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Man of Science, Man of Faith
by Jeff Jacoby
Religious inquiry and scientific investigation can complement each
other.
Have you heard about the religious fundamentalist who wanted to teach
physics at Cambridge? This would-be instructor wasn't simply a
Christian; he was so preoccupied with biblical prophecy that he wrote
a book titled Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and the
Apocalypse of St. John. Based on his reading of Daniel, in fact, he
forecast the date of the Apocalypse: no earlier than 2060. He also
calculated the year the world was created. When Genesis 1:1 says "In
the beginning," he determined, it means 3988 BC.
Not many modern universities are prepared to employ a science
professor who espouses not merely "intelligent design" but out-and-out
divine creation. This applicant's writings on astronomy, for example,
include these thoughts on the solar system: "This most beautiful
system of sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel
and domination of an intelligent and powerful Being . . . He governs
all things, and knows all things that are or can be done."
Hire somebody with such views to teach physics? At a Baptist junior
college deep in the Bible Belt, maybe, but the faculty would erupt if
you tried it just about anywhere else. Many of them would echo
Oxford's Richard Dawkins, the prominent evolutionary biologist, who
writes in The God Delusion that he is "hostile to fundamentalist
religion because it actively debauches the scientific
enterprise. . . . It subverts science and saps the intellect."
Equally blunt is Sam Harris, a PhD candidate in neuroscience and
another unsparing foe of religion. "The conflict between religion and
science is inherent and (very nearly) zero-sum," he writes in an essay
whose title -- "Science Must Destroy Religion" -- makes clear the
antipathy with which many modern scientists regard religious
faith. "The success of science often comes at the expense of religious
dogma; the maintenance of religious dogma always comes at the expense
of science."
Less elegant but more influential, the National Science Education
Standards issued by the National Academy of Sciences in 1995
classified religion with "myths," "mystical inspiration,"
and "superstition" -- all of them quite incompatible with scientific
study. Michael Dini, a biologist at Texas Tech University in Lubbock,
made headlines in 2003 over his policy of denying letters of
recommendation for any graduate student who could not "truthfully and
forthrightly affirm a scientific answer" to the question of mankind's
origin. Science and religion, he said in an interview at the
time, "shouldn't overlap."
But such considerations didn't keep Cambridge from hiring the theology-
and Bible-drenched individual described above. Indeed, it named him
to the prestigious Lucasian Chair of Mathematics -- in 1668. And a
good thing too, since Isaac Newton -- notwithstanding his religious
fervor and intense interest in Biblical interpretation -- went on to
become the most renowned scientist of his age, and arguably the most
influential in history.
Newton's consuming interest in theology, eschatology, and the secrets
of the Bible is the subject of a new exhibit at Hebrew University in
Jerusalem (online at jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/mss/Newton). His vast
religious output -- an estimated 3 million words -- ranged from the
dimensions of Solomon's Temple to a method of reckoning the date of
Easter to the elucidation of Biblical symbols. "Newton was one of the
last great Renaissance men," the curators observe, "a thinker who
worked in mathematics, physics, optics, alchemy, history, theology,
and the interpretation of prophecy and saw connections between them
all." The 21st-century prejudice that religion invariably "subverts
science" is refuted by the extraordinary figure who managed to
discover the composition of light, deduce the laws of motion, invent
calculus, compute the speed of sound, and define universal
gravitation, all while believing deeply in the "domination of an
intelligent and powerful Being." Far from subverting his scientific
integrity, the exhibition notes, "Newton's piety served as one of his
inspirations to study nature and what we today call science."
For Newton, it was axiomatic that religious inquiry and scientific
investigation complemented each other. There were truths to be found
in both of the "books" authored by God, the Book of Scripture and the
Book of Nature -- or as Francis Bacon called them, the "book of God's
word" and the "book of God's works." To study the world empirically
did not mean abandoning religious faith. On the contrary: The more
deeply the workings of Creation were understood, the closer one might
come to the Creator. In the language of the 19th Psalm, "The heavens
declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."
To be sure, religious dogma can be a blindfold, blocking truths from
those who refuse to see them. Scientific dogma can have the same
effect. Neither faith nor reason can answer every question. As Newton
knew, the surest path to understanding is the one that has room for
both.
Author Biography:
Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe. To see a month's
worth of his recent columns, please visit
www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/jacoby/
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