On The Intersection Between Faith and Reason

As a new science teacher at a Christian school, I'm currently developing some basic viewpoints concerning the relationship between faith, science, life, and learning. Let me know what your thoughts are. 

As Christians we are convinced that it is God who is responsible for the creation of all things (both spiritual and physical). Therefore, scientific inquiry allows us to explore that creation and gain insight into the person and nature of its creator. While scientific observation will never function as a replacement for special revelation (i.e. scripture), it can, however, offer us glimpses of God’s divine character such as his creativity, his love of variety, and his wisdom in complexity.

                

On the other hand, it should be noted that scripture itself is not a science text, nor was it ever meant to be used as such. The purpose of scripture, first and foremost, is to reveal to us the unseen God. As a document of faith, scripture’s chief concern is not to explain or divulge the workings of naturally occurring phenomena, but to answer questions like “who is God?”, “what is he like?”, “how should we live?”, and “what is right and wrong?”

                

In this way, science and faith are in no way at cross-purposes, but they do seek to answer different types of questions.  Answers to questions like “why is the sky blue?”, “will you explode in space?”, and “what is matter made of?” aren’t found in the Bible simply because it’s not the Bible’s purpose to answer questions like this, that’s where science steps in.

At the same time, science isn’t able to offer us much in the way of handling moral conundrums that arise as our knowledge and expertise expands.  For example, “is it ethical to clone a human being as a way of harvesting organs?”, “should nations use their nuclear capabilities to influence international politics?”, or “is it more important for us to invest in energy technologies that create more jobs or that seek to improve environmental health?”   In this way, the Bible, and the theological truths we derive from it, is incredibly relevant to the myriad of ethical conversations on how scientific developments and discoveries are to be applied.