Science versus Christianity? Reason versus Faith? The relationship
between science and Christianity is all too often framed within
such modernist polarizations, even though we are now living in a
postmodern world But from a Christian perspective, if such conflict
theses are to be discredited, what assumptions about the scientific
endeavor, the nature of nature, reason, revelation, and knowledge
should undergird the relation between science and Christianity?
Science & Grace critically examines contemporary assumptions
and then positively re-describes scientific endeavors in ways that
encourage faithful and joyful Christian involvement in the science
of our day, both as "consumers" of the fruits of scientific work
and as producers of new scientific insights into God's works on
display in His universe. In Science & Grace, the authors go
beyond the more common focus on creation, evolution, and
intelligent design to address more novel questions concerning
science and Christianity. The first section reviews a variety of
developments both inside and outside of science to indicate that
the Enlightenment hope of a simple picture of science, providing
its own foundation and sustaining power, doesn't work. The section
goes on to locate a faithful Christian approach to science in the
midst of the general cultural shift from modernism to postmodernism
as one that thoroughly embraces the need for each worldview to give
its own account of how science "works." For the Christian, this
indicates the need for a theology of science. The second section
approaches the relation of God to His creation through a robust
trinitarian theology that highlights the divine action of the
transcendent purposes of the Father, mediated through the Son, and
brought to fruition by the immanent presence of the Spirit. The
triune God's covenantal faithfulness to His creation is then the
reason for the regularities we perceive as scientific laws. In this
context, the dualistic tendency to pit "natural processes" against
"supernatural intervention" perceived as miracles is shown to be an
unnecessary consequence of the history of the rise of mechanism. We
can thus understand science from a Christian perspective as one
avenue of many through which we are able to see and respond to
God's faithfulness to His covenant promises. The third section
examines how doing science from a Christian perspective naturally
flows from the Great Commandment to love God and neighbor, or put
it another way, to love God with all our being, knowing, and doing.
In terms of being, this section re-orients the meaning of our
scientific work and its significance in history by exploring who
humans are and what creation is in terms of their relation to God
and how those relationships are impacted by the major episodes in
redemptive history: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation.
Then knowing is described in terms of faithfully responding to
God's revelation in His Word and world, responses that include both
submission to "order as given" and creative stewardship in handling
"order as task." Pleasing God in our knowing should be the
Christian's prime concern, rather than narrowly pursuing the
satisfaction of humanly formulated knowing criteria. Finally
concerning the doing aspect, being good stewards of our scientific
gifts requires that we "do" as confident, attentive and submissive
servants who are committed to the gracious authority of His Word,
His Church, and His World. In the final section, in seeking out
ways to "do" as good neighbors in the scientific culture of our
times, Science & Grace describes how Christians are to be good
stewards of God's favor and His judgment in scientific work. We are
to rejoice in the fruits of our common labors with our
non-Christian colleagues but also we are not to neglect our
obligation, in love, to warn them of the wrath of God that will
judge persisting unbelief.
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