Faith vs. Science

Yeah I know. "NOT AGAIN!"

I have to come back to this every once in awhile because I see people all around me get so upset with all the "creation vs. evolution" type debates and arguments.

I've stated this before I am sure, but to me (and not JUST me) but science and "religion" approach the world from different angles. I quoted religion because it defines not only faith in God, but includes social behavior, dogma and other aspects that sometimes cloud the simple purity of "belief in a supreme being." And what is "faith?" Faith is really just "trust." It is too general. Faith is trusting in God, in what He asks you to do, that he exists.

Where was I? Sorry - Different angles.

Science asks the question "how?" Religion asks the more philosophical question "why?" Science depends on observation and measurement, Religion depends on Faith.

Unfortunately, all too often people seek to use the Bible as a tool of science, and science as a tool of religion. The reason this is somewhat easy to do is because the Bible refers to locations and periods of time, concepts which appear to exist in the realm of science (measurements, right?)

The conflict begins in the very first book of the Bible: Genesis. Genesis states that God created everything, and that he did it in seven days. People of faith KNOW the Bible is THE TRUTH, people of science point to the periods of time and call foul.

The problem is this: The Bible was not written to describe scientific truths, it was written to describe the truth about our relationship with God, and with other people. The Bible focuses on how we interact with God, and how we interact with one another and measurements of time are irrelevant, except to help get across a mood, or sense of urgency or some other literary license to help us understand what is going on in a given book or passage.

I really do not understand why there are so many people who get so defensive or feel so threatened on both sides, the faithful and the non-faithful. Ah! That's the REAL problem, isn't it?

This arguing, it isn't science vs. faith at all, it is those who believe in God, versus those who believe there is no such thing as God, or that God cannot be proven so don't bother me with your beliefs. The problem is the fear of imposition: both sides trying to impose their belief system upon the other, and arguing why theirs is more relevant than the others'.

It's about fear?