There is a popular but false belief that science and atheism are one and the same. Many people assumes someone with a scientific mind should have nothing to do with a God. A scientist has to be an atheist; that seems to be the pervading popular dogma these days , i would boldly say this is false. It is a misconception that needs to be corrected and a stigma that needs to be removed.
Some even go to the extreme and tag science as a religion and feels scientist are weird set of people that are mean and fetish in their dealings. This has painted the science community black in the eyes of religious people that they chose not to have anything to do with scientific related issues not knowing that science is a friend
i would simply define science as a tool that man implore to explore and admire the beauty and awesomeness of God. This wonderful and useful too can be used to the advantage of anyone, let me explain this; just as science can be used by the deist to give more proof of Gods existence and to reveal more of Gods wonders. The atheist can use science to prove that man is capable of creating all thats God has created and see to need to belief in a God. The use of science depends on who is using it.
The loudness and popularity of many atheist scientist can be attributed as part of the reasons for this misconception. I would be list out some non-atheist scientist and their various views about God
NON-ATHEIST SCIENTISTS AND THEIR VIEWS ABOUT GOD
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Galileo is known for his conflict with the roman catholic church over his sun-centered system for the solar system. After the "trial" and being forbidden to teach the sun-centered system, Galileo did mostly theoretical work, which was on dynamics. Galileo expressly said that the Bible cannot err, and saw his system as an alternate interpretation of the biblical texts.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
This brilliant mathematician and astronomer did early work on light, and established the laws of planetary motion about the sun. Kepler was an extremely sincere Lutheran, his works on astronomy contain writings about how space and the heavenly bodies represent the Trinity. Kepler suffered no persecution for his open avowal of the sun-centered system, and, indeed, was allowed as a Protestant to stay in Catholic church as a Professor (1595-1600) when other Protestants had been expelled!
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
Descartes was a French mathematician, scientist and philosopher who has been called the father of modern philosophy. His school studies made him dissatisfied with previous philosophy: He had a deep religious faith as a Roman Catholic, which he retained to his dying day, along with a resolute, passionate desire to discover the truth. At the age of 24 he had a dream, and felt the vocational call to seek to bring knowledge together in one system of thought. His system began by asking what could be known if all else were doubted - suggesting the famous "I think therefore I am". What he really wanted to see was that his philosophy be adopted as standard Roman Catholic teaching. Rene Descartes and Francis Bacon (1561-1626) are generally regarded as the key figures in the development of scientific methodology. Both had systems in which God was important, and both seem more devout than the average for their era.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and theologian. In mathematics. Pascal invented a mechanical calculator, and established the principles of vacuums and the pressure of air. He was raised a Roman Catholic, but in 1654 had a religious vision of God, which turned the direction of his study from science to theology. Pascal began publishing a theological work, Lettres provinciales, in 1656. His most influential theological work, the Pensées ("Thoughts"), was a defense of Christianity, which was published after his death. The most famous concept from Pensées was Pascal's Wager. Pascal's last words were, "May God never abandon me."
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
In optics, mechanics, and mathematics, Newton was a figure of genius and innovation. In all his science, he saw mathematics and numbers as central. What is less well known is that he was devoutly religious and saw numbers as involved in understanding God's plan for history from the Bible. He did a considerable work on biblical numerology, and, though aspects of his beliefs were not orthodox, he thought theology was very important. In his system of physics, God was essential to the nature and absoluteness of space. In Principia he stated, "The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being."
Robert Boyle (1791-1867)
This name would ring a bell in the ears of all chemistry students as his popular "Boyles law" is always applied in many chemistry problems. He was one of the founders and key early members of the Royal Society. Encyclopedia Britannica says of him: "By his will he endowed a series of Boyle lectures, or sermons, which still continue, 'for proving the Christian religion against notorious infidels...' As a devout Protestant, Boyle took a special interest in promoting the Christian religion abroad, giving money to translate and publish the New Testament into Irish and Turkish. In 1690 he developed his theological views in The Christian Virtuoso, which he wrote to show that the study of nature was a central religious duty." Boyle wrote against atheists in his day (the notion that atheism is a modern invention is a myth), and was clearly much more devoutly Christian than the average in his era.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Michael Faraday is one of the greatest and most popular scientists of the 19th century. His work on electricity and magnetism not only revolutionized physics, but led to much of our lifestyles today, which depends on them (including computers and telephones). Faraday was a devoutly Christian member of the Sandemanians, which significantly influenced him and strongly affected the way in which he approached and interpreted nature. Originating from Presbyterians, the Sandemanians rejected the idea of state churches, and tried to go back to a New Testament type of Christianity.
Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)
Mendel was the first to lay the mathematical foundations of genetics, in what came to be called "Mendelianism". He began his research in 1856 (three years before Darwin published his Origin of Species) in the garden of the Monastery in which he was a monk. Mendel was elected Abbot of his Monastery in 1868.
William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907)
Kelvin was foremost among the small group of British scientists who helped to lay the foundations of modern physics. His work covered many areas of physics, and he was said to have more letters after his name than anyone else in the Commonwealth, since he received numerous honorary degrees from European Universities, which recognized the value of his work. He was a very committed Christian, who was certainly more religious than the average for his era. Interestingly, his fellow physicists George Gabriel Stokes (1819-1903) and James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) were also men of deep Christian commitment, in an era when many were nominal, apathetic, or anti-Christian. The Encyclopedia Britannica says "Maxwell is regarded by most modern physicists as the scientist of the 19th century who had the greatest influence on 20th century physics; he is ranked with Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein for the fundamental nature of his contributions." Lord Kelvin was an Old Earth creationist, who estimated the Earth's age to be somewhere between 20 million and 100 million years, with an upper limit at 500 million years based on cooling rates (a low estimate due to his lack of knowledge about radiogenic heating).
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Einstein is probably the best known and most highly revered scientist of the twentieth century, and is associated with major revolutions in our thinking about time, gravity, and the conversion of matter to energy (E=mc2). Although never coming to belief in a personal God, he recognized the impossibility of a non-created universe. The Encyclopedia Britannica says of him: "Firmly denying atheism, Einstein expressed a belief in "Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the harmony of what exists." This actually motivated his interest in science, as he once remarked to a young physicist: "I want to know how God created this world, I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details." Einstein's famous epithet on the "uncertainty principle" was "God does not play dice" - and to him this was a real statement about a God in whom he believed. A famous saying of his was "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
CONCLUSION
All these were great minds that once lived on the surface of the earth, there contribution to science should earn them the title Fathers of science. There goal and passion was to use the science tool to explore the wonders of God.
I wonder what would be going through their minds now seeing the misconception that is gaining ground now.This idea that atheism is the ideology of choice for the more educated and enlightened and can be the only mind-set of the rational and scientifically minded is certainly wrong and must be discarded
Thanks for reading through. Put down your view about this by commenting
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Well, first of all, most of the scientist mentioned lived in the time when virtually EVERYBODY was considered a christian. That's is not very objective.
"I wonder what would be going through their minds now seeing the misconception that is gaining ground now."
I wonder, what would be going through their minds now seeing the tremendous amount of knowledge we've gathered since they died and how would they reconcile that with their belief.
I am not sayng that atheism = science. Of course, one is the lack of belief in god and the other one is the process by which we gather knowledge about the world. But I would say that once you adopt scientific process as the proces of your thinking you are far closer to atheism than to christian God.
Thanks for your brilliant comment. Even with the tremendous increase in knowledge and findings it in no way give atheism any advantage as all that has been made was made from what existed already. Science makes findings discovery from studying what already exist but the mystery of existness hasn't been discovered and that's where atheism lose the argument.
Still I respect your views.
Do you think that the knowledge give some advantage to belief in God?
When I read my comment again it sounds like I was some hard-core atheist. I'm not. I absolutelly agree with you, that the mysteries of our reality remains ...mysteries. And honestly I do find some spiritual values in those mysteries. Though I dont think of them as something supernatural - rather unknown.
I like the example of conciousness - even when we understand how it emerges, the quality of it will remain the same. It will stay spiritual or mysterious in a sense of experience not understanding.
Thank you for sharing.
I agree that science is our growing method of discovering God but it's irritating how much mythology is in our faiths.
My personal passion is demythologizing and debunking religious lies that I was raised and taught to believe. If you dig controversial religious topics, consider connected with me as well.
I'll definitely be Following and upVoting you.
Thanks for your reply. Indeed there are lots of religious lies we've come to grow up with. I believe with more advances in knowledge we can all begin to come to a common truth and appreciate the God of creation.
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thanks
Science is a means to understand and explain the mysteries. These scientists were born in a time when virtually everyone believed in a god. I think you'd have a much harder time finding contemporary credible scientists to support your point.
So far, science has been unable to give any proof of a god, which is why and how atheism exists. If there were proof of a god, atheists would have nothing to say.
God has been an answer to every thing the human mind was incapable of comprehending