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Do You Crave Meaning?

“All thinking men are atheists.”

“Atheism is so senseless and odious to mankind …”
Sir Isaac Newton, physicist

Are “all thinking men” really atheists as Hemingway asserted? If so, it would seem that religion and science would indeed be enemies.  However, history does not give us much support for this idea. Besides Sir Isaac Newton, many other great scientists have simultaneously held deep religious convictions, such as Johannes Kepler, Blaise Pascal, and Louis Pasteur.

Currently the situation is no different. Many scientists today also have religious convictions, such as Alister McGrath (who earned two doctorate degrees from Oxford, one in theology, the other in molecular biophysics). These examples of course prove nothing about the validity of Christianity or religion in general, but they at least demonstrate that it is possible to be a knowledgeable person of science as well as a religious believer.

So how exactly do science and religion co-exist with each other in the world? There are basically three options.

1)  Science and religion as totally separate fields of inquiry

One view of the relationship between science and faith was articulated by paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould as “Non-overlapping magisteria” (NOMA). Gould here uses the term “magestria” to refer to a domain of knowledge. In NOMA the two magesteria do not overlap.  Science and religion are just separate.

Gould cites an old cliché when he says that “science studies how the heavens go, religion how to get to heaven.” (Rock of the Ages, 6) Science, in this view, investigates objective empirical facts, whereas religion studies subjective questions of ultimate meaning. We could represent NOMA visually like this:

In practice, however, this approach is not so easy to achieve. Science and religion both address the same world, the same reality. They both impact how we understand and live in our world.  The scientist does not suddenly become a different person when they enter their church. Both fields make claims that affect the other.

Contrary to the NOMA view, science will on occasion make claims regarding religion, and religions in turn make factual claims about the world.  For example, Jesus rose from the dead, or he didn’t it cannot be both.  Considering the deficiencies of this view, some people choose to adopt a second view.

2)  Science and religion as identical fields of inquiry

This view is essentially the opposite to the NOMA view. It suggests that science and religion must occupy the same space because they seek to define the same world. If we were to draw the relationship, it would look something like this:

One of the difficulties of this view is that not all truth claims can be tested in the same way. A historical claim cannot be confirmed via the scientific method. The scientific method is a systematic process of question, hypothesis, testing, data analysis, conclusion, and repetition. Although elements of this process apply to historical testing, a historic event cannot be confirmed via scientific experiment, nor is a historical event repeatable (there’s no way we can go back in time to test it).

There are other examples of truths that cannot be adequately tested via the scientific method, such as the laws of logic (science presupposes logic), the actual existence of other minds, or other metaphysical truths. Yet we all believe logic, the existence of other minds, and many other such truths exist. In addition, we all believe in many experiential truths like love which no scientific experiment can demonstrate or capture in a test tube.

We seem to have been led to the conclusion that there are certain places which science and religion overlap, but others in which they do not. This is the third view of the relationship between science and religion.

3)  Science and religion as partially overlapping fields of inquiry

This view notes that there are both areas of overlap and areas of uniqueness. We could depict it like this, the darker gray area representing the overlapping area:

Albert Einstein once said that “A legitimate conflict between science and religion cannot exist. Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” Although Einstein did not believe in a “personal” God (he was a deist) he was right when he said that true religion and accurate science cannot be in disharmony with one-another in the areas in which they overlap.

How religion differs

An objection that may come to mind at this point. “But science is different. Science gives us facts, religion just gives us opinions. Religion doesn’t lead to certainty.”

While it is true that science often leads to facts (keeping in mind that current scientific truths are often later corrected by further research) we should keep in mind that most of the truths we believe are based on probability, not absolute certainty. Even most of the scientific facts we believe are based on what we’ve been told.  Most of us have not personally conducted experiments to prove that gravity exists, but we believe it to be true.

One thing that makes evaluating religious beliefs particularly difficult is that they are multifaceted. Religion addresses not just empirical truths (though these are very important), but also addresses experiential, emotional, moral, and metaphysical truths.

Brian McLaren gives the following illustration of the difference between these types of truths:

Imagine a group of physicists and astronomers gathered for a lecture on cosmic background radiation. As the lab-coated lecturer drones on, the group is listening, taking notes, rubbing their chins, crossing and uncrossing their legs, maybe nodding a bit, occasionally mumbling, “Interesting,” or something of that sort. Suddenly, a woman walks briskly onto the stage and whispers something into the lecturer’s ear. He hands her the microphone and she says, “Ladies and gentlemen, a fire has broken out in the lobby. Please stay calm. Leave quietly and quickly through the exits on your left. Do not use the rear exits, as they are already smoke-filled and unsafe. Please follow me – this way.”

At this moment, no one keeps rubbing his chin, crossing and uncrossing her legs, taking notes, or mumbling, “Interesting.” The reason? Before, during the lecture, their situation allowed them the luxury of abstracted, disinterested detachment. But now, their real-life situation has been addressed, and the category of communication has changed from knowledge or information (a lecture on astrophysics) to news (of a threat to safety and life and how to escape it). (McLaren, Finding Faith, 16)

Religion includes not just abstract intellectual facts but also issues of the heart, of intimacy, and meaning, and destiny. This may be one of the reasons that religion can unfortunately become so contentious: It requires submitting all of our mental faculties to be truly understood.

Conclusions

We have been led to the conclusion that science and faith are not, in fact, enemies. They both attempt to describe and throw light upon reality, sometimes in complimentary ways, other times in ways that only their particular methodology can do.

For some, scientific study can lead them away from their faith, as their erroneous understanding of real faith conflicts with their new scientific knowledge. Others, however, such as astrophysicist Hugh Ross, are led to faith through studying science. He tells his story in the article My Search for Truth. I hope, similarly to Dr Ross, that you find the truth that you are searching for, the truth that truly satisfies our multifaceted search for intimacy, meaning, and destiny.

CNN ran an interview this morning that caught my attention.

What an interesting question.  Would Hitchens be bothered by their prayers? Did he welcome them? I found his answer quite interesting.  Here is part of the interview:

COOPER: I know you know that there are people praying for you, there are prayer groups actually. . . What do you think about that, the fact that people are praying for you?

HITCHENS: There are people who are praying for me to suffer and die.  They have lavish websites. . . And then they are people, much more numerous I must say and nicer who are praying either that I get better or that I redeem myself.   That I make peace with the Almighty.

and later…

COOPER: So you don’t pray at all?

HITCHENS: No. All that is meaningless to me.

COOPER: So do you tell people not to do it for you?

HITCHENS: No I say if it makes you feel better you have my blessing.

Tolerance is not the same as caring

If the person receiving prayer does not believe in it, but the person praying does, who benefits from the prayer? Recently a friend and I were having a similar discussion.  A mutual friend of ours, I’ll call him Robert, was having a family crisis.  His father was very ill and the outlook was grim.  Robert is an atheist and my friend wondered, “is it wrong to pray for an atheist?”

Robert does not believe prayer has any value.  He has very strong negative feelings about all religion, so saying “I’ll pray for you” to him is not comforting. It’s more like a slap in the face.  So do I pray for Robert or not?

We live in an age where tolerance is king. There are some who would argue that Robert’s dislike of prayer should override my belief in it, that I should not push my religion on to him by praying for him.  But I don’t agree with that.  I don’t think that a crisis is the time to hit someone over the head with God, but at the same time, I cannot so casually walk away from prayer when a someone I care about is hurting.

I believe that prayer is real, has value and can help so for me to not pray for him in his hour of need would feel like holding back.  It would feel mean spirited as if I was saying, “I believe this could help you but I’m not going to let you have it.”  I did pray for Robert but I did not make a big production about saying “I prayed for you!”  I told him his family was in my thoughts, which is true.  They were also in my prayers.

I do believe that prayer can help.  Everyone benefits from prayer.  If you’d like to be prayed for, we’d be happy to do that.  Just let us know how we can pray for you.

How would you feel about someone praying for you? Would you be encouraged by it or bothered by it? Let us know in the comments.

Christopher Hitchens, best known for many years as a journalist and author, achieved notoriety for his book God is not Great: How Religion Poisions Everything.

Hitchens has engaged in many debates with Christian scholars, including Douglas Wilson, William Lane Craig (our post about this debate can be read here), and even his brother Peter Hitchens (who is a committed Christian).

Recently Christopher Hitchens announced that he has oesophageal cancer. Many Christians responded by encouraging one another to pray for him, both for his recovery as well as a change in his mind and heart. Today CNN released an interview with Hitchens where he was asked what he thought about people praying for him. He says that, regarding people’s prayers, “if it makes you feel better, then you have my blessing [to pray]” but he himself refuses to engage in prayer; a dismissal as irrelevant rather than a condemnation.

The interview also reveals details of Hitchens’ life that I was unaware of, such as the fact that his father died of the same cancer he now battles, and about his mother’s suicide. It was a poignant reminder that, despite the vitriol a person may espouse and our negative reaction to the hurtful and untruthful things that they say, it is still coming from a real person made in God’s image (as defaced as that has become) whose seemingly intellectual arguments are not divorced from his life experiences.

Can you commit to pray for him? Even if he has no belief in the power of prayer, if we truly believe that prayer is actually effective, why would we not pray for those who seem furthest from knowing God? How do you think we can best pray for Mr Hitchens, and others that you know who have a similar mindset?

Please open your Bible and read: 1 Samuel 1:1-18

Bob was a Christian with a secular job who labored daily beside an atheist. To avoid contention, Bob began witnessing only when the atheist opened the conversation to Bob’s beliefs or to God.
But there was an undercurrent in their relationship: Bob’s co-worker was always negative. The atheist launched his criticism constantly – about everybody and everything.

Bob held up well against his co-worker’s attitude for a while. But over time Bob began compromising. The co-worker had criticized Bob and his beliefs so often that Bob was losing sight of the legitimate hopes and dreams Christ had placed in his heart. Eventually, Bob became increasingly critical. Finally, it was difficult for their fellow workers to see much difference between Bob and the atheist.

Criticism is a hope-stealer. It sometimes comes even from well-meaning believers. Yet we always should keep our focus on God. We should give weight to the opinions of others only rarely – and then only when convinced the person giving counsel is godly and walking closely with Jesus.

Hannah’s response to her nagging rival was appropriate and God-honoring. She never lost hope, never gave in to her rival’s ways. Instead, she earnestly prayed to her heavenly Father and trusted in His perfect answer and timing.

Question: Has someone been “hope-stealing” in your life, at work, school, or elsewhere? How can you remember to keep focus on God?

About this Author: Charles Stanley

Vicky never gave up. For 42 years she prayed for her uncle. Last year she thought she could see some cracks forming in his 101-year-old heart. Earlier in the summer, Vicky’s daughter joined a short-term mission group in Hawaii. Her emails home were all about what God was doing in her life, and Vicky’s uncle read them all. Vicky wasn’t sure, but he seemed moved by them. And then something happened that broke his heart. Was God was opening up a place in the hard heart for Himself?

“I am a scientific person,” he once screamed at Vicky, “and I need scientific evidence. I need proof! I won’t believe unless I have proof!” C.S. Lewis has said that God dragged him, kicking and screaming, into heaven and Vicky decided to hold onto the hope that God was dragging her uncle in like Lewis. He’s an intelligent man and a self-made millionaire. He’s been fighting God for 100 years. Those are hard odds to overcome, but nothing’s impossible with God.

Vicky and her daughter went to see him after her daughter’s return from Hawaii. “We went with highest hopes,” Vicky said. “As usual, he was incredibly distracted and appeared not to be listening. My daughter kept trying to steer the conversation back to Jesus and he kept changing the subject. Finally I told him how I knew he had no purpose and hope for living and asked him if he wanted to pray with us to find the peace that his sister and I had found in Christ. Miraculously, he softly said, ‘Yes.’ My daughter and I couldn’t believe it!”

Shortly after Christmas, the sister he dearly loved and had looked after all his life, passed away. Vicky believes it is the grace of God that kept her alive long enough to see her brother’s salvation. Though he was deeply saddened by her leaving, Vicky’s uncle was visibly buoyed by the knowledge of being able to be reunited with her in heaven. This is the same man who only a few months earlier had claimed there was nothing after death. Nothing. Now he has a new purpose for his life, and, by the way, another sister to take care of. This one is only 96 and in better health than her older sister, which puts a little sparkle in her brother’s eyes because it means he can get out again. He may not be screaming anymore at 102, but he’s still kicking!

Last October, Vicky’s family got to celebrate her uncle’s one-hundred-second and her aunt’s one-hundredth birthday with the joy of adding the celebration of his first natural birthday as a Christian. Born again at 101. Proof that it’s never too late; and encouragement to all to never give up, even amidst the most obstinate resistance. Just ask Vicky.

Question: Is there someone in your life who you’ve been praying for, seemingly without results, for a long time? Can you recommit to continue praying for them?

About this Author: John Fischer

Atheist Recommends God
“As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God” says Times of London writer and former member of parliament Matthew Parris. It is unusual for an atheist to write favorably about faith. What led Parris to his surprising conclusion? He observes that “Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts.” Interestingly, Parris’ carefully considered conclusion resonates with biblical statements … Read more

Take action: Interested in exploring “spirituality” but are looking for something more interactive? Explore our variety of online interactive life lessons.

Article: Dads, Princesses, and the Power of Woo
The role of father is vitally important to the emotional and spiritual (not to mention relational!) well-being of a daughter. Read more

Video: Street Level: A Father’s Influence
In this week’s video, we ask: How would you describe your father? Read more

On the Blog: National Safe Driving Month
June is National Safe Driving Month. Do the teens in your life have the skills they need to safely navigate the road? Read more

Coming up next week: One of the topics of our upcoming online chats is “Honoring Our Fathers” Join us in the chat room June 21st 2009 @ 12:15pm EST for this chat or see also our full chat calendar for other upcoming topics.

The headline in The Times of London grabs your attention:

“As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God”

The tagline is even more pointed: “Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa’s biggest problem – the crushing passivity of the people’s mindset.”

What kind of atheist is this? Matthew Parris, Times writer, award-winning author, and former Member of Parliament, is not your typical atheist.

Recent projects promoting atheism or agnosticism include bestselling books: Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, Sam Harris’ The End of Faith, and Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great. Bill Maher’s film Religulous calls “anti-religionists” to unite against religion’s dangers and “enshrine … rationality.”

In Illinois and Washington state capitols, the Freedom From Religion Foundation countered government-sanctioned Christmas nativity displays with signs declaring religion false, heart-hardening and mind-enslaving.

It is unusual for an atheist to write favorably about faith. What led Parris to his surprising conclusion?

Parris grew up in Africa, and returned recently to cover a nongovernmental development organization for The Times. The NGO, Pump Aid, helps provide clean water to rural communities. The organization is secular, but several of its “most impressive” African representatives are devoted followers of Jesus. Their character evoked memories for Parris:

“Travelling in Malawi refreshed [a] belief … I’ve been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I’ve been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.”

“Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.”

Interestingly, Parris’ carefully considered conclusion, based on empirical observations across Africa, resonates with biblical statements: Jesus told a first-century leader, “You must be born again … of the Spirit.” Paul, an early skeptic-turned-believer, affirmed “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

Parris emphasizes Christianity’s impact on the individual, beyond the good works it spawns. Living in Africa, he observed “the Christians were always different.” Their faith seemed to have “liberated and relaxed them.” They exhibited a liveliness, curiosity, engagement and directness that seemed absent in traditional African life. The Christian Pump Aid workers he met stood out for their honesty, diligence and optimism.

Parris bemoans tribalism for fostering an attitude of fear and “exaggerated respect for a swaggering leader.” He credits Christianity’s emphasis on a direct, personal relationship with God for encouraging an individuality that can help “cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates.”

Whoa! Christianity engenders individuality and frees the mind? Is this the same Christianity that some criticize for breeding a herd mentality among undiscerning followers—something like “a crushing groupthink”?

Actually, it isn’t. Parris specifies Christianity based on a personal relationship with God. He observes that such Christianity “smashes … through” the traditional collective mindset. No surprise. Jesus overturned Temple tables and blasted religious leaders for supplanting God’s ways with their own. Criticisms of Christianity/religion as mind-enslaving and heart-hardening likely respond to devotees—and there are many—tainted by misguided thinking or misplaced devotion, not led by the biblical God.

Though atheists and Christians might debate the mechanism, atheist Parris finds the fact undeniable: when God is personal, Christianity changes African hearts, lives and communities for the better.

Related reading:
Questions about God – Philosopher Michael Horner explores some of the most commonly asked questions in this 7-part series
The Uniqueness of Jesus – What’s so special or great about him anyways?
Contact us – Have questions about life? Struggling with circumstances? People are here to listen.

Rusty Wright is an author and lecturer who has spoken on six continents. He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Theology degrees from Duke and Oxford universities, respectively. His work is distributed through Rusty Wright Communications.

Meg Korpi is senior research scientist with the Character Research Institute. She holds a PhD from Stanford University, and has lived on four continents—including Africa.

We all agree that the Earth is worth saving. It’s where we live, after all. Even during the economic recession, the importance for caring for the environment is near the top of many people’s concerns. Here’s the deeper question, though: Why?

It may seem like an absurd question, because concern for our natural environment seems so obvious, and … well, natural.

“Naturalism” is the worldview that the natural world is all that exists: Nothing that cannot be explained physically and via scientific experiment exists. But if the natural world is all there is, what’s to stop human beings from doing what comes naturally to them? If humans are merely animals, essentially no different than cats or monkeys, shouldn’t humans just do what’s natural, including wreck the environment if that’s what they “naturally” do? Where does responsibility to the Earth come in?

Read more and add your thoughts in the article “Can you be an atheist and an environmentalist?“

A Unique Medium for Ministry
Web evangelism gives believers opportunities to reach people with the Gospel right where they are. The Web’s explosive growth has been remarkable. In ten short years, it jumped from being a minority hobby for computer enthusiasts to a communication medium used by over 1 billion people worldwide. The world impact of the Internet and the digital revolution will be as far-reaching as the invention of the printing press as this clip demonstrates: Read the full article.

Take action: Grow in your own faith so that you can share it with others: Try our Growing in Faith series of life lessons.

You said it: This week Julie shared on the A New Default Setting women’s devotional, saying “I was raised in a church and have walked with God most of my life until I entered into early adulthood. Now, I have turned back to Jesus, I see many things I would like to change.” Join the conversation on TheLife.com Devotional for Men and TheLife.com Devotional for Women, each updated daily!

Experience Blog: An Atheist’s View of Evangelism
Las Vegas headliners Penn & Teller are known for their eccentric, humorous, and sometimes creepy magic shows. What’s his reaction when an audience member from his show gives him a Bible? See the video & read more

Devotional: Dealing with Fear: A Lesson from a Two Year Old
I realized I am not so different than Domonic. I have fears, too. I attempt to deal with fears in a variety of ways. I don’t tend to cry like Domonic did, but I get mad, worried, withdrawn, defensive, over analytical or immobilized, just to mention a few. Continue reading this devo on the women’s devotional blog

Coming up next week: One of the topics of our upcoming online chats is “Is Spiritual Food Important?” Join us in the chat room April 26th 2009 @ 12:15pm EST for this chat or see also our full chat calendar for other upcoming topics.