as we learn more of the nature of your incredible universe,
and as we seek to follow you in our journeying
all the days of our lives.
Amen