Christianity and the Origins of Modern Science
Since as early as the 14th century, science, with its application in technology, industry, discovery, and medicine, has made impressive contributions towards the ascendancy of the West, to the point that one cannot study world history without considering science’s influence. The seeds of science go as far back as ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece, although back then it was rooted in myth, logic, and human speculation. It was in the West during the 16th century that science moved from the realm of intellectuals and mythology, to that of objective testing and the common man. It was here, led by the faith of believers, that men of science and industry encouraged each other to forge a culture of progress, ushering in the Age of Discovery. It was an epic adventure that fought its way through the ruins of ancient Greek philosophy to shape a new and lasting way of thinking of the cosmos and the quest for truth.
In the East, the prevailing worldview of nature led by the Hindu and Buddhist paradigm taught that the visible world is an illusion that must be escaped by meditation and contemplation, rather than investigated. The gods of the Egyptians, Barbarians and Native Americans were equally incapable of inspiring its followers to seek the knowledge of nature, as their gods possessed qualities more akin to humans, and nature was not a creative act but the result of the capricious whims of the gods. The Muslim religion was so centered on the will of Allah that it was inconceivable and even blasphemous to consider a universe governed by laws, as this was in sharp contrast to a universe ruled entirely by Allah’s will. Atheism, which can only conceive of a universe as the product of blind cosmic chance, could never have anticipated a rational universe, governed by laws written in the language of mathematics.
Romans 1:20 which was foundational to the scientific revolution reads; “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead so they are without excuse.” God’s creation is His great evangelist, which our forefathers understood when they dove into the quest for scientific knowledge. While it was Christians who brought about the scientific revolution, during the past century, the Church has retreated while science continues to reveal for us the incredible complexity of God’s wisdom. Science has served humanity well by curing diseases, improving agriculture, protecting the environment, and improving travel and communication. Christianity likewise has improved our life by taming our worst inclinations, providing us with a moral compass and with precepts for peaceful social living. They are the two most influential social institutions which, contrary to popular belief, work well together; good science requires sound faith and sound faith embraces good science.
It's important to note that the Bible, the existence of God, or His creative act cannot be tested in a laboratory, although the Bible does make a few references to creation which can be confirmed scientifically. In fact, while science tells us much about when, very little about how, and nothing about who, the Bible inversely tells us nothing about when, very little about how and much about who. The Bible is about the revelation of God, not the universe; science cannot attain this revelation, yet unlike every other “holy” book, the Bible does have many prophesies and facts about history, creation, and the human psyche which can be verified. In addition, the Bible provides many solutions to the human condition, which science cannot. For example, our proclivity towards evil cannot be explained scientifically, and while psychology attempts to understand and solve it, only God’s analysis and solution offers mankind the ability to change from within and turn lives completely around.
Nobel Prize winning physicist Erwin Schroedinger put it this way: “Science is ghastly silent about all and sundry that is really near to our heart that really matters. It cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter or sweet, physical pain and physical delight, knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, God and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions of domains, but the answers are very often so silly that we are not inclined to take them seriously.” As physicist and best selling author Michael Guillen notes in his book, Can A Smart Person Believe In God, “In science, if the question is, ‘How did the universe begin?’ players are allowed to offer up any explanation their fertile IQs can imagine; explosion, implosion, quantum perturbation, what have you. But they can’t even think of crediting God. In the game called science…invoking the G-word is definitely considered taboo.” Francis Collins, the American physician, geneticist, and director of the Human Genome Project said, “Science is…a powerful way, indeed—to study the natural world. Science is not particularly effective…in making commentary about the supernatural world. Both worlds, for me, are quite real and quite important. They are investigated in different ways. They coexist. They illuminate each other.” Science cannot comment on the existence of God, because science does not make any attempts to test the existence of God.
Before the Scientific Revolution, myths about our solar system prevailed, with little reason for inquiry because the very thought of nature being guided by universal laws was inconceivable. It wasn’t until deeply committed Christian men who understood the Biblical principle of God’s creation stood willing to challenge ancient authority, that the scientific quest was finally launched. Today the very thought that one can be a man of science and a man of God seems somewhat contradictory. Yet as we look at the lives of the founding fathers of science, we will see that such men found scientific truth to be the revelation of God Himself.
For centuries, most civilizations took a run at increasing their knowledge of the world around them. While motives varied, some breakthroughs were respectable. The Greeks made impressive progress in mathematics and navigation, and while building on the observations of the Persians and the Egyptians, they made strides in astronomy as well. Because they viewed the natural world as divine or having a soul, they never sought to attain this knowledge for the purpose of changing nature to suit their needs and therefore had no great interest in experimentation. The Romans made little progress in the natural sciences, although they made substantial breakthroughs in building roads, aqueducts, and engineering. The Chinese’s greatest contributions were in the field of weaponry and agriculture, primarily in advancing irrigation. Although the Middle Ages were filled with artistic and architectural wonders, progress seems very slow in the field of natural science until the 16th and 17th Century. It would take decades to purge the Western world from Aristotelian philosophy and usher in a new Biblical mechanical model of the universe, before the Scientific Revolution can begin. For the Greeks, knowledge was an end in itself, as their primary concern was that of virtue and ethics. Ptolemy’s Almagest was the closest thing to astronomy which put the earth at the center of the universe and the stars on a sphere traveling across the horizon every day. Aristotle’s falling rock was the closest thing to physics, as he claimed the velocity of falling objects is based on the weight of those objects. His physics was so ingrained in Western culture that for 1600 years, no one thought of testing and verifying his claims. Though Plato felt that truth would arrive through the use of mathematics, Aristotle believed logic was the best means. Their ideas went unchallenged throughout the known world through the time of the Renaissance and the birth of modern science.
So this begs the question, what about Christianity inspired believers to pursue knowledge of the natural world? To make only a few references, one already made, was that in Romans 1:20 the Bible makes clear that knowledge of the natural world is in fact knowledge about the attributes of God. As the Job story unfolds, he is reminded that the wisdom of God is all around him, in the visible universe. These verses, along with others, provided a solid incentive for our forefathers to pursue scientific knowledge. In fact, as we will see, many will make their conclusions about the newly acquired knowledge in order to make original claims about the eternal glory of God. Other Biblical incentives include 1 Thessalonians 5:21 where the Apostle Paul encourages believers to “Test all things; hold fast what is good” that is, as believers, we are not to take our belief lightly, nor should we exercise our faith blindly. More specifically, unlike every other world religion, Christian beliefs are grounded on historical events. From the creation of the world, to the reign of Israel’s kings, to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, our religion is anchored on verifiable events in history. Furthermore, throughout the Biblical narrative, God uses the natural forces already in play to accomplish His ends. Wind is what parts the Red Sea, hail destroys Sodom and so forth. Therefore, the idea of seeking new knowledge about nature could only work to strengthen our existing faith.
Another quality about the Christian God that would lead believers to grasp the knowledge of nature was the fact that our God is a God of order and in like manner, it was believed by early scientists that the cosmos would reflect the consistency of His nature. Because Romans 1:19 makes clear that the visible universe will condemn unbelievers to hell, leaving them without excuse, the knowledge of the universe had to be knowable and reliable. The prophet Jeremiah makes reference to this in Jeremiah 33:20-21 when he compares God’s faithfulness to the rising and falling of the sun. That is to say, they are both dependable. Without prior knowledge of a universe governed by universal laws, there’s no reason to think any other worldview would lead someone to this understanding, certainly not a universe which is a product of chance alone, no less one which is the product of capricious gods. A universe governed by Aristotle’s Forms and Ideas proved inept. And therefore, with this revelation, believers ushered in the dawn of the Scientific Revolution and forever changed the world as we know it.
While many atheists like to claim that science must be free from religion which would hamper scientific inquiry, that fact is that the scientific process emerged in Western society because of the Christian religion, not in spite of it. Below is a short list of those who discovered and developed modern science, and with it some of the greatest discoveries in human history.
Founding Fathers of Modern Science
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
Formulated new idea of a heliocentric solar system. He dedicated his ground-breaking book, On Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres, to the pope. His other interest included the church, where he served many years as a member of the clergy in the Cathedral of Poland.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
The first to establish and codify the scientific process for future generations. In his quest for the “discovery of God’s laws of nature” he developed his idea of the inductive method of inquiry. Published in Novum Oranum in 1605, it laid out the blueprint for the modern scientific method. He believed that truth about nature was only possible through rigorous testing and observation, then arriving at a hypothesis which must later be tested for accuracy. He was a loyal member of the Church of England and published several Essays of his theological ideas while working from the belief in God as the Creator and sustainer of the universe. This is what the founder of the scientific method had to say about atheism, in Meditationes Sacrae published in 1597, "Lastly, this I dare affirm in knowledge of nature, that a little philosophy, and the first entrance into it, doth dispose the opinion to atheism; but on the other side, much philosophy and wading deep into it, will bring about men's minds to religion; wherefore atheism every way seems to be combined with folly and ignorance, seeing nothing can be more justly allotted to be the saying of fools than this, 'There is no God'."
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
In 1623 he published The Assayer, on the subject of comets, including their weight and composition, and hints on the importance of science over the opinions of the popular majority. From 1625 through 1629, Galileo published his series Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems which put forth the Copernican assumption of a heliocentric solar system with mathematical calculations to back his argument. The two world systems in question were Ptolemy’s and Copernicus’ systems, not the Church’s, as some modern scholars would have you believe. His great contribution was his initial dismantling of Aristotelian physics and the Ptolemaic system, which were prevalent in Western culture for almost 2,000 years, opening the Western mind to new possibilities. In this book, he noted that if there is a contradiction with the supremacy of the Bible “it becomes the office of wise expounders to labor until they find how to make those passages of Holy Writ concordant with these conclusions.” He died in 1642, the same year Isaac Newton was born. Galileo considered himself a committed Catholic for whom “the Holy Scriptures cannot err”.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
Kepler was the founder of physical astronomy and discoverer of planetary motion at a time when the wall between astronomy and astrology was blurred. In 1609 he published The New Astronomy, in which he proved that the planets travel around the sun in an elliptical orbit. He further showed that a planet does not travel an equal distance in an equal amount of time. In Harmony of the Worlds he published his third law of planetary motion, which mathematically relates the time it takes a planet to orbit the sun with the distance from the sun. He praised God in this book by saying, “Great is the Lord, great is His power and there is no end to His wisdom.” “We see how God, like a human architect, approached the foundation of the world according to order and rule and measured everything in such manner.”
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Pascal is credited with the invention of hydrodynamics as well as laying the foundation for differential calculus, the mathematical theory of probability, and the treatment of conic sections. As a Christian, he believed “there is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” In his famous work Pensees (thought) he argued the case for a divine Creator and the Christian beliefs.
Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
Established the Royal Society of London and ushered in the new age of modern chemistry. Alchemists spent most of their time trying to turn metal into gold or attempting to discover the fountain of youth. In The Skeptical Chemist, published in 1661, he crushed Aristotle’s concept of four elements (earth, air, water, and fire) and replaced it with the idea that an element cannot be separated into similar components by chemical methods. Boyle was a Christian who believed the Scriptures should be studied in their original language. He claimed in The Christian Virtuoso (1691) that the study of nature is the duty given to man by God in Genesis 1:28.
Isaac Newton - (1642- 1727)
Newton developed the new math called calculus. He disproved the Greeks’ ideas of light by using a prism to show that light was made up of all the colors in a rainbow. By using a curved mirror, he successfully improved the telescope with a principle still used today. In 1687, with the help of Edmond Halley, Newton published Principia Mathematical, in which he developed his theory of gravity and his three laws of motion. He proved mathematically that the same laws which apply to earth must apply consistently throughout the universe. Because of Newton’s work, Francis Bacon’s inductive method won the day, earning him the title of father of the scientific method because he was the one to establish and codify the process for future generations, concluding one of the greatest intellectual struggles in human history. Galileo’s geocentric solar system was now widely accepted.
Throughout his life, he dedicated as much time to his theological writings as to his scientific writings. His theological writings include Observations on Daniel and The Apocalypse of St. John among others. The preface to the second edition of Principia reads, “Without all doubt this world…could arise from nothing but the perfect free will of God…from this fountain…what we call the laws of nature flowed, in which appears many traces indeed of the most wise contrivance, but not the least shadow of necessity.” Newton always recognized God’s providence as he wrote: “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent being…as Lord of all.”
John Woodward (1665-1728)
Woodward is the father of modern geology. In his writings, he demonstrated how the stony surface of the earth was divided into strata and how the shell was originally formed at sea. His system for cataloging rocks, minerals, and fossils were well in advance of his time. He established the Paleontology Museum at Cambridge and the Woodwardian Professorship of Geology at Cambridge.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Made revolutionary discoveries in the fields of electricity, magnetism, and chemistry. He is credited with the discovery of electromagnetic induction and the invention of the generator, transformer, and electric motor. His work contributed to the invention of stainless steel, optical glasses, alloys, locks, electroplating, and India rubber, to name a few. Faraday built the first-ever electric motor. Using mercury and copper, he managed to transform electric energy into mechanical energy, later to become the motors of modern homes and industry. He discovered one of the most important hydrocarbons known to man, benzene, which is used today for the production of synthetic rubber, nylons, dyes, detergents, pesticides, plastics, and resins.
Faraday exemplified Christian humility as he refused to be knighted and even declined the Presidency of the Royal Society. He was content to let others pursue the economic benefits of his discoveries, which didn’t seem to bother him one bit. In the 1840s, Faraday was responsible for securing the admission of women members to the Royal Institute. Faraday attended London Sandemanian Church his entire life. As deacon, he would visit the poor and sick in his community regularly, even cancelling lectures to keep his commitment. Later in life, he became an elder and preached at the Church on occasion.
John Dalton (1766-1844)
Dalton is the father of Atomic Theory. In 1808, he published his findings on atoms in A New System of Chemical Philosophy. It states that all elements are composed of tiny indestructible elements called atoms, which all have the same likeness and weight. Initially, Dalton was ridiculed, but later embraced by the scientific community. John Dalton was a Quaker who never married and lived a very modest life.
Samuel Morse (1791-1872)
Invented the telegraph, which is one of the great milestones of human history. He also built the first camera in America and took the world’s first photographic portrait. He always had an interest in invention, and by 1817, had obtained three patents for pumps. He invented the pump used for fire engines and a marble-cutting machine. On May 24, 1844, the telegraph line from the Supreme Court chamber in Washington, D.C. to Baltimore was officially opened as Morse sent the famous words "What hath God wrought"
Lord William Kelvin (1824-1904)
Kelvin became the first scientist to codify the concept of energy, establish the scale of absolute temperatures, and launch the study of thermodynamics, establishing its first and second law. He was a teenage prodigy, eventually earning twenty-one honorary doctorates. He stated that “science positively affirmed the creative power of God,” and he adamantly opposed evolution.
Orville (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867-1912)
On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers achieved the impossible by flying the distance of 120 feet in 12 seconds, and later that day flew 852 feet for 59 seconds. The years to come were filled with trials as the world was reluctant to accept the new flying machine. Then in 1908, before a large crowd in France, Wilbur and a passenger made a few challenging maneuvers, including a figure eight in midair, stunning the crowd. They immediately became two of the most famous people in the world. The brothers had promised their father that they would never fly together to avoid the possible tragedy of losing two sons. But in 1910, Orville took his 82-year-old father on his first and only flight, reaching heights of 350 feet where he could hear the Bishop yelling, “higher Orville, higher.”
Francis Sellers Collins (1950-)
Collins is the physician-geneticist noted for his discoveries of disease genes and heading up the largest biological collaboration, the Human Genome Project, which mapped human DNA. In 2006, Collins published The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, which has an account of his conversion from atheism to evangelical Christianity. While it started with a quest to vindicate his atheism, it ended with his conversion during a hike on a fall afternoon. He offers an inspiring view of the human genome, demonstrating the miraculous nature of God’s instruction book for life.
Conclusion: Christians can say with confidence that modern science is the product of devout believers who diligently pursued the knowledge of God. And they can further make the case that every branch of science was founded by Christian believers.
In the East, the prevailing worldview of nature led by the Hindu and Buddhist paradigm taught that the visible world is an illusion that must be escaped by meditation and contemplation, rather than investigated. The gods of the Egyptians, Barbarians and Native Americans were equally incapable of inspiring its followers to seek the knowledge of nature, as their gods possessed qualities more akin to humans, and nature was not a creative act but the result of the capricious whims of the gods. The Muslim religion was so centered on the will of Allah that it was inconceivable and even blasphemous to consider a universe governed by laws, as this was in sharp contrast to a universe ruled entirely by Allah’s will. Atheism, which can only conceive of a universe as the product of blind cosmic chance, could never have anticipated a rational universe, governed by laws written in the language of mathematics.
Romans 1:20 which was foundational to the scientific revolution reads; “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead so they are without excuse.” God’s creation is His great evangelist, which our forefathers understood when they dove into the quest for scientific knowledge. While it was Christians who brought about the scientific revolution, during the past century, the Church has retreated while science continues to reveal for us the incredible complexity of God’s wisdom. Science has served humanity well by curing diseases, improving agriculture, protecting the environment, and improving travel and communication. Christianity likewise has improved our life by taming our worst inclinations, providing us with a moral compass and with precepts for peaceful social living. They are the two most influential social institutions which, contrary to popular belief, work well together; good science requires sound faith and sound faith embraces good science.
It's important to note that the Bible, the existence of God, or His creative act cannot be tested in a laboratory, although the Bible does make a few references to creation which can be confirmed scientifically. In fact, while science tells us much about when, very little about how, and nothing about who, the Bible inversely tells us nothing about when, very little about how and much about who. The Bible is about the revelation of God, not the universe; science cannot attain this revelation, yet unlike every other “holy” book, the Bible does have many prophesies and facts about history, creation, and the human psyche which can be verified. In addition, the Bible provides many solutions to the human condition, which science cannot. For example, our proclivity towards evil cannot be explained scientifically, and while psychology attempts to understand and solve it, only God’s analysis and solution offers mankind the ability to change from within and turn lives completely around.
Nobel Prize winning physicist Erwin Schroedinger put it this way: “Science is ghastly silent about all and sundry that is really near to our heart that really matters. It cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter or sweet, physical pain and physical delight, knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, God and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions of domains, but the answers are very often so silly that we are not inclined to take them seriously.” As physicist and best selling author Michael Guillen notes in his book, Can A Smart Person Believe In God, “In science, if the question is, ‘How did the universe begin?’ players are allowed to offer up any explanation their fertile IQs can imagine; explosion, implosion, quantum perturbation, what have you. But they can’t even think of crediting God. In the game called science…invoking the G-word is definitely considered taboo.” Francis Collins, the American physician, geneticist, and director of the Human Genome Project said, “Science is…a powerful way, indeed—to study the natural world. Science is not particularly effective…in making commentary about the supernatural world. Both worlds, for me, are quite real and quite important. They are investigated in different ways. They coexist. They illuminate each other.” Science cannot comment on the existence of God, because science does not make any attempts to test the existence of God.
Before the Scientific Revolution, myths about our solar system prevailed, with little reason for inquiry because the very thought of nature being guided by universal laws was inconceivable. It wasn’t until deeply committed Christian men who understood the Biblical principle of God’s creation stood willing to challenge ancient authority, that the scientific quest was finally launched. Today the very thought that one can be a man of science and a man of God seems somewhat contradictory. Yet as we look at the lives of the founding fathers of science, we will see that such men found scientific truth to be the revelation of God Himself.
For centuries, most civilizations took a run at increasing their knowledge of the world around them. While motives varied, some breakthroughs were respectable. The Greeks made impressive progress in mathematics and navigation, and while building on the observations of the Persians and the Egyptians, they made strides in astronomy as well. Because they viewed the natural world as divine or having a soul, they never sought to attain this knowledge for the purpose of changing nature to suit their needs and therefore had no great interest in experimentation. The Romans made little progress in the natural sciences, although they made substantial breakthroughs in building roads, aqueducts, and engineering. The Chinese’s greatest contributions were in the field of weaponry and agriculture, primarily in advancing irrigation. Although the Middle Ages were filled with artistic and architectural wonders, progress seems very slow in the field of natural science until the 16th and 17th Century. It would take decades to purge the Western world from Aristotelian philosophy and usher in a new Biblical mechanical model of the universe, before the Scientific Revolution can begin. For the Greeks, knowledge was an end in itself, as their primary concern was that of virtue and ethics. Ptolemy’s Almagest was the closest thing to astronomy which put the earth at the center of the universe and the stars on a sphere traveling across the horizon every day. Aristotle’s falling rock was the closest thing to physics, as he claimed the velocity of falling objects is based on the weight of those objects. His physics was so ingrained in Western culture that for 1600 years, no one thought of testing and verifying his claims. Though Plato felt that truth would arrive through the use of mathematics, Aristotle believed logic was the best means. Their ideas went unchallenged throughout the known world through the time of the Renaissance and the birth of modern science.
So this begs the question, what about Christianity inspired believers to pursue knowledge of the natural world? To make only a few references, one already made, was that in Romans 1:20 the Bible makes clear that knowledge of the natural world is in fact knowledge about the attributes of God. As the Job story unfolds, he is reminded that the wisdom of God is all around him, in the visible universe. These verses, along with others, provided a solid incentive for our forefathers to pursue scientific knowledge. In fact, as we will see, many will make their conclusions about the newly acquired knowledge in order to make original claims about the eternal glory of God. Other Biblical incentives include 1 Thessalonians 5:21 where the Apostle Paul encourages believers to “Test all things; hold fast what is good” that is, as believers, we are not to take our belief lightly, nor should we exercise our faith blindly. More specifically, unlike every other world religion, Christian beliefs are grounded on historical events. From the creation of the world, to the reign of Israel’s kings, to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, our religion is anchored on verifiable events in history. Furthermore, throughout the Biblical narrative, God uses the natural forces already in play to accomplish His ends. Wind is what parts the Red Sea, hail destroys Sodom and so forth. Therefore, the idea of seeking new knowledge about nature could only work to strengthen our existing faith.
Another quality about the Christian God that would lead believers to grasp the knowledge of nature was the fact that our God is a God of order and in like manner, it was believed by early scientists that the cosmos would reflect the consistency of His nature. Because Romans 1:19 makes clear that the visible universe will condemn unbelievers to hell, leaving them without excuse, the knowledge of the universe had to be knowable and reliable. The prophet Jeremiah makes reference to this in Jeremiah 33:20-21 when he compares God’s faithfulness to the rising and falling of the sun. That is to say, they are both dependable. Without prior knowledge of a universe governed by universal laws, there’s no reason to think any other worldview would lead someone to this understanding, certainly not a universe which is a product of chance alone, no less one which is the product of capricious gods. A universe governed by Aristotle’s Forms and Ideas proved inept. And therefore, with this revelation, believers ushered in the dawn of the Scientific Revolution and forever changed the world as we know it.
While many atheists like to claim that science must be free from religion which would hamper scientific inquiry, that fact is that the scientific process emerged in Western society because of the Christian religion, not in spite of it. Below is a short list of those who discovered and developed modern science, and with it some of the greatest discoveries in human history.
Founding Fathers of Modern Science
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
Formulated new idea of a heliocentric solar system. He dedicated his ground-breaking book, On Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres, to the pope. His other interest included the church, where he served many years as a member of the clergy in the Cathedral of Poland.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
The first to establish and codify the scientific process for future generations. In his quest for the “discovery of God’s laws of nature” he developed his idea of the inductive method of inquiry. Published in Novum Oranum in 1605, it laid out the blueprint for the modern scientific method. He believed that truth about nature was only possible through rigorous testing and observation, then arriving at a hypothesis which must later be tested for accuracy. He was a loyal member of the Church of England and published several Essays of his theological ideas while working from the belief in God as the Creator and sustainer of the universe. This is what the founder of the scientific method had to say about atheism, in Meditationes Sacrae published in 1597, "Lastly, this I dare affirm in knowledge of nature, that a little philosophy, and the first entrance into it, doth dispose the opinion to atheism; but on the other side, much philosophy and wading deep into it, will bring about men's minds to religion; wherefore atheism every way seems to be combined with folly and ignorance, seeing nothing can be more justly allotted to be the saying of fools than this, 'There is no God'."
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
In 1623 he published The Assayer, on the subject of comets, including their weight and composition, and hints on the importance of science over the opinions of the popular majority. From 1625 through 1629, Galileo published his series Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems which put forth the Copernican assumption of a heliocentric solar system with mathematical calculations to back his argument. The two world systems in question were Ptolemy’s and Copernicus’ systems, not the Church’s, as some modern scholars would have you believe. His great contribution was his initial dismantling of Aristotelian physics and the Ptolemaic system, which were prevalent in Western culture for almost 2,000 years, opening the Western mind to new possibilities. In this book, he noted that if there is a contradiction with the supremacy of the Bible “it becomes the office of wise expounders to labor until they find how to make those passages of Holy Writ concordant with these conclusions.” He died in 1642, the same year Isaac Newton was born. Galileo considered himself a committed Catholic for whom “the Holy Scriptures cannot err”.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
Kepler was the founder of physical astronomy and discoverer of planetary motion at a time when the wall between astronomy and astrology was blurred. In 1609 he published The New Astronomy, in which he proved that the planets travel around the sun in an elliptical orbit. He further showed that a planet does not travel an equal distance in an equal amount of time. In Harmony of the Worlds he published his third law of planetary motion, which mathematically relates the time it takes a planet to orbit the sun with the distance from the sun. He praised God in this book by saying, “Great is the Lord, great is His power and there is no end to His wisdom.” “We see how God, like a human architect, approached the foundation of the world according to order and rule and measured everything in such manner.”
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Pascal is credited with the invention of hydrodynamics as well as laying the foundation for differential calculus, the mathematical theory of probability, and the treatment of conic sections. As a Christian, he believed “there is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” In his famous work Pensees (thought) he argued the case for a divine Creator and the Christian beliefs.
Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
Established the Royal Society of London and ushered in the new age of modern chemistry. Alchemists spent most of their time trying to turn metal into gold or attempting to discover the fountain of youth. In The Skeptical Chemist, published in 1661, he crushed Aristotle’s concept of four elements (earth, air, water, and fire) and replaced it with the idea that an element cannot be separated into similar components by chemical methods. Boyle was a Christian who believed the Scriptures should be studied in their original language. He claimed in The Christian Virtuoso (1691) that the study of nature is the duty given to man by God in Genesis 1:28.
Isaac Newton - (1642- 1727)
Newton developed the new math called calculus. He disproved the Greeks’ ideas of light by using a prism to show that light was made up of all the colors in a rainbow. By using a curved mirror, he successfully improved the telescope with a principle still used today. In 1687, with the help of Edmond Halley, Newton published Principia Mathematical, in which he developed his theory of gravity and his three laws of motion. He proved mathematically that the same laws which apply to earth must apply consistently throughout the universe. Because of Newton’s work, Francis Bacon’s inductive method won the day, earning him the title of father of the scientific method because he was the one to establish and codify the process for future generations, concluding one of the greatest intellectual struggles in human history. Galileo’s geocentric solar system was now widely accepted.
Throughout his life, he dedicated as much time to his theological writings as to his scientific writings. His theological writings include Observations on Daniel and The Apocalypse of St. John among others. The preface to the second edition of Principia reads, “Without all doubt this world…could arise from nothing but the perfect free will of God…from this fountain…what we call the laws of nature flowed, in which appears many traces indeed of the most wise contrivance, but not the least shadow of necessity.” Newton always recognized God’s providence as he wrote: “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent being…as Lord of all.”
John Woodward (1665-1728)
Woodward is the father of modern geology. In his writings, he demonstrated how the stony surface of the earth was divided into strata and how the shell was originally formed at sea. His system for cataloging rocks, minerals, and fossils were well in advance of his time. He established the Paleontology Museum at Cambridge and the Woodwardian Professorship of Geology at Cambridge.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Made revolutionary discoveries in the fields of electricity, magnetism, and chemistry. He is credited with the discovery of electromagnetic induction and the invention of the generator, transformer, and electric motor. His work contributed to the invention of stainless steel, optical glasses, alloys, locks, electroplating, and India rubber, to name a few. Faraday built the first-ever electric motor. Using mercury and copper, he managed to transform electric energy into mechanical energy, later to become the motors of modern homes and industry. He discovered one of the most important hydrocarbons known to man, benzene, which is used today for the production of synthetic rubber, nylons, dyes, detergents, pesticides, plastics, and resins.
Faraday exemplified Christian humility as he refused to be knighted and even declined the Presidency of the Royal Society. He was content to let others pursue the economic benefits of his discoveries, which didn’t seem to bother him one bit. In the 1840s, Faraday was responsible for securing the admission of women members to the Royal Institute. Faraday attended London Sandemanian Church his entire life. As deacon, he would visit the poor and sick in his community regularly, even cancelling lectures to keep his commitment. Later in life, he became an elder and preached at the Church on occasion.
John Dalton (1766-1844)
Dalton is the father of Atomic Theory. In 1808, he published his findings on atoms in A New System of Chemical Philosophy. It states that all elements are composed of tiny indestructible elements called atoms, which all have the same likeness and weight. Initially, Dalton was ridiculed, but later embraced by the scientific community. John Dalton was a Quaker who never married and lived a very modest life.
Samuel Morse (1791-1872)
Invented the telegraph, which is one of the great milestones of human history. He also built the first camera in America and took the world’s first photographic portrait. He always had an interest in invention, and by 1817, had obtained three patents for pumps. He invented the pump used for fire engines and a marble-cutting machine. On May 24, 1844, the telegraph line from the Supreme Court chamber in Washington, D.C. to Baltimore was officially opened as Morse sent the famous words "What hath God wrought"
Lord William Kelvin (1824-1904)
Kelvin became the first scientist to codify the concept of energy, establish the scale of absolute temperatures, and launch the study of thermodynamics, establishing its first and second law. He was a teenage prodigy, eventually earning twenty-one honorary doctorates. He stated that “science positively affirmed the creative power of God,” and he adamantly opposed evolution.
Orville (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867-1912)
On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers achieved the impossible by flying the distance of 120 feet in 12 seconds, and later that day flew 852 feet for 59 seconds. The years to come were filled with trials as the world was reluctant to accept the new flying machine. Then in 1908, before a large crowd in France, Wilbur and a passenger made a few challenging maneuvers, including a figure eight in midair, stunning the crowd. They immediately became two of the most famous people in the world. The brothers had promised their father that they would never fly together to avoid the possible tragedy of losing two sons. But in 1910, Orville took his 82-year-old father on his first and only flight, reaching heights of 350 feet where he could hear the Bishop yelling, “higher Orville, higher.”
Francis Sellers Collins (1950-)
Collins is the physician-geneticist noted for his discoveries of disease genes and heading up the largest biological collaboration, the Human Genome Project, which mapped human DNA. In 2006, Collins published The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, which has an account of his conversion from atheism to evangelical Christianity. While it started with a quest to vindicate his atheism, it ended with his conversion during a hike on a fall afternoon. He offers an inspiring view of the human genome, demonstrating the miraculous nature of God’s instruction book for life.
Conclusion: Christians can say with confidence that modern science is the product of devout believers who diligently pursued the knowledge of God. And they can further make the case that every branch of science was founded by Christian believers.