{"id":96421,"date":"2026-07-03T16:06:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T21:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=96421"},"modified":"2026-07-03T16:06:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T21:06:59","slug":"sciences-impact-on-christian-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sciences-impact-on-christian-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Science’s Impact on Christian Teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Kenneth W. Ledbetter
\nvia\u00a0Sentry Magazine<\/em>, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995\n

[The author is an aerospace engineer with NASA, most recently involved with the Hubble Space Telescope project, and is a faithful Christian at the Annandale church of Christ.]<\/p>\n

How many of the everyday devices around you can you honestly say you understand the principles by which they function? Your VCR? Your microwave? I don’t know about you, but I can’t even tune up my car these days because of modern additions like the computer-controlled ignition. The last two generations have seen the pace of science and technology accelerating frantically. In his youth, my grandfather was old enough to remember the Wright brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk, and he lived to see the supersonic transport fly from Europe to America in only a few hours. I myself remember when a single computer took up an entire room, and only specially trained technicians could use it. Hand-held calculators didn’t exist; I supported my math classes with a slide rule. Now kids use laptop computers more powerful than the old room-sized ones. We now have instantaneous voice and video communications all over the globe. We watched the Gulf War live on CNN. Life has become fast and instant: microwave ovens, cellular telephones, compact disks, virtual reality, the Internet.<\/p>\n

More than 90% of all discoveries and inventions were made in the 20th Century. Over 90% of all the scientists, engineers, and mathematicians who have ever <\/b>lived are still alive today. The pace of technology is still accelerating. What will the 21st Century bring? More and more, we are living in a world dominated by science and technology. Future shock is here, now. What does this rapid change mean in a person’s relationship to God? Can one believe in the God of the Bible and reconcile one’s beliefs with scientific findings that are difficult for the rational mind to dismiss? Does God not want us to use the intellect He gave us to search for answers?<\/p>\n

Acts 17:27-28 says, in part: “… He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, … for we are also His offspring<\/em>.” The Christian belongs to God and not the world, but must live in the world and interact with it without being stained by it. (James 1:27, I John 2:15) But does this mean we must reject science because it is “worldly” or because someone has said that a certain scientific finding contradicts the Bible?<\/p>\n

In far too many cases, the Christian rejects scientific concepts as being atheistic and evil, while the scientist rejects Christianity as being superstitious, illogical, and dogmatic. Because of these diverse viewpoints, some believe that the two cannot coexist, and thus we hear about the confrontation between “Science” and “Religion.” I believe, as a scientist and a Christian, that science is <\/b>compatible with a living, creative, active God. Science exists in a universe created by God and operates according to the rules God set in place. Albert Einstein, Nobel Prize winner in Physics, once said: “Science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind.”<\/p>\n

For many people, scientific knowledge allows them to rely on the logic of science and mathematics and to reject religion as unnecessary. This is a false sense of security, since science has yet to find a way to open the gates of eternity. How can someone in this state of mind be reached with the gospel of Christ? An approach that begins with the Bible will be rejected. We must first demonstrate that science and religion can work hand in hand to bring them to the point where Bible teaching will be accepted.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, many Christians attribute to the Bible anti-science viewpoints that simply aren’t found in scripture. For example, insisting that the Bible says that the Earth was created in October of 4004 BC because that date is written in the margin of many King James versions of Genesis is not only wrong but also a quick way to end the conversation. We must be careful to speak only where the Bible speaks, and also recognize where various interpretations can be made without violating what is actually recorded. I Chronicles 16:30 says, “Indeed, the world is firmly established; it will not be moved<\/em>.” This scripture was used by the Inquisition in the early 1600s to convict the great astronomer Galileo of heresy for stating that the Earth moved around the sun. Today we recognize other interpretations that aren’t quite so literal.<\/p>\n

So, what is science? Science is mankind’s attempt to understand and describe the Natural Laws of the Universe. What is Natural Law? The set of all natural laws constitutes God’s plan for the operation of the Universe. Like God, they are orderly, logical, and operate the same way every time they are invoked. Using the mind God gave us, we can strive to understand these rules. Examples of events described by Natural Laws can help illustrate.<\/p>\n