is science going the same way as faith?

I've just watched Paul Nurse on BBC's Horizon programme, lamenting the fact that the public no longer seem to believe scientists. He looked nostalgically back at the 300 year history of the Royal Society, with it's mantra of examining ideas and theories by collecting and analysing data, and mused that this approach to discovering truth no longer seems to be universally trusted. I could not help but hear echoes of the erosion of trust in religion. Nurse called for the scientific community to become more aware of the way in which our culture operates, and instead of assuming that the public should change to understand scientists, there needed to be a change on the part of the scientists. This seems so similar to those within the Christian community who are asking what it means to be missional. We have known for a long time that the way we used to do things just does not have much credibility to 21st century people. Rather than us becoming defensive, retreating and becoming increasingly fundamentalist, should we instead stop to listen to the sceptics and ask how we should change?

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 18, 2011 at 8:17 PM

    Faith and science have core values that cannot be abandoned, but both of them have a lot of room to egage the general public in creative ways. For example, St. Paul's sermon about the Unknown God in Acts 17:22-31 begins with a direct reference to a then-current topic of discussion in Athens. Science can address the current interest as well. Is America safe from radiation coming from Japan's damaged nuclear plants? Science can provide those answers.

    For further reading, I recommend the book "Unscientific America", by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum. Much of the book is about communication, and who are the best parties to fix what's broken. They state that there is no necessary conflict between faith and science, and I strongly agree.

    Carl Drews

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