Dr. Robert, some people have a perception that if you are a scientist you cannot have
faith in God and vice versa.
You have an extensive career in science and you have faith in God.
Can we please have your views on science and religion and how they are in harmony?
And furthermore, science in fact leads to faith.
I definitely think that science and Christianity can be integrated and can be found to be in
harmony.
I find that the basis for conflict is actually a conflict between two different philosophical
commitments, one of naturalism and materialism versus that of supernaturalism, which would
be at the heart of most theistic religions, including Christianity.
So I believe that God is the author of nature and also the author of scripture.
And because I believe those two things to be true, then I believe that the things that we
learn in nature that point us to God will be in harmony or can be harmonized with the things
that God has revealed about himself in the scriptures as well.
So if there are areas that seem that they're in conflict, it's because we're either interpreting
nature incorrectly through our scientific observations or we're interpreting the scriptures incorrectly.
So I find that the complexities and the beauty and the harmony that I see in science and in nature
through scientific studies actually lift my mind and my heart in a way that points me to God.
And I think that this is consistent with the teaching of scriptures where the apostle Paul says that
ever since people have been making observations and ever since time began, that we can see God's
handiwork throughout creation, no matter where we look.
And I think that remains even more true today when we have the capacity to gaze at the stars and
understand cosmology and where we have the capacity to gaze at the cells and the intracellular
complexities and see God's handiwork there.
So whether we're looking at trees or nature with our naked eye or looking at the cosmos with
a telescope or looking at the cells with a microscope, I think the handiwork of God is evident everywhere.