I wrote an essay for a theory of knowledge assessment on how science cannot disprove the existence of God and I think the topic of God's existence in science has come to the fore this week with Dr. Steve Hawking's statement of how there is no use of God.
I am a Christian, a believer but I also ask questions, thought provoking, and sometimes faith-shaking about God, man and our existence on earth; fate, purpose, heaven, hell and everything else that comes under that discussion.
I have dug up my essay, blown its dust away and here it goes, (it was written in 2005):
The proof of the existence of anything in science is through a process of observation, data collection and careful analysis, followed by a write-up of the findings. This has been the case through centuries of scientific experiments and research. This yearning drive to seek more knowledge is one that places the human species above all other living things. Through our interactions in daily life, we show this longing to know. We want to know why and how and we ask of time periods-when, and places-where.
This ever-inquisitive trait of man has brought us to endless questioning on the existence of a God or some superior and supernatural being. It is not strange that we ask ourselves “Does God exist?” This has become part of our daily living. Across cultures and races, the human mind needs physical, logical and natural explanations to the happenings of events. It is for this reason that scientists have questioned religions and faiths on the actual existence of God. The effort to attain this knowledge is one that can be endless and fruitless.
The questioning of the existence of God cannot but create doubts in the minds of those whose faiths are not well-grounded. Waving aside the question cannot also stop scientists from trying to find out if God does really exist. Our ever-changing societies, through science, would want answers to this life-long question. We need physical, logical and natural justifications. We need to know why there is God? How is God? When did God start to exist? Where is God? Who is God?
The acceptance of the belief of something that cannot be touched or seen is faith. A dictionary definition of faith is “belief in the truth of a revealed religion: confidence and trust in God”. Although this does not consider the question “Does God exist?”, it opens up a path that allows believing. Believing is to accept as true what is said. Science can hereby not mark out in the minds of people what they accept as true and why they do so. The most that can be done is a rationalization on why we think a person believes in one thing over another. Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 1 “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot see yet.” Science cannot disprove the existence of God by tests, research and experiments, because the existence of God is by faith in the hearts and minds of individuals. With our mere knowledge of the physical, logical and natural phenomena, we cannot prove that what we cannot see is not there. That is not to say that all of what we see is actually there, but then again when we do not see that which is not there, but accept it is there, then it is believing that it is there. This is the case when it comes to human relations with God. As humans, for those who accept the existence of God, the explanation of God is not a topic for discussion because we do so by faith. Science cannot prove if faith is indeed believing in a truth or something not yet seen. When scientists ask ‘Does God exist?” the aim is to disprove the existence of God, but due to the nature of human beings and our relation with God, we do not need hard evidence to show that God does indeed exist through what would be termed as the three human phenomena (physical, logical and natural realms). Even when things like miracles do occur, science always steps in to prove how and why it happened to ensure that the sequence of events can be repeated constantly. Those that believe that it was through God’s divine intervention would not care less if science can or cannot prove the miracle. Such reasoning seems to be the closest that science has come in disproving that God does exist.
Scientific theories through centuries have consistently been dynamic and aiming towards a truth. Science once claimed that the earth was flat and if one went too far east or west, one could fall off the earth into oblivion. We now know, through science, that the earth is undeniably a sphere and man can make journeys around it and all matter on earth are held by its gravitational pull. The atom was once known as the smallest particle of matter, but again science proved itself wrong. All these new findings are as a result of the quest to know more in man’s life. Science has constantly had its flaws in trying to confirm or disprove different theories; this is though not to say that science has no use or effect on man’s life. No. Science has its place in man’s existence on earth. With science, we have been able to prevent fatal diseases from resulting into global epidemics. Science has made living easier with various inventions like the incandescent lamp, the motorcar, the microscope and so on and so forth. Despite inventions and scientific breakthroughs, there are things that are beyond the realms of science and faith is one of such. No scientific experiment can explain the faith believers portray. God’s existence is beyond science. This is due to the fact that science deals in the physical, logical and natural realms of life. Believing in a God is outside these realms and therefore cannot be judged under any of the three, whereas believing in a God pertains to the metaphysical and mystical domains. If science would try to disprove the existence of God, it would be futile and biased. A fourth realm would be required and faith would be the in the fourth realm but unfortunately faith cannot be experimented on with research or in laboratories. Due to the fact that experiments need to be seen physically, science would already have its short-coming in trying to prove God’s by analysing faith. As faith cannot be seen, a scientist might want to analyse a person who claims to have faith. The subconscious approach of a scientist would be to address the three realms of science with regards to the person.
To conclude, the effects of religion are beyond the realms of science. Our current knowledge, which is our present perception, learning and reasoning of the world from the bases of science, cannot be the bases for our judgements on whether a God exists or not. The science of today already knows too little to deal with matters that lie in its domain so how cannot it prove a belief that is out this domain. Religious believers are ridiculed for their old-fashioned, unscientific ideas, with their talk of God and Satan, of heaven or paradise and hell, of salvation and damnation. Science may try to kill religion, but cannot kill God, for God lies in the hearts of those who believe.
