Does science have all the answers?

Sam Harris, the atheist author, has an op-ed piece in the New York Times, Science is in the Details, arguing that Francis Collins is not a suitable choice to head the National Institute for Health in the U.S. because of Collins' Christian beliefs. I recommend reading the full article and wikipedia page on Harris. But, the essence of his argument seems to be that Collins has written “science offers no answers to the most pressing questions of human existence” and Harris concludes:

Must we really entrust the future of biomedical research in the United States to a man who sincerely believes that a scientific understanding of human nature is impossible?

Science has many answers but it does not have all the answers. Having someone head NIH who acknowledges this seems like a good thing to me. Particularly, when that person has already successfully led the largest research project that NIH ever embarked upon.

Answering tricky questions

We all have questions. Others challenge us with their questions. It is fascinating for me to see how Jesus dealt with peoples questions. Some he answered. Some he did not. Jesus always seemed to get to the real issue behind the question. This morning I read this account in Mark 11:

And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, ²⁸and they said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?" ²⁹Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me." ³¹And they discussed it with one another, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' ³²But shall we say, 'From man'?"— they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. ³³So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

Grey goo or great God?

Previously I discussed some issues in Christians evaluating new technologies. I later remembered that a few years ago while on sabbatical in the U.K., Andrew Briggs (Professor of Nanomaterials at Oxford) and I gave a couple of talks on a Christian view of nanotechnology. One version of the talk is here (without the video clips from the movie Agent Cody Banks). We gave the talk at the 2004 London Conference of Christians in Science and at St. Andrews church in Oxford. Later, Andrew gave a public lecture at the Faraday Institute in Cambridge.

Debt leads to slavery

,

On a recent plane trip I watched the movie The International, a thriller about an international banking scandal which includes an amazing shoot-out in the Guggenheim Museum in New York (actually a replica built for the movie). But on a more serious note there is some very profound dialogue as the heroes try to figure out what the bank is up to and why it is financing all parties in the international arms trade. Finally, they realise

He who controls the debt, controls the power

Atheist fundamentalism?

In an earlier post, I mentioned an article in Nature by Philip Ball (one of my favourite science writers) . He is an atheist but critical of the New Atheists such as Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins. His article drew a very negative reaction from Sam Harris and an extended debate between the two. This blog posting describes Ball's perspective on the debate. The end of the post is illuminating:

The fact is that this is all indeed a minor matter, and could have been easily dealt with by a brief acknowledgement that would allow us to move on. But Sam seems to have a real fear of making any concession whatsoever – a sign of a brittle position? – which regrettably turns this into an issue of intellectual honesty.

However, however. The truly sad thing about this exchange is that it has turned into adversaries two people who are unambiguously atheist, deplore the encroachment of creationism and fundamentalism, and are deeply opposed to the oppressive and anti-intellectual practices of some religious groups. I entered into this debate believing that we would find some way of agreeing to disagree. I leave it feeling that the kind of hardline atheism Sam espouses is, in its unyielding purism, potentially undermining of the very aims it claims to have.

Order in the physical world reflects the faithfulness of its Creator

Science shows us the physical world is ordered, obeys laws that hold everywhere and at all times. This is an amazing thing; something that has taken centuries for us to understand and codify. Why is the world that way? Does it tell us anything about God?

Yes. The order in creation reflects the faithfulness of its Creator. Jeremiah 31 says:

³⁵Thus says the LORD,who gives the sun for light by day
and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD of hosts is his name:
³⁶ "If this fixed order departs
from before me, declares the LORD,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
from being a nation before me forever."

It is important to note the context of these verses; they follow declaration of the New Covenant, looking forward to our redemption in Christ:

³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

This idea if the order in the natural world reflecting the covenantal faithfulness of YHWH is repeated again in Jeremiah 33:

²⁰ "Thus says the LORD: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, ²¹ then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. ²²As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me."

The same faithful sovereign God who made the world, kept his promise and redeemed the world through sending his Son.
This theological perspective on the created physical order resonates with a previous post on Genesis 1.

Justice, righteousness, and the love of money

Reflecting more on my affluence, sweat shops, Fair trade, capitalism, and more, I realised that yesterday on a subconscious level I was thinking of the challenge of James 5:

¹Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. ² Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. ³Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. ⁴Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and murdered the righteous person.

This alludes to Deuteronomy 24 which discusses how in the Promised Land, God' s people are to deal with debt, poverty, and justice:

¹⁴"You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. ¹⁵ You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the LORD, and you be guilty of sin.