An Interview on Faith and Science

I was asked by some folks at Regent College to give some thoughts on the Pastoral Science cohort I was blessed to participate in at Regent.  Below are the questions they sent me, and my responses.

1. What drew you to the program in the first place? How did you feel about science before the program?

I’ve always loved the elegance of good scientific work. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronomer, and my parents gave me a subscription to Astronomy magazine. Unfortunately, I stink at math, so I ended up focusing on work involving words — law and theology! But to look up at the night sky out in the country, and to have a sense of what the contemporary natural and physical sciences have taught us about the vastness of the universe, has always enchanted me.

Yet, even with this sense of wonder, I was struggling to reconcile what that natural sciences say about life and evolution with my faith tradition and what I thought the Bible said. In fact, I was in the midst of a really difficult period in which these questions were at the forefront of my mind. For a time, I thought “intelligent design” theory was the answer, but I quickly realized that much of what the loudest ID advocates were saying was just unconvincing culture war noise. I had never really bought into young earth creationism, and this (among other things) became a significant point of tension for me with some of my fellow church members and spiritual leaders. I was drawn to the program at Regent because I trusted the faculty involved to offer Biblically and theologically grounded insights incorporating all truth wherever it is found, and because I hoped to connect with other people seeking to develop informed and faithful perspectives.

2. How has this cohort experience impacted your work in ministry after the program?

It has been a deeply formative experience that has shaped my work and studies. Most significantly, it allowed me to connect with some wonderful people who continue to support me as a writer, teacher and scholar. These folks prayed for me and supported me as I developed an adult education class for my local church, which I titled “God in Creation” (here is the class website: http://tgdarkly.com/godincreation/). That class had the potential to become contentious, even though I had the full support of my church’s leadership (another gift!), because I did not shy away from looking at the questions from all angles. During one class session I specifically discussed different models for thinking about origins issues, and a group of very strongly young earth creationist folks showed up, loaded for bear. It was nerve wracking, but resulted in good and respectful conversation rather than strife or division. I couldn’t have been at the center of this sort of thing without my cohort’s support. Today I continue to work with some members and leaders of my cohort on faith-and-science projects — including working on my doctorate in theology!

3. How has this opportunity to develop your scientific knowledge impacted your own faith?

I am finally able — and it has taken a long time — to relax and simply enjoy and delight in and marvel at any truth the sciences are able to learn about the creation. At the moment, I’m particularly interested in paleo-anthropology (the study of human origins). This of course remains one of the more difficult places at which the natural sciences and Christian theology intersect, because it raises the question “who (if anyone) was ‘Adam’?” But since I’ve developed and continue to develop a more robust theological and philosophical framework, I don’t need to fear any empirical observations about humanity’s physical origins. These observations are simply part of the fascinating and ultimately beautiful story of God’s creative grace.

4. How do you see the science-faith dialogue being transformed as a result of this program or others like it?

“Transformed” is a difficult word! Let’s be honest — at the grassroots level, particularly in evangelical churches, confusion, fear and even hostility abound towards the observations of the natural sciences about the age of the earth and the evolutionary development of life. It’s hard to compete with the animatronics at the so-called “Creation Museum.” But things are changing, and many mustard seeds of truth have been planted. A program like this one, which emphasized community, support, and ongoing participation, helps create patches of new growth. Over time, those patches will bloom and change the landscape.

5. What has hampered or hindered the dialogue around science thus far in the Christian context?

In the context of American evangelicalism, the context with which I’m most familiar, I think we are still trying to find a way past the opposite shoals of fundamentalism and modernism. Young earth creationism, with its fundamentalist theology and populist message, plays to a century’s-worth of fears about the modernist threat. There is just no possibility of “dialogue” in that framework.

On the other hand, the “mainstream” faith-and-science dialogue too often quickly becomes theologically vapid, if not sub-Christian. I heard a talk a few weeks ago from a theologian from Georgetown University, for example, who was a devotee of process theology. His “solution” tensions arising from the faith-and-science relation seemed to involve a wholesale rejection of Christian theology in favor of a god-being that evolves along with the physical universe as a sort of world-consciousness. Obviously, that wont do. And, there’s also no real “dialogue” in that framework.

I believe we need carefully worked out theologies that are able to absorb any empirical truth within the framework of historic Christian thought about the Triune creator-God and the incarnation and resurrection of Christ. In other words — the traditional Christian model of “faith seeking understanding,” undertaken with patience, charity, and depth.

6. One of the program goals is to address fears on this topic of faith and science; what fears did or do you have surrounding it? Or what fears have you encountered in others? How does this fear manifest itself?

I think there are two basic fears, which many people are even afraid to express: (1) Am I losing my faith? and (2) Does this mean Christianity isn’t true after all?

Like any fear, these fears can manifest themselves in defensiveness, hostility, posturing, evasiveness, denial, and all sorts of other unhealthy and antisocial feelings and behaviors.

7. Why is it important to be able to talk about science in a productive manner as Christians?

For me, this is a “Great Commission” issue. It is part of the “discipleship of the mind” — “taking every thought captive” to Christ and “offering an account” of the coherent truth of our faith. The modern sciences possess extraordinary explanatory power. The institutions of the modern sciences possess extraordinary cultural power. If the Church can’t explain how the Gospel coheres with what the modern sciences disclose, why should people take the Church seriously? In fact, I think this is a significant aspect of the secularization of Western society.

8. Can you give an example of any gaps between knowledge and practice of the integration of science teaching in a ministry context which you have observed? How do you address that now after participating in the program?

In my experience, people in the pews often have no idea that there are meaningful alternatives to hostility between faith and science. I’ve seen people respond with joy and relief simply because a teacher has modeled an open, non-combative posture.

9. John Templeton predicted that “Scientific revelations may be a goldmine for revitalizing religion in the 21st century.” Do you think he’s right and why so?

Honestly, I’m cautious about this statement. When you read through some of the articles in a publication like Zygon (one of the leading mainstream religion-and-science journals), the trend often seems to be to prioritize “science” in a way that defines “religion” away from any sort of historic tradition. You hear lots about an “emerging omega point” and so-on, but not much about the God disclosed in scripture and in Christ! And (to channel my inner Barth), I’m not so sure I’m interested in seeing a revitalization of “religion.” What I would like to see is the robustness of small-c catholic Christian faith — which alone, I think, is capable of giving a robust account of “science” in the first instance.

10. Most memorable quotation, phrase, or nugget of insight you took away from the program?

Something Prof. Ross Hastings said: “Theology is worship, and after that, silence.”