Lipscomb faculty and students are not shy about stating their opinions when it comes to the long-standing debate over faith and science.
For the most part, they don’t say one side prevails over the other and agree that faith in God actually aids in the understanding of science.
David McNutt, a biology major from Nashville, Tenn., is one student who believes there is a way to advocate both faith and science at the same time.
“I think that there is an equal playing field,” McNutt said.
“There are a lot of people who think one has to work without the other. I think that Christians can believe that science is ever-changing. A lot of things point towards evolution, but Christians can believe that there is a natural process that takes place, at the same time believing that God is completely in control.”
Shivali Kanal, a biology major from Franklin, Tenn., draws a line between the two topics, describing faith as a way of life, and science as something current and ever-changing.
“I think faith and science can sometimes get in the way of each other,” Kanal said. “For example, embryonic stem cell research is a huge issue today, and many people believe it’s not morally O.K. to kill embryos to get the embryonic stem cells and develop them into cells that can treat diseases such as cancer and heart diseases.
“That’s a huge controversy. We could either save lives of diseased people right now, or save future lives. It has a lot of moral aspects to it, so that gets in the way.”
Paul Justice, a physics major from Bowling Green, Ky., said he believes that a person of faith should also have a scientific understanding.
“If we’re Christians who throw away science, then we’re throwing away that logic that is God-given,” Justice said.
“You can’t really believe that you’re made in the image of God, and that you have this gift of logic, and then say, ‘Oh, well faith doesn’t have to be logical.’ There is definite logic in science that was put there by God.”
Students weren’t the only ones with opinions on faith and science. Dr. Alan Bradshaw, chair of the physics department, shared his views as well.
“There are challenges between faith and sciences because they sometimes seem to overlap,” Dr. Bradshaw said.
“They sometimes seem to address the same topics and come to different conclusions. But, I’m convinced that where there are discrepancies, it’s our lack of understanding and not the actual truth that is at odds.”
Bradshaw described science and scripture as two different books.
“Scripture reveals God in one sense, mainly for the purpose of drawing us to God,” Bradshaw said.“But the book of nature — the book of science — also points towards a creator as the Bible suggests, that creation is endowed with the marks of the creator.
“So, I think that by studying science, we can be inspired to the immenseness, the amazingness of the world that we see around us. I think that that can inspire us to a deeper reverence in our faith in God.”