City Life Starter

I. The word: ‘…always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.’ I Peter 3:15

By Blesson Selvanesan Ph.D

Many think that believers in Christ are unintelligent people who are being controlled by the clergy so that they can rule and make money. They often have no idea that rational thinking and logical argument can exist outside of science and believers have made a rational choice to follow Christ based on evidence and personal conviction. It’s simply not blind belief. At the same time there are many in Church who would say that there is no need to answer these critics, but just Believe! Bible tells us to think, reason, discuss, debate and defend. Critics discredited the early Church, but Peter encouraged early believers to stand up and defend what they stood for in a gentle and respectful manner.

A few years back I was attending a conference on faith and Science organized by a Christian forum. It was interesting as many would argue that they are mutually exclusive and are in competition with each other. At least that’s how it is often portrayed. Faith Hmmm! That’s kind of foolish stuff; no decent person in the educated world would have it. Science is rational, advanced and can solve all the problem of this world. If only all the God-seekers and believers could turn away from their evil religions and seek science and pursue it, we would have had a better world! Well, that’s how many in the Western world and increasingly in the educated circles of the eastern world think! That’s what my two teenage friends were also thinking! We sat and discussed for some time while having lunch.

These two are in their first year of university. They told me that science have ‘proved’ that there is no God and they thought that there was no need to have an entity called ‘God’. Everything in this world can be explained by natural phenomenon. We don’t need to unnecessarily bring God into everything. Man invented God to control one another and look at all the atrocities that are committed in the name of God, one said. Everything just happened by chance, blind probability game of atoms. So, as far we are concerned, they said, there is no God. The problem is, he added, ‘we think! God guys just believe!’ We just wanted to know what these people believe and why they have such blind belief…that’s why we came here they said.

I was sort of happy that at least these two students had a thought to see and listen to what the ‘God guys’ had to say. Many just don’t want to hear the other side but at least, they thought it is worth a hearing. I think that there is no competition or contradiction between science and faith, Christian faith in particular. Many leading scientists and leading thinkers in the past and present believed/believe in God and their quest for knowledge is hinged on knowing the marvels of God’s creation and to know what this Almighty God thought. Although I should admit that Churches sometimes did disgraceful things towards many scientists in the past. This has more to do with the politics and power struggle of that day and nothing to do with the theology. Many powerful clergies did use Church as a cover to achieve whatever they wanted. Biblical Christianity is neither anti-science nor against good thinkers.

Post Darwinist philosophers and neo-Darwinists have achieved the separation of science from faith to a great extent. They have campaigned successfully and managed to convince many that science and Christian faith are contradictory although many including me think it is not true! That’s why we find that God has no place in the textbooks or in contemporary school and university teachings, especially in science. Somehow atheism has been given the privilege of being a default option and all the other worldviews will have to explain why they are there! What separates people between God-believers and atheists is not science but the worldview itself. I think it is shameful that atheists tend to hide behind science and use it as if it is their exclusive right.

Christians believe in miracles and supernatural things such as resurrection… yes, we do because there is solid evidence. But even atheistic scientists do believe in miracles, but they sugar coat it with science and use sophisticated language. Think of the odds how lives were to evolve, as they say, that’s a miracle. Can they ever explain the origin of the universe without believing in miracles? Can they explain and give evidence for their theory without forcing us to believe in miracles? Can they explain where matter and energy came from?… they too BELIEVE… My friends across the lunch table looked puzzled and confused. I asked them how they concluded that they were atheists even before they heard the ‘God guys’. The said well…we believe our textbooks and professors… Friends, think hard, analyze and weigh the evidence carefully with an open mind and honesty. The truth will be revealed, and it shall set you free!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, help us to tell the Truth in Love and Love others truthfully. Help us to see beyond our prejudices and search for the Truth. Help us to be gentle and respectful yet stand up for our faith which is planted in reason and historical truths. In Christ Name. Amen