Is faith unscientific?

Suggesting that faith is 'unscientific' is really a misunderstanding of what the two words mean. But the question behind the question is a serious one: are Christian faith and 21st century science on a collision course?

Further reading:

Madeleine Bunting in the Guardian on Richard Dawkins.

How Should we then Live, Francis Schaeffer

American atheist and novellist Mark Twain once famously said that "Faith is believing things you know to be untrue." On the other hand, the Bible says: "Without faith it is impossible to please God" [1]. Mark Twain was one of a large number of early 20th century atheists who believed that modern man would become increasingly secular and that atheism would become the dominant world philosophy. By the middle of the 20th century it looked like they would be proved right, with atheism being the official belief of both China and the Soviet Union. But by the start of the 21st century atheism and secularism had receded hugely. In western Europe and America it has largely been replaced with a mixture of superstition, westernised versions of eastern philosophies (the New Age Movement), and the willingness to half-believe a large number of conflicting ideas (post-modernism). This reflects something which Mark Twain's contemporary, G K Chesterton, once wrote: "When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing, they believe in anything."

Science itself requires a strong degree of faith. It begins with the confidence that the universe runs along consistent principles which can be investigated rationally. Historically, this is a confidence which was based on Christian faith and the Christian world view.

Atheists would argue that the 'faith' required for science is a rational faith, because although it cannot be proven beforehand, it can be tested again and again once we start to apply science.

Christians would agree with this. But they would make the same case for Christian faith: that it can be tested repeatedly as it is applied. In fact, Christians are as much opposed to 'blind' faith as atheists are. Also, in contrast to most other religious faiths, Christianity makes a series of claims about God, Jesus and the Bible which can be tested, and which, from the earliest days, Christians have urged their opponents to test.

Stechford Baptist Church • Victoria Road • Stechford • Birmingham B33 8AH. Map. Stechford is in the Stechford and Yardley North Ward, and is close to Hodge Hill.