Several years prior to our Science/Faith blog’s inception in 2007, your blog author emailed many secular scholars and columnists concerning the viability of our Christian faith and its inherent belief system. My family history supplied a strong affirmation of the truth of the Christian faith and respect for scientific truth. I have retained a large file of emails I wrote to scholars in the academic world and many of the responses they offered in return. The email exchanges served as inspiration for me. Many of the respondents remarked that they valued the dialog and were pleased their readers responded.
We advocate that Christians become pro-active in communicating our faith to fellow citizens, even those who do not operate on our theological wavelength. Hugh Ross, founder of the organization Reasons to Believe, encourages Christians to “Always be ready” to give a defense of our faith: The Apostle Peter counsels, “…But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; but do it with gentleness and respect…” (I Peter 3:15 ESV)
One of the columnists we cited in our opening paragraph was fond of making critical and controversial statements in his writing. I responded to him with my personal commentary, especially when the columnist attacked the Christian faith and Christian leaders. This was an opportunity to put into practice the exhortation of the Apostle Peter (I Peter 3:15). Recently I re-discovered a folder containing copies of the two-way correspondence with this columnist. The packet contained thirty-five letters between us. Our communication continued for three years.
The columnist expressed bold doubts about a number of issues related to the Christian faith. He felt the Bible contained much “hearsay evidence” concerning the ministry of Jesus Christ and wondered why God’s Son did not produce an autobiography. He questioned how the truth of Christ’s mission is communicated to us in the 21st century. He doubted the inerrancy of Scripture—its factual information and its divine inspiration. He perceived the Bible as an all-too-human production.
My response was “When I was young I believed the Christian gospel…..As I got older I studied a range of apologetic sources on Christianity, along with a rather broad study of science topics…..The Christianity came first, the science knowledge later…..The objective science training I received helped me avoid the ‘company line’ that science and theology are separate realms.” The link between faith and science was established in my mind several years before we formally launched our Science/Faith blog in 2007.
The Bible makes extraordinary claims concerning miracles. Such claims demand extraordinary evidence. The problem arises when someone insists that hearsay evidence concerning miracles is always unreliable.
Doubts about the existence of God are difficult to refute. Ultimately, when skeptics insist on evidence of a particular kind we may not be able to offer the type of proof they demand. For example, God created all things (the heavens and the earth) in the beginning. But who created God, my friend queried? Other questions he raised related to historic Christian colonialism, the Crusades, and other “holy wars” waged in the name of God. He also questioned my belief in divine creationism instead of evolution.
The exchange with the newspaper columnist was generally pleasant and civil. In retrospect, we were able to reinforce the belief that science and faith are allies, not enemies. As we defend this principle, we must do so with gentleness and respect.
