Just a thought

I love the Bible. I believe it is the 100% true, inspired, revealed word of God. But, I also love science, so it REALLY UPSETS ME WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO USE IT AS A SCIENTIFIC DOCUMENT!

Science is not a thing that is "to be accepted on faith". That's not the point of science. Science is the "systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation" (Random House Webster's College Dictionary, 2001). Faith--at least what I understand faith to be--doesn't really have a place at the scientific table. Maybe the confusion comes when we, as believers, must reconcile that which we perceive with our own senses with what we believe in our hearts to be true. I get where that can cause some cognitive dissonance. I get that it might feel like a betrayal of the things we believe, that it might feel like everything we hold dear keeps getting smaller, or less relevant. But I just can't get behind the reaction that causes people to turn off their brains. God gave us our brains, and I just can't believe that, given that, we're meant not to use them.

(I also believe that faith and reason are not mutually exclusive. I know there are some things about God that are mysteries and always will be, but I hope to understand, with my brain, all the stuff I believe that can be dealt with by a rational mind.)

Questioning is as much a part of faith as it is a part of science, and the result is that when we question, we get closer to the truth. When we question our faith, the conclusions we reach are so much stronger for the questioning. When we question established scientific law, we end up with the copernican system and string theory and yes, Darwinian evolution. And it. Is. Beautiful.

And please don't tell me that science is "just a progression of people being wrong". That's sort of the point. Our whole **** civilization has basically operated on the same principle. When we question the world around us, we learn. And if we never find the absolute truth about it, that's okay. At least we never stopped learning.

In my world, the places where faith and science meet are so, so beautiful, and the God I believe in gets bigger every time I make a new connection, or read about a new discovery. I love the universe we live in, the universe God created, and every single thing I learn about it only enhances the vision I have of God as Creator.

Peace.