I appreciate the response.
Lately I have thought about the "Truth" and what that means. To me, it means that I'm interested in truly knowing/understanding where I came from, why I'm here, and where I'm going. Christians refer to the "Truth" as the word of God, Bible, etc. but try to discredit, disprove, or reject scientific discoveries, social advancements, etc. (homosexuality, center of the universe, age of the earth, etc) or warp them into their own understanding of what the Bible really explains.
I've wrestled with a very interesting image which has caused me to lose faith over the past few years: If humanity became aware of the way we got here and the evidence was 100% undeniable, (the exact way this would be presented/discovered is above my comprehension, but the image works nonetheless) would Christians reject their faith? The answer is no. That lack of critical thinking and the mental slavery that is self-induced has lead me away from the belief.
on the contrary - Christians invented science as we know it today
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It is significant that
the early pioneers in modern science were men of deep Christian faith.
For Copernicus, the first astronomer of the scientific revolution, God was personally responsible for all the activity in the heavens. His radical ideas were contained in his book
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, which was published in 1543, the year of his death. The regularity he was discovering in the movements of the planets was, for him, a manifestation of the faithfulness of a loving Creator.
"It is significant that the early pioneers in modern science were men of deep Christian faith"
Galileo (d. 1642) invented the hydrostatic balance and discovered the laws of dynamics from observation of falling bodies. However, he is chiefly known for his achievements in astronomy. His discovery of the four satellites of Jupiter on January 7, 1610, with the aid of the newly invented telescope, revolutionised the study of astronomy.
He has been called the first modern scientist and his work confirmed the observations of Copernicus. He regarded his science as illuminating the work of the Creator. For all his quarrelling with the church he remained a devout Christian until he died.
Kepler, the German astronomer, a contemporary of Galileo, was also a devout Christian. His discovery of the three laws of planetary motion laid the foundation for Newton's theory of gravity. He regarded his study of the physical universe as "thinking God's thoughts after him". In
The Secret of the Universe he wrote:
Here we are concerned with the book of nature, so greatly celebrated in sacred writings. It is in this that Paul proposes to the Gentiles that they should contemplate God like the Sun in water or in a mirror. Why then as Christians should we take any less delight in its contemplation, since it is for us with true worship to honor God, to venerate him, to wonder at him? The more rightly we understand the nature and scope of what our God has founded, the more devoted the spirit in which that is done.
The baton of scientific leadership passed in the next generation to
Newton, born in the year of Galileo's death. Though he had problems with the Christian view of the Trinity, he was a strong believer. As a member of the Anglican Church he was involved in distribution of Bibles to the poor and the construction of new churches. He actually wrote more than a million words on the Bible and theological topics, more than he wrote on science. His well-worn Bible, with marginal notes in his own handwriting, is in the Wren Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. He became the foremost mathematician in Europe. He published
Principia mathematica in 1667, "a book that transformed the course of western science". His work gave new direction to optics, mechanics and celestial dynamics. His work on gravity established the Cambridge reputation for mathematics. His studies of light produced the first reflecting telescope. His invention of calculus gave science the mathematical tool it needed for further exploration of the trails he blazed.
Robert Boyle, the "father of chemistry" and one of the founders of the Royal Society, left the sum of £50 per annum in his will for a series of eight lectures to be given against unbelievers in some church in London.
The influence of Christianity in the early days can be seen very clearly in the formation in
1660 of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, normally known just as the Royal Society, which was very significant in the promotion of scientific advances. Most of its members were professing Christians.
Atheistic science, which followed on from the French Revolution, reached Britain in the 1820s. However, it could still be said
in the mid-nineteenth century that most of the world's scholars and scientists were still professedly Christian. The
British Association for the Advancement of Science was formed in 1832. Clergymen were active in its formation and provided three of its presidents during the first five years
