Darwin, Franklin, Newton, Einstein — you recognize these names as some of the greatest scientists who ever lived, but you might not have known that they were also believers in some kind of God. Though science and religion have been in a perpetual battle for centuries, it’s more common these days for the two to coexist civilly, if not live in harmony. As a non-religious person, I think it’s cool that people have been able to find a balance between science and religion.
You probably don’t know that Francis S. Collins, the head of the National Institutes for Health, is an evangelical Christian. He is also the former head of the Human Genome Project, which spent years mapping the human genetic sequence, and has won many awards for his contributions to genetics. And yet, his belief is that DNA is “God’s language.” He is a scientist and supports the theory of evolution, yet he believes that it was driven by God.
In an interview with CNN, Collins said, “By investigating God’s majestic and awesome creation, science can actually be a means of worship.”
My favorite example of a peaceful treaty between science and religion is the Vatican Observatory. The Vatican always brings images of Catholicism into my head, which usually doesn’t result in anything positive; I never think “science” when I think of the Pope. But the Vatican has had a science program since the 1500s dedicated to learning about the universe. The observatory was originally created for practical reasons — mapping the sky to help with sea navigation, among other things — and now its mission is merely to do science for science’s sake, and to “be a bridge between the Church and Science.” Research at the Vatican Observatory is mainly astronomical, ranging from understanding black holes to searching for more extrasolar planets.
Closer to home, and in college you encounter people from all backgrounds and perspectives, meeting fellow students who are both involved in science and religion isn’t as rare as one might think.
Jessica Butt, a sophomore, was raised as a Catholic. One of the biggest surprises she encountered when she arrived at the University was the lack of religious passion in her peers. And yet Butt is a marine biology major and loves learning about evolution. To some people this may seem like a contradiction, but to Butt the combination of science and religion is just as natural as breathing.
The first time she connected science and religion was in her freshman year of high school, talking with a group of peers and youth leaders at her church. Their discussion turned to science — more specifically, the mystery of the Big Bang. There was nothing, and then there was something. Matter condensed into a tiny, dense ball and then expanded. Scientists say there had to be a huge input of energy for this to happen, and to Butt, this energy was contributed by God.
“That was one of the first times I started to see the link,” Butt said.
A lot of students find it difficult to reconcile their religion with something like evolution, which basically tells them the opposite what they’ve been taught — that life evolved as a result of random processes and was not built by a higher power.
But not Butt.
“I had cousins who said they weren’t going to go to college because they were afraid of learning about evolution,” she said. “That’s the first time I realized how much I wanted to learn about this stuff, even though I’m religious.”
Instead of viewing science as an opponent to her religion, Butt finds that her scientific education has just further grounded her faith in God. Last year Butt learned some of the fundamentals of biology — mitosis, the process of cell division, and cellular respiration, which is a complicated process in which glucose is broken down in order to make energy for the body.
“We are alive because of that. I walk out of my house and see a person walking around; that’s a miracle,” Butt said. “The more I learn about science, the more I see God.”
Being open to the complexities and principles that science teaches us about the world is very important to Butt. Some people may believe in some sort of higher power, and some people may believe in randomness.
“Neither of those perspectives take away from the fact that we can look at something and still be in awe,” Butt said.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
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