Science and Religion - Not Mutually Exclusive

I was very pleased to read the article from the Los Angeles Times "Science and religion: A false divide" by Dr. John H. Evans, sociology professor at UC San Diego. (Hat Tip: Hot Air)

I am an evangelical Christian. I believe that the Bible is true, but that it is also crucial to delineate in the text between what is taken as literal, word-for-word truth or fact and what is to be taken as allegory or apocalyptic text and literature, that is, "truth" that speaks to the nature of God but not to actual events. Such a delineation does not detract from the whole truth of the Biblical story, which after all is about God, not man.

It drives me nuts to hear Christians quibble over non-salvific points such as "creation happened in a literal six days" when whether or not it is literal time or allegory is 100% irrelevant to the Biblical truth of John 14:6.

I also believe in science, and do not view what I have learned from science and what I believe through faith to be mutually exclusive.

Example: I hold that the Big Bang Theory is supported by observation and experimentation and that it is describing in scientific terms the same beginning of creation as found in Genesis 1:1-5.

I also hold that a belief in creation does not preclude a belief in evolution, for "with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26b) Who are we to say that God can not have established and uses evolution? If one believes that God is omnipotent, then one must logically concede that if God wants to have species evolve He can most certainly do that.

Do I believe evolution is a fact? Yes. The fossil record, dinosaurs-into-birds, etc. are enough evidence for me. Do I believe that evolution is used by God and evolutionary processes are part of God's creation? Yes. Do I believe that evolution can explain the genesis of life and the rise of the human race? No.

Do I believe that science will one day be able to synthesize life by laboratory chemistry? No. While I don't believe it will happen, an intellectually honest, pure evolutionist who does would have to admit that the belief in "evolution explains all" is rooted in faith, not science. In that, science and religion are identical. To sum up, I'll quote Dr. Evans' writing:

The greatest conflict between fundamentalists, evangelicals and science is not over facts but over values. While scientists like to say that their work is value-free, that is not how the public views it, and conservative Protestants especially have homed in on the moral message of science....

To move forward, we, as a country, need to lower the political conflict. Yes, the views found in fundamentalist churches are not exactly the same as those at the National Science Foundation. But we would see less of the polarizing "we real Americans" rhetoric from the religious right if its members were not ridiculed as know-nothings. Conservative Protestants are not fundamentally opposed to all science.

Hear, hear!