Scientists can’t be ‘proper Christians’???
You may, personally, have complete confidence that modern science poses no threat to your Christian faith (and likewise that Christianity poses no threat to science), but it can still be difficult to know how to respond when others challenge you on this, especially when they do so assertively or even aggressively.
First and foremost it’s important to remember that whoever is challenging you is a brother or sister in Christ and this is a great place to start your conversation…
…The things you agree on are far more important than the issue that divides you and a point of agreement often takes the heat out of discussions.
Another good thing to hold on to, before you get further into conversation, is 1 Peter 3, 15: ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,’. It never does any good to respond assertively or aggressively yourself, even if this feels like the other person’s approach.
Once you’ve got this far there are lots of straightforward and strong arguments you can use, depending on the particular concerns of the person you are talking to. I may do a few blogs on this, but my favourite starting point is where my last blog finished; in God’s word…
…Most Christians, including myself believe that God commanded and spoke creation into existence. For me, therefore, creation is, quite literally, a manifestation of God’s word and the work of scientists in studying the created order, studying God’s ‘created word’, is simply revealing more and more of the incredible power of God.
Two things flow from this: I can’t think God is anything other than delighted and honoured by scientists exploring creation this way and nor do I believe God would be contradictory… God’s word revealed in creation is unlikely to contradict God’s word in scripture. We may need to adjust and adapt our interpretation and understanding of scripture, but this has happened throughout history and it’s a good thing.
