Is Christianity compatible with science?

The "Warfare" Myth

The popular idea that Christianity and science are in perpetual conflict is largely a 19th-century invention, popularised by writers like John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White. Historians of science have largely discredited this narrative. The actual history of the relationship between Christianity and science is far more cooperative — and more interesting.

Christianity Helped Birth Modern Science

Many of the founders of modern science were devout Christians who saw science as a way of "thinking God's thoughts after him." The list includes:

• Galileo — said the Bible teaches us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go
• Johannes Kepler — described his work as "thinking God's thoughts after him"
• Isaac Newton — wrote more theology than physics
• Gregor Mendel — the father of genetics was an Augustinian friar
• Georges Lemaître — the Catholic priest who first proposed the Big Bang

The Christian belief that the universe was made by a rational God and is therefore rationally ordered provided the philosophical foundation for empirical investigation.

Where Tensions Exist

The most discussed tension today is between evolution and the account of creation in Genesis. Christians hold a range of positions:

• Young Earth Creationism — Genesis 1 describes a literal six-day creation; the earth is thousands, not billions, of years old
• Old Earth Creationism — The universe is ancient; the "days" of Genesis may refer to long periods
• Evolutionary Creationism (Theistic Evolution) — God created through the process of evolution; held by many evangelical scientists including those at BioLogos

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." — Psalm 19:1

Science and Faith Ask Different Questions

Science answers "how" and "when." Faith answers "why" and "to what end." These are not competing answers to the same question — they are answers to different questions. A complete account of the universe needs both.