Introducing your church to the science and faith dialogue starts by finding what works best for you. It is followed by engaging concerned partners and stakeholders that can partner with you in leading the way. And it is sustained by a proactive approach to preaching, teaching, and programming that promotes and includes science at its core.
Many spiritual atheist scientists talk about the limitations of science, which clarifies so much about the world but cannot explain the “human nature of being.”
Let’s pause, for moment, on that phrase, spiritual atheist scientists… “Spiritual” and “atheist” in the same sentence? It makes bringing science to church quite interesting, doesn’t it?
This has me conflicted about the conflict between science and religion. How do we extract it from our churches, especially those that witness the ways science works alongside the Christian faith? Will it go away if we focus on the cooperation and don’t give voice to the opposition? Or must we acknowledge the conflict and work to reframe it?
What is needed for the Standard Model to work is trust between church leaders and scientists and then between them as a group and the wider congregation. Building trust is hard in this day and age, but begin by sharing your love for Christ and for your church.
While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will always be best-known for his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement and for his powerful preaching, he was a deep thinker who reflected widely including in this essay on the relationship between science and religion.