Science and faith

Dear Editor,

William Philip’s article in the May en is perceptive. As someone who has made a career in science, I think the warnings should be heeded.

Over the past few years, it has been painful to hear politicians say ‘We follow the science’ when actually they are following their group of approved scientists. When the status of scientists is given as the reason for following them, this is anti-science.

We must remind people that science appeals to evidence, not authority. The lure of being among the intellectual elites was strong in ancient Greece, and the Bible warns that anyone taking the throne of Israel should not consider himself better than his brothers (Deut.17:20). Christians, of all people, should know that scientists have the same sinful nature as the rest of humanity and this affects the way science is practiced.

One astute observer has said: ‘The problem with “following the science” is that science usually follows the money.’ Two very significant ways this affects Christians relates to the science of humanity and the science of origins. Ask your neighbour what science says about how Earth and life came to exist, and you will get a very different answer from that given in the Bible.

Yours sincerely,
(Professor) David J. Tyler Hyde, Cheshire