Then a miracle occurs: the blessing and limitations of science

Submitted by admin on Thu, 19/02/2009 - 10:55

Then a miracle occurs: the blessing and limitations of science A bishop looks at science from the viewpoint of the Christian faith
Robert Forsyth, November 2006.

Author

The Right Rev. Robert Forsyth BA, BD, ThL, MTh, DipA. Bishop of South Sydney

Abstract

The remarkable human activity of science has been wonderfully successful in advancing human understanding of creation in which we live and human wellbeing. From a Christian point of view, science makes sense in the context of creation which is good, real and dependent. It is a blessing from the Creator. There is no essential warfare between science and Christianity.
However, the use of science as a form of Christian apologetics has dangers for Christian faith. Science has the limits in what it can describe from the actual miracles of the gospel to even the existence of science itself. The Intelligent Design issue is really an argument about what are the limits of science. Science and the Bible are engaged in a two-way conversation because God does not teach what is false, and because science helps us interpret Scripture in a number of ways: discerning literary types, distinguishing between the human and divine author's intentions and clarifying assumptions of the models which we import to Scripture.