Daniel 1:1-6

In the first six verses, we learn that Daniel and his companions possessed a strong intellect.

4…youths in whom was no defect, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and endowed with knowledge, and understanding science, and who had the ability to stand in the king’s palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the language of the Chaldeans.

Science…it is what many people look to today to guide us. Certainly amid the Corona virus situation this is the mantra.

It is a gift to be able to comprehend the intricacies of science. We value our scientists. We encourage our children to study STEM: science, technology, engineering and math.

I love STEM. My undergraduate degree is in Engineering. I can remember the day my professor helped us derive the “in-hour equation”—it was exhilarating. 

Remarkably, today people of faith are viewed as people who are somehow the opposite of people of science. Faith is seen as blind faith—and the people who have faith seen as superstitious luddites. Yet, the truth is that people of faith have a kindred spirit with people who describe themselves as people of science.

I noted in the prior reflection many believe the evidence for faith never really puts that God / Jesus is real “over the goal line” the way say, scientists put their theories “over the goal line”.

Yet I want us to consider how in our world, especially in the world of science, we build scientific hypothesis that often rely on explanatory power. 

Explanatory Power: It is not only followers of God that have faith in things they cannot fully prove. Scientists do as well. Not in a fool-hardy way, but in a way that fits within the available data—the idea of a scientific hypothesis.

Consider one example: energy. We can measure it. We have all sorts of equations, including, e=mc2, a well-known equation. Yet what is energy? 

People cannot completely tell you. Truly. We have not put our description of energy “over the goal line”.

We describe it as both a particle and a wave. Why? Because this idea has explanatory power!

We are people who live in a world of hypothesis—concepts we put forward that have explanatory power!!

People of faith are people who put forward concepts, such as Jesus is both human and divine, that God is real, that prayer works…the list goes on…because they have remarkable explanatory power.  

Evidence and Belief // Science and Faith – we are not as far apart as we might think.