Separation of Church and...Science?

In Psalm 89, we read about the majesty of our God, our great Creator, who is maker and ruler of
heaven and earth:
8 O Lord God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
9 You rule the raging of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them.
10 You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one who is slain; You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.

If we are convinced that we serve a great and mighty Creator, then that can determine how we regard ourselves - possessing inestimable worth in the eyes of a wonderful, loving Lord.  It can also influence how we see the world, how we view nature, through the eyes of the One who made it all. And, that can also impact our capacity to engage with science - even though a recent poll indicates a disconnect between religion and science, we can see that the Bible tells us about the One who established science and created nature.

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In 1st Corinthians 2, Paul contrasts the natural with the spiritual.  And, we can read beginning in verse 9, that he writes:
9 But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

Even though the Bible has much to say in the area of science, and there have been, and continue to be, scientific discoveries that have been inspired and guided by faith, and that are compatible with a Christian worldview perspective, a new Pew Research poll finds that almost 6-in-10 Americans believe science and faith to be in conflict with one another. 59% say that science is often in conflict with religion, with only 38% saying the two areas are mostly compatible.

Not surprisingly, the least religious Americans perceive a disconnect between religion and science. Now, most American adults - 68% - say there is no conflict between their personal religious beliefs and science. But, for the 30% who do see a conflict with their personal beliefs, the most common source of disagreement involves beliefs about evolution and the creation of the universe.

Now, watch this - an analysis on the Pew website says that two-thirds of Americans (65%) believe that humans evolved over time.  About a third said that took place through natural processes, with about a fourth saying that human evolution has occurred with the guidance of “a supreme being.”   And, about a third say that humans did not evolve but have always existed in their present form.   But, if you combine the latter two, though, you could say that the naturalistic view of evolution is only embraced by a third of Americans.

Here's another area of concern - close to half of those surveyed said churches and other houses of worship should be not involved in science policy debates. Half of U.S. adults say churches should express their views on scientific policy issues, while 46% say they should not do so.  About two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants and black Protestants say churches should express their views. The survey also indicated that the religious differences of people do not play a central role in explaining their beliefs on a number of science-related topics.

I do think that there is a separation of church and science that is indicated here.  If there is a perception that science and religion conflict and that churches should not be involved in science policy debates, then you run the risk of separating out those who would inject faith into scientific discussion.   We should integrate our Christian worldview perspective into the way we think about a wide range of issues, and topics related to science are compatible with the Bible - after all, since we know the One who created the universe and set the laws of nature into motion, who knows intricately the details of all that has been created, we can gain insight into scientific matters by applying that Biblical point of view.

Fortunately, there have been scientists throughout the ages that did not separate their worldview from their approach to science.  Dr. Henry Morris is a creationist with the Institute for Creation Research. He writes that:

...many of the greatest scientists of the past were creationists and for that matter, were also Bible-believing Christians, men who believed in the inspiration and authority of the Bible, as well as in the deity and saving work of Jesus Christ. They believed that God had supernaturally created all things, each with its own complex structure for its own unique purpose. They believed that, as scientists, they were "thinking God's thoughts after Him," learning to understand and control the laws and processes of nature for God's glory and man's good. They believed and practiced science in exactly the same way that modern creationist scientists do.

He continues:

And somehow this attitude did not hinder them in their commitment to the "scientific method." In fact one of them, Sir Francis Bacon, is credited with formulating and establishing the scientific method! They seem also to have been able to maintain a proper "scientific attitude," for it was these men (Newton, Pasteur, Linnaeus, Faraday, Pascal, Lord Kelvin, Maxwell, Kepler, etc.) whose researches and analyses led to the very laws and concepts of science which brought about our modern scientific age. The mechanistic scientists of the present are dwarfed in comparison to these intellectual giants of the past.

And, a study released last year showed, according to a Christianity Today story, that 2 million out of nearly 12 million scientists are evangelical Christians. This was based on a study done by sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund and her colleagues at Rice University and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

It does concern me that there is a tendency society-wide to relegate Christianity and Christian ideals into a box.  It's that whole difference between "freedom of religion," as stated in the Constitution, and those who would espouse "freedom of worship," which commentators say indicates keeping religious practice in a box, in the four walls of the church, without having an impact on society.  And, we have to be so careful that we don't buy into that mindset - we have a living faith that proceeds from a living Lord, who desires for His ideas to be shared by His people to infiltrate and influence the culture.  So, when we see and hear people who would try to separate Christians from a role in shaping debate about a wide range of issues, we can be reminded that our worldview and our ideas are valid.

And that goes for the area of science - scientific research and findings published in journals point us to occurrences in nature; nature was created by the hand of God.  So, the Bible tells us about the heart and the operation of a Creator God who has taken great care in His creation.  The natural world was set in motion by the spiritual.  And, the spiritual world is much more real that what we can perceive by our five senses.  We can embrace the thought that the spiritual can impact, in a very powerful way, the limited natural world.