Science Fields and Methodology Came from a Christian Worldview

Did the Greeks Invent Science?

Now some may argue that the seeds of science began with the Greeks and that they certainly did not espouse a Christian worldview. This may be true, but one doesn’t have to be a Christian to borrow from a biblical worldview. When the Apostle Paul was in Athens, he told his audience that even their statues and poets pointed to the God of Scripture (Acts 17:22–31). Without knowing it, they were vainly groping for God.

Greek philosophers and scientists relied on the uniformity of nature and the ability of the human mind to reason in order to make their observations and conduct experiments. Yet some (like the Epicureans) espoused evolutionary philosophies. Paul confronted them on their philosophical naturalism, and although his discourse recorded in Acts 17 was very brief, he went straight to the heart of the matter.

God was not some abstract entity, nor something made with human hands (or devised by human thoughts). God created everything, and this included the laws of nature. Paul was not just making a theological statement here; he was also making a scientific one. When Paul proclaimed, “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), he was including the concept that when we measure, observe, think, reason, and experiment, we are able to do so because God created us in his image (Genesis 1:27), has given us the ability to think and reason (Job 38:36), and upholds the universe (Colossians 1:16–17), allowing life on earth to proceed in an orderly way (Genesis 8:22).

Laws of Nature

God created everything, and this included the laws of nature.

Any scientist must (and automatically does) assume that the laws of nature will be the same today as they were yesterday. They will trust that experiments performed under identical conditions will produce repeatable results. But do they ever stop to wonder why these things are true? According to them, we live in a “big bang” universe, created by a singularity that rapidly expanded outward (or perhaps a big bounce universe that eternally contracts and expands) and then was dependent upon supernova after supernova to provide heavier elements just to synthesize the basic ingredients of planetary formation. In this cosmic evolutionary paradigm, why should they expect uniformity of nature?

Let’s consider the “Goldilocks” nature of the earth and the impossibility of life spontaneously forming, let alone evolving into creatures of greater complexity. With all these “lucky fortunes” lining up, how can they presuppose anything other than random chance to be their mantra?

The Dumb Luck of Earth

In addition to the “Goldilocks” problem, they have to strain credulity even further and believe this chance universe definitely has and exhibits order and natural laws. And then on top of that, they have to believe that by some cosmic accident, humanity alone has been granted the ability to think, reason, question, and amass knowledge down through history—all of which informs him that man alone has been able to conclude that he arrived here on this earth by chance acting through time via mutation and natural selection and that there is no God.

Furthermore, the materialist/humanist believes that man alone can reason that there is no purpose for being on this orderly earth in a universe ruled by natural law (other than propagating his genetic line). The Apostle Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, rightly spoke of this as “suppression of the truth” that God has manifested to them (Romans 1:18–19).

But this has not always been the case for scientists. Many of the pioneers of several scientific fields were Christians, and many of those were biblical creationists. They openly admitted that it was God who created the orderly universe and who gave them the reasoning skills they needed to accomplish or make the discoveries they did. Let’s take a brief journey through the history of science over the past several hundred years and examine this more fully.

Modern Science Comes Out of a Christian Worldview—the Early Years

One of the men often credited with establishing the scientific method itself (boiled down to its essence—observe, question, hypothesize, experiment, confirm/reject hypothesis) was a creationist, Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626). Ironically, it was another Bacon (Roger) who had 300 years earlier pushed for experimentation over argument alone as the basis for scientific progress. Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1292) was also a creationist.

Johannes Kepler, the astronomer who described planetary motions as ellipses and who in his study of optics developed eyeglasses for both nearsightedness and farsightedness,1 often described his ability and motivation for his scientific studies.

Those laws [of nature] are within the grasp of the human mind; God wanted us to recognize them by creating us after his own image so that we could share in his own thoughts.2

It is a right, yes a duty, to search in cautious manner for the numbers, sizes, and weights, the norms for everything [God] has created. For He himself has let man take part in the knowledge of these things. . . . For these secrets are not of the kind whose research should be forbidden; rather they are set before our eyes like a mirror so that by examining them we observe to some extent the goodness and wisdom of the Creator.3

I wanted to become a theologian. For a long time I was restless. Now, however, behold how through my effort God is being celebrated in astronomy.4

A Few of the Creation Scientists in the Seventeenth and early Eighteenth Century

Several prominent late seventeenth and early eighteenth century scientists were staunch creationists who proclaimed in their writings that their Christian religion was not incompatible with science. Robert Boyle (1627–1691) was a chemist and physicist, most famous for his formulation of Boyle’s Law (relationship between pressure and volume for gases). Boyle made several statements about how Christianity influenced his scientific endeavors and how the study of science made him glorify God for his creation.

When with bold telescopes I survey the old and newly discovered stars and planets, when with excellent microscopes I discern in otherwise invisible objects, the unimitable subtility of nature’s curious workmanship; and when, in a word, by the help of anatomical knives, and the light of chemical furnaces, I study the book of nature . . . I find myself oftentimes reduced to exclaim with the Psalmist, How manifold are Thy works, O Lord! in wisdom hast Thou made them all [Psalm104:24]!5

The vastness, beauty, orderliness, of the heavenly bodies, the excellent structure of animals and plants; and the other phenomena of nature justly induce an intelligent and unprejudiced observer to conclude a supremely powerful, just, and good author.6

But neither the fundamental doctrine of Christianity nor that of the powers and effects of matter and motion seems to be more than epicycle . . . of the great and universal system of God’s contrivances, and makes but a part of the more general theory of things, knowable by the light of nature, improved by the information of the scriptures so that both these doctrines . . . seem to be but members of the universal hypothesis, whose objects I conceive to be natural counsels, and works of god, so far as they are discoverable by us . . . in this life.7

A contemporary of Boyle was the physicist, astronomer, and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727). Newton is most famous for formulating the laws of gravity, motion, and the invention of calculus. In perhaps his most famous written work Principia, Newton acknowledged God’s central role in creation and how science is merely the search for the truth of God’s handiwork.

The most beautiful system of the Sun, Planets and Comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent being.8

Blind metaphysical necessity, which is certainly the same always and everywhere, could produce no variety of things. All that diversity of natural things which we find suited to different times and places could arise from nothing but the ideas and will of a Being necessarily existing.

Thus, the diligent student of science, the earnest seeker of truth, led, as through the courts of a sacred Temple, wherein, at each step, new wonders meet the eye, till, as a crowning grace, they stand before a Holy of Holies, and learn that all science and all truth are one which hath its beginning and its end in the knowledge of Him whose glory the heavens declare, and whose handiwork the firmament showeth forth.9

In the second edition of Principia (1713), Newton asked mathematician Roger Cotes to write the preface. Cotes, in the same vein as Newton, acknowledged:

Without all doubt, this world, so diversified with that variety of forms and motions we find in it, could arise from nothing but the perfectly free will of God directing and presiding over all. From this fountain . . . the laws of Nature have flowed, in which there appear many traces indeed of the most wise contrivance, but not the least shadow of necessity. These, therefore, we must not seek from uncertain conjectures, but learn them from observations and experiments.10

Several other notable scientists of the eighteenth century were creationists like the famous botanist, zoologist, and the founder of modern taxonomic classification, Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), who was a contemporary of Newton. Born the same year, Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) was a mathematician (most famous for introducing several math symbols such as f(x) and pi (π), and he also wrote on hydrodynamics and astronomy.

A Few of the Creation Scientists in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century

As you move from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, several fields of science were developed or heavily influenced by Christian (and creationist) scientists. Two notable creation scientists and inventors were born in 1791 and contributed greatly to scientific advancement. Michael Faraday (1791–1867) was a chemist and a pioneer in the field of electricity and electromagnetism. Samuel Morse (1791–1872) helped improve the (nascent) photography field and is mostly known as the inventor of the telegraph.

Both of these men (Faraday and Morse) attributed their impetus and success to God. Faraday summed up their separate thoughts by acknowledging that it was God’s natural law that allowed reason and scientific knowledge.

If you teach scientific knowledge without honouring scientific knowledge as it is applied, you do more harm than good. I do think that the study of natural science is so glorious a school for the mind, that with the laws impressed on all these things by the Creator, and the wonderful unity and stability of matter, and the forces of matter, there cannot be a better school for the education of the mind.11

All of these scientists were Christians, and all were creationists.

Other great scientists of the nineteenth century included Joule (thermodynamics), Pasteur (microbiology/germ theory), Mendel (genetics), Lister (surgery/medical hygiene), and Maxwell (electromagnetic theory/physics). All of these scientists were Christians, and all were creationists. None were unable to “do science” because of their Christian faith. In fact in every case, each man remarked how his faith bolstered his scientific zeal. James Joule summed this up quite well in a speech written (but not delivered, due to health problems) for the British Association for the Advancement of Science:

After the knowledge of, and obedience to, the will of God, the next aim must be to know something of His attributes of wisdom, power, and goodness as evidenced by His handiwork. . . . It is evident that an acquaintance with natural laws means no less than an acquaintance with the mind of God therein expressed.12

A Few of the Creation Scientists in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Century

Moving into the twentieth century, we continue to see several prominent creation scientists and inventors. John Ambrose Fleming (1849–1945) was a physicist most famous for working on the vacuum tube and radar (for the British military during WWII). Douglas Dewar (1875–1957) was a prominent ornithologist, and Charles Stine (1882–1954) was a chemist who was credited with creating a safer and more stable version of dynamite to be used in mining and was the vice president of DuPont who assembled the team of scientists who developed nylon. And Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) was mostly known for his rocket design contributions to the American space programs of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. All of these men were also creationists and, to some degree, wrote or advocated against Darwinian evolution.

Moving into the twenty-first century, creation scientists are still studying God’s handiwork and making great contributions to science. Whether it is designing lifesaving diagnostic medical devices, like the MRI scanner by Dr. Raymond Damadian, or being responsible for designing mechanical parts for the European Space Agency or drive chains for bicycles that won six gold medals (for Great Britain in the 2016 summer Olympics) and set several world records, like Dr. Stuart Burgess, creationists are able to greatly contribute to science and technology despite being labeled as “unscientific” by some of their secular peers.

Creationists are able to greatly contribute to science and technology despite being labeled as “unscientific” by some of their secular peers.

It is obvious just from this cursory glance at Christian and creation scientists of the past 400 years that none were impeded in their scientific accomplishments because of their faith. In fact, most are on record saying that their Christian faith is what motivated them to study the world (and universe) around them. There is no battle of faith versus science; there is only a battle over worldviews and presuppositions.

Is it more logical for someone to be motivated to study nature when they believe it came about through random chaotic processes or when they believe it came about through the purposeful design of the Creator God of the Bible? Christianity is a reasoned faith, not a blind one. The Bible itself testifies that God expects mankind to seek after knowledge and wisdom and to study his creation and to understand as much as he can about it. Let us end this article with these words of Scripture, given to us by the Holy Spirit.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet. (Psalm 8:3–6)

Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. (Psalm 111:2)

Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:5–7)

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. (Proverbs 25:2)

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. (Ecclesiastes 1:13)