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Questions Week 16, Day 1

by David Joynt on August 13, 2017


 

MUST I CHOOSE BETWEEN

SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY?

JOHN 1:1-5

 

Is a “sacrificium intellectum,” or a sacrifice of the intellect, required to be a believer in Christianity? Do Christian truth claims compete with scientific ones on the same ground?

 

The short answer is, NO! But this response requires some explanation. One suggestive reason to think science and theology are compatible is biographical. Many great scientists are avid disciples of Jesus, and they see no reason to give up their commitment to either endeavor. My tutor at Oxford, Alister McGrath, had a doctorate in molecular biophysics and one in theology. The head of the human genome project, Francis Collins, is a devout Christian. I’ve encountered many, many first-rate scientists of similar persuasion. This is prima facie evidence that the assumption of inevitable conflict is flawed.

 

 

How do you relate science and theology?

 

FAMILY TIME—

Read John 1:1-15.

What is it saying about the universe and about Jesus?

 

Tags: science, theology

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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