aiki
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- Feb 16, 2007
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Ask your friend what she means by "I believe in science." So do you, I'm sure. You believe there is a law of gravity, studied and described for us by science; you believe the earth orbits the sun in a solar system of nine planets (or eight, if you disqualify Pluto) which science has revealed to us; you believe that there is a microscopic world of molecules, atoms, and particles, invisible to your naked eye but which science informs us actually do exist. But trusting that science tells you true things about reality - to a degree, anyway - doesn't prevent you from also believing in God who tells you other higher, more important truths concerning reality.
I suspect what your friend means is that her belief in science somehow means she can't, or doesn't need to, believe in God. But this flies in the face of the many scientists who were/are theists, believers in God, some of whom were hugely important to the development of the scientific realm and to our understanding of physical reality. Newton, Keppler, Mendel, Pascal, Pasteur, Farraday and many more were eminent scientists who were also staunch believers in God. Many of them held their faith as complementary and integral to their scientific work. So, your friend's statement that she "believes in science" suggests a misunderstanding of the relationship between theism and science.
Dr. John Lennox analogized this way about the purpose and relationship of science to theism:
Imagine looking at a piece of paper on which are written many words. Science could examine the chemical make-up of the ink and paper, describing in detail what constitutes both; science could tell us the exact size and thickness of the paper, its degree of whiteness, its flexibility and tear-resistance, and so on. But doing these things, however exhaustively, tells us nothing about the semiotics - the meaning - of the written words themselves. We cannot get at the message the words convey solely by studying and describing the physical nature of the medium in which they are communicated.
When your friend says she "believes in science," she is contenting herself with the physical properties of the message of Creation rather than with the meaning communicated in it: God exists and He is personal, powerful, timeless and immaterial. (See the Kalam Cosmological Argument.)
Your friend is also taking what appears to be a scientistic or verificationist view of reality: Only what can be empirically-verified is true. But this statement cannot itself be verified, or proven true, by science. As a result, the statement refutes itself.
Anyway, you are not responsible for saving anyone. Salvation is entirely and only God's domain. He is the One - and the only One - who "gives repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." (2 Timothy 2:25) Your job (and mine) is to share the Gospel with the lost, to sow the seed of it, perhaps water the seed others have planted, and then, maybe, to harvest the fruit of that seed when God has grown it to the place where harvesting it is possible. We are to be prepared to "give an answer to every person who asks of us the reason for the hope that lies within us." (1 Peter 3:15) This means having at least a cursory knowledge of Christian apologetics, of the arguments for the historicity and veracity of the Resurrection of Christ, and a deep, personal, daily experience of God. The Christian is also, in the character of their living, to be "salt" and "light" such that the unbeliever has cause to glorify the Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)
In the end, though, it is God who draws sinners to Christ (John 6:44), who convicts them of their sin (John 16:8), who illuminates their understanding to the saving truth of the Gospel (John 16:13; 2 Timothy 2:25). We are merely signposts, ambassadors, living letters, pointing to Christ and to the forgiveness and salvation we can obtain in and through him.
Really, the very best way to be a bright, shining light for Christ is to love him with all of your heart. A guilty, dutiful feeling that you need to tell others about him, suggests that he is not the "Divine Obsession" he ought to be in your life. When you are taking deep delight in knowing and walking with him, when your relationship with him is rich with the love, and joy, and peace that he is, you will naturally and constantly enthuse about him, taking every opportunity to extol his greatness and the goodness of knowing and walking with him.
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