The issue is bubbling up again. Evolution, and the relationship of faith and science, is in the headlines lately. This leads to the question: can one be a good scientist and still be a believer, or perhaps, I should say, can one be a believer and still be a scientist?
Science examines reality. The reality is that the universe, quirks and all, was not made — or created — by man. Evolution is a theory. So if Intelligent Design is also a theory, then why must one trump the other? To be credible, a scientist must keep all possible options on the table for examination. Therefore it would be ridiculous to simply dismiss the concept of a Creator because, as one scientist put it, “there is no concrete evidence supporting it” [Intelligent Design]. There is no concrete evidence denying it either.
Among believing scientists have been such luminaries as Louis Pasteur — a devout Catholic who read his scripture daily. Galileo still believed in God — even after the Church unfortunately excommunicated him. (Happily, Pope John Paul II lifted the excommunication, albeit five hundred years later). He affirmed that “the scriptures do not teach us how the heavens go; rather the scriptures teach us how to go to heaven.” Albert Einstein said that for every day that he spent doing scientific research he was more convinced that the universe was designed by a great mind. Belief in God and being a scientist are not mutually exclusive.
Therefore we believers should not be afraid of science. After all, science can only study and discover that which is. And all that is “is” for some reason. Who would — could — have thought it up?
There are those who fear that to believe in Intelligent Design would cast us back into the “dark ages”. The so-called dark ages were dark because of chaos, plagues, wars, and other calamities, including random acts of violence. All the while the light was being preserved by monks and scholars behind monastery walls who were hand-copying books — including science texts — for future generations.
We Americans are not lagging behind in math and science because of the advocacy of Intelligent Design Theory as some might maintain; rather we lag behind because we are not living on purpose. In other words, we are neither living intelligently nor are we ordered. We judge matters with our feelings. In fact, oftentimes people say “I feel” when they really ought to say “I think”.
People with disorderly minds, who feel instead of think, are easily manipulated by sound bites. “Evolution” evokes one set of feelings. “Intelligent Design” evokes another.
If we have the patience to go beyond the sound-bites and emotions, we find that the book of Genesis has two different accounts of Creation in chapter one and chapter two respectively. Psalm 33 verses 6 and 9 also contain a brief creation account: “By His Word the heavens were made, by the breath of his mouth all the stars…He spoke; and it came to be. He commanded; and it sprang into being.” Elsewhere in the Psalms and in the Epistle of Peter, we find: “One day is as a thousand years.” So there are theories of Intelligent Design that are not fixated on the fundamentalist idea of six twenty-four hour periods of Creation. The idea that all Intelligent Design Theories are equal is just as wrong as the idea that all Evolutionary Theories are equal.
Einstein claimed that there were two ways of living your life: One as if everything were a miracle and the other as if nothing is a miracle. To say that the universe has no meaning is meaningless, according to C.S. Lewis. We are either a purposeless blob, the result of a protoplasmic explosion of amino acid and celestial froth or else we humans are the result of an intelligent thought, created on purpose for a purpose. If one lives his life as if he is nothing more than the result of random effect of unintelligible evolutionary cosmic forces then he will likely lead a life in reality that mirrors that theory. If, on the other hand, he believes that he is intelligently created, then he might lead a life of intelligent inquiry into his universe and attempt to order and design his life and his reality in a like fashion.
Random acts of violence, drive by shootings, and other irrational acts have become commonplace. If we teach young people that there is no order or purpose to the universe or to their own lives, why be shocked when they act as though there is no higher purpose than the creation of more chaos?
In contrast, those who believe in an Intelligent Designer of the universe tend to do the most for the good of all humankind. It is only logical that one would want to extend the order of the heavens to the order of the earth. Social justice, the elimination of war and poverty, stewardship of the earth’s resources are all values held deeply by believers. One need only to point out the lives of Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II for verification. How many people — believers and non-believers alike — praised both of these persons of faith for their work here on earth? Their work was inspired, not by theories of random chance, but by the Intelligent Design Theory — or as we believers would say, the God of Intelligent Design.
© Copyright 2005 Catholic Exchange
John William McMullen holds a Master's Degree in Theological Studies from Saint Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana. He is a Theology Instructor at Mater Dei High School in Evansville. A public speaker and catechist, he has authored articles, short stories, and the novel ROMAN: Unparalleled Outrage . He resides in Evansville with his wife and two children.
