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Science And Faith Conference

In some Christian sectors there is considerable unease about the role and purpose of science in society. It is not at all unusual to hear such questions as:

  • Are science and religion in conflict or do they complement each other?
  • Isn’t the origin of the universe contradicted by the early chapters of Genesis?
  • Does the universe need a God to start it at all?
  • How do we understand the foundational Christian doctrines about God and humanity in the light of science?
  • Is embryonic stem-cell research acceptable?
  • More broadly, how are ethical issues raised by science to be handled?

With regard to the relationship between science and faith, there are many people who imagine that the two are incompatible. There are some who demand that they should be kept as far apart as possible, whilst others argue that to prise science and faith apart is to rob ourselves of the joy of investigating the amazing complexity and ingenuity of a world that is God’s gift to human beings.
The aim of this three-day conference was to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between science and faith in today’s complex and fast-paced world. Nearly all who are involved in Christian ministry face many questions about science and religion during the course of their pastoral work. And there are many scientists too who are beginning to recognise the presence of mystery and a deep spirituality in the physical universe and acknowledge the need to engage with faith communities if they are to fully appreciate the remarkable creation in which we live.

Key speakers were been drawn from around the world in an outstanding program that addressed many of the questions people are asking about the relationship between science and faith in today’s world. They are (in alphabetical order) with topics:

  • Dr Denis Alexander, Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion at St Edmunds College, Cambridge, UK - Creation or evolution: do we have to choose?

    • A recent trend by two different campaigning groups has been to propose a stark choice between ‘creation’ and ‘evolution’. On one side the ‘new atheists’ wish to invest evolutionary discourse with a narrative of atheism, whereas on the other side the ‘creationists’ see Darwinian evolution as incompatible with their interpretation of sacred texts. The philosophy of science maintained by these polar opposite positions is rather similar: both maintain that scientific knowledge stands in some kind of opposition to religious knowledge. The traditional Christian doctrine of creation, however, supports neither position, and is more about ontology (“Why are we here?”) rather than origins (“Where did we come from?”). Ever since 1859 (the publication date of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species) many Christians have viewed evolution as the scientific account that describes the way in which the creator God has brought about all the biological diversity that we observe on this planet, both now and in the past. The term ‘Christian Darwinian’ was already in use by 1867. The earliest written religious response to On the Origin of Species, dated 18th November 1859, was from Darwin’s friend the Revd Charles Kingsley, who wrote that “All I have seen of it awes me”. It is suggested that the evolutionary narrative should continue to stimulate awe for its complexity, beauty and generation of emergent properties, reflecting a universe that is ordered, intelligible and finely tuned in a way that renders life possible, and perhaps inevitable.


  • Rev Dr Graham Buxton, Inaugural Director of the Graeme Clark Research Institute, Tabor Adelaide - Introduction to the science-faith debate: a pastoral perspective

    • Does science’s ascendancy and religion’s decline mean that the two have nothing to say to each other? Are they forever to be locked in mortal combat, with faith the casualty amongst those who see it as a virus infecting the human race, or perhaps kept apart as far as possible … or can we offer a more hopeful scenario? In this paper I suggest a number of significant pastoral dividends, or payoffs, as the result of treating science and faith as allies rather than enemies. A central insight in my thinking about the relationship between science and religion is that human beings need to re-connect with God’s creation if they are to discover what it means to live fully human lives. I argue that to be made in God’s image expresses the desire and the capacity to investigate God’s world, as well as the joy of living human life within the created order.


  • Professor Graeme Clark, Inaugural Director, the Graeme Clark Centre for Bionic Ear and Neurosensory Research, La Trobe University, Victoria - Life as a Christian and a scientist: a personal perspective

    • It is generally considered modern science developed in the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries as a result of the Christian view that there was law in nature because of a lawgiver.

    1. Studying medicine, and becoming a Christian.
      I will describe my journey into brain and surgical science which started because my father, who was a country pharmacist, was severely deaf, and I learned firsthand how difficult life was for him.
      My journey took me through Sydney University studies in medicine and a life-changing ship’s voyage between Australia and England.
    2. Developing the cochlear implant (bionic ear) and growing in faith
      My first stage of developing the bionic ear or the cochlear implant involved PhD studies at Sydney facing the challenge, could electrical stimulation of the auditory brain bypass the inner ear and give speech understanding? After auditory brain physiology studies the next step was to take up the first Chair of Otolaryngology at Melbourne University in order to find answers to the questions underlying the development of the bionic ear. Despite criticisms from peers, with the support of Sir Reginald Ansett the research and funding was made available to develop the conceal implant. . The first implant was ready for the operation on 1st August 1978, The moment of truth had arrived as Brian Pyman and I undertook the operation. After finding what the electrical stimuli really sounded like for the patient, Rod, we discovered how to code it so that he could understand real speech. The moment when Rod heard speech for the first time I was so overwhelmed with joy that I simply went into the next laboratory and burst into tears. I was overwhelmed too by feeling the goodness of God.
      Many further questions remained to be answered but work has progressed since that first success to find answers, refine the products and processes to the point where even children who were born deaf could develop spoken language with the aid of a cochlear implant.
    3. Science and a religious faith
      Since a teenager I was passionate too about understanding the mind and brain, as they are fundamental to the very nature of our being. As a University student at Sydney we were challenged by the philosophy of Determinism which as a mechanistic belief left no room for free will, and that caused me to think deeply about this issue.
      Then in the early 1970s I had the good fortune to meet the late Professor Donald MacKay. As a brain scientist, physicist and logician MacKay convinced me that belief in God is logically consistent with a mechanistic view of biology and brain function. He demonstrated that even if the brain is a machine, (it is the most amazing machine in the universe) and if a super-scientist were to know all our brain states and past experience he/she could not predict what we would do because we are free to change the brain state on which the prediction is based.
      In addition, we must ask questions like what is the basis for human feelings such as love and conviction? This had been considered by Darwin and referred to as Darwin’s doubt when he said: “with me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of mans’ mind, which has been developed from the mind of lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy.
    4. Conclusion
      There are many other marvels that have been brought to light by modern science. They all show the rational intelligibility of the universe. This prompted Albert Einstein’s famous comment “the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible”. These all raise profound questions such as could it all have arisen by “blind chance” or was it designed and developed by a higher force or being?
      In conclusion, I am reminded of the biblical truths : In the beginning God created the heaven and earth, and what is man that thou art mindful of him?
  • Professor Nancy Cromar, Professor of Environmental Health at Flinders University, Adelaide - A Christian perspective on human/ environment interactions
    • Does God care about peak oil, global climate change or disappearing species of frogs?
    • Is God a Greenie? And if so, what does that mean for those of us who believe in Him and His Son?
    • Does A.A. Milne provide us with a useful depiction of Christian Environmentalism?

    This presentation will consider all of these questions and will attempt to provide some possible answers, and perhaps provoke some debate on those issues which are at the centre of the sometimes contentious space at the intersection of Christianity and Environmentalism.


  • Rev Dr Denis Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Theology at Flinders University, Adelaide - Ecology and incarnation: exploring a Christian ecological theology

    • What is the meaning of the Word made flesh for the rest of the natural world? I begin to explore this question with insights from Athanasius, focusing first on his theology of creation, particularly his view that the whole natural world exists only because it participates in the Word. In the second section, the focus is on his theology of salvation, and the way he sees the natural world as participating in deification through the incarnation of this same Word. The second half of the presentation explores two implications of Athanasius’s thought for today: the first, on God’s eternal commitment to the natural world, in dialogue with Kalr Rahner and Thomas Torrance; the second, on God’s engagement with the particular, in dialogue with Sandra Schneiders and Niels Gregersen.


  • Professor Joel Green, Associate Dean for the Center for Advanced Theological Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, USA - The interface of science and faith: what does it mean to be human?

    • Answers to this question play out in numerous media, not least in film and literature. Behind these answers stand often-competing perspectives, including longstanding philosophical and theological commitments and more recent innovations in the natural sciences. This lecture focuses on one aspect of the question, namely, whether a human person is best identified with his or her soul. We will examine what is at stake with this question, show how the neurosciences and biblical theology intersect in their respective testimony to an embodied anthropology, and summarize some of the immediate ramifications of embodied personhood for Christian thought and discipleship.

  • Professor Gareth Jones, Professor of Anatomy and Structural Biology at the University of Otago, New Zealand - Human value in a world of medical technology: hope for the future

    • Medical technology brings with it immense benefits that have revolutionized the quality of our lives as functioning human beings. These have enabled more people than ever before to experience a myriad blessings previously unknown throughout human history, principally in health care, general well-being and longevity. The result has been all-round elevation in the value placed on human beings. Consequently, one would expect ongoing developments in medical technology to be viewed as a source of hope; in short to be welcomed with open arms. And yet the response is sometimes one of unease, especially on the part of Christian writers. What is the basis for this unease, and how should we regard the ever-increasing intrusion of medical technology into our lives? The reasons for unease are manifold, ranging from gross inequities in health care across different societies and countries and even within societies, to a potpourri of grandiose expectations made for the medical enterprise, including previously unimagined enhancement of human abilities, human-machine interfaces, and even acquiring the means of ‘curing’ death. While some of these issues are political in nature, and not entirely the responsibility of the medical profession, others are integral to the way in which medical technology functions. The philosophical, social and theological overtones are inescapable, and have to be confronted if the potential of medical technology is to be realized in ways that will benefit people in need. This demands viewing them as cohesive entities with ontological meaning, rather than as isolated tissues, organs and body systems. Herein lies hope as opposed to fear, a hope based upon a view of humans as beings created in the image of a personal God.


  • Dr Greg Pike, Director of the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, Adelaide - Christian faith and genetics: an ethical perspective

    • A necessary starting point for thinking about genes and ethics is an understanding of what genes really are and how they function, as well as an understanding of the ethical framework that enables human beings to flourish. What genes actually are and how they function is closely related to understanding human nature and what role genes have in human identity. How does our growing understanding of genetics square with the Christian view of human nature? If genes are influential or even determinative, what does that say about human freedom and the place of choice, so central to Christian theology? And what about being held responsible for those choices? The ethical rubber begins to hit the road when genetic science enables a range of interventions to take place. For example, genetic testing and screening raises choices that did not exist before the era of the gene; choices to select one embryo in IVF over another; or the choice to abort a genetically damaged foetus; or the myriad of choices in medicine, employment, and lifestyle brought on by genetic information. How does the Christian Faith inform such decisions? Genetic science is also on the cusp of interventions to make changes to human genes, or mix them with other species. What will that do to the identity question? More importantly, what types of values will be used to drive the use of genetic science? And are there any particularly Christian values that can help?

  • Professor John Pilbrow, past Chair of Physics at Monash University in Victoria - What science teaches us about God’s action in the world

    • The explosion of scientific knowledge in our day, and the significant level of understanding that modern physics provides about how the world works, challenges Christian thought to engage with the new paradigms. It will be argued from a Christian perspective that science is to be regarded as one of God’s gifts to humanity and that it is thus a valid human activity. Metaphysical assumptions that underpin both the Christian journey and science will be explored within the framework of a theology of nature as an outworking of a Christian understanding of reality. The openness of the universe necessary for both God and us to act as free agents and for the universe to be free to be itself will be considered. A brief discussion regarding God’s action in the world will explore insights from quantum uncertainty and chaos theory. Finally the pastoral challenge faced by the 21st Century Church in this secular age in relation to modern science will be outlined with suggestions regarding the basis for fruitful conversation.

  • Professor Bob White, Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth Sciences at Cambridge University, UK - The debate about global warming: how should Christians respond?

    • I first discuss the scientific evidence for climate change, and the effect it is likely to have on people in different parts of the world. I then look at ethical and moral issues reflected by religious responses, focussing most on Christianity. The issue of global climate change faced by humanity is one where Christian values can play a major factor in addressing some of the manifest injustices that are a consequence. The lifestyles of people in one part of the world and their production of greenhouse gases impacts directly on environmental conditions throughout the rest of the world both now and for many decades into the future. Inevitably, it is people in the low-income areas, who are living nearer to the threshold of environmental disaster from crop losses, from storms and flooding, or from heat-waves or disease, who are least able to cope with rapid climate change. Love for neighbour impacts directly on the imperative of Christians to be active in environmental care and to develop lifestyles of sustainable consumption.

    The Bible is full of statements that God created the universe and all that is in it; that the material creation is good (though now marred by human sinfulness); and that God upholds and sustains it continually. Though God is involved in his creation in an ongoing sense, he also exists separately outside it, so we should never worship creation rather than the creator. The Bible asserts that humans are created ‘in God’s image’, and that our chief task is to glorify and worship God: part of that worship is to care for (to ‘steward’ and to ‘rule’) the world in which we live. Because of human sinfulness, all creation is now ‘out of kilter’ with how it was meant to be, so that task of stewarding the earth is hard work and is sometimes a struggle – but we are to use our God-given abilities, our scientific and technological insights, and our love first for God and then for others in fulfilling this commandment.

    However, the story does not end here, because God came into this world in the person of Jesus Christ and through him has redeemed the world. The Bible is clear that in the fullness of time, the universe will be re-created in the ‘new heavens and new earth’. These are pictured as real physical places that will rebuild creation but without the effects of human sin. There is both a sense of continuity (physical embodiment) and discontinuity (all sinfulness being wiped away, never again to be present) between the present and the future creation. So the stewardship work of Christians in this present world should prefigure their worship in the re-created world, which carries that certain hope of future perfection with it.

  • Rev Dr David Wilkinson, Principal of St John’s College, University of Durham, UK - God and the Big Bang: understanding the universe from a faith perspective and Are we alone in the universe?: a Christian response

    • Stephen Hawking’s book ‘The Grand Design’ was publicised with the claim that the Universe can be understood without the need for God. While it is very important that faith does not rely on a ‘god of the gaps’, a faith perspective can help in understanding the origin of the laws of physics, anthropic balances, intelligibility and awe.

    This lecture will outline our current understanding of the Universe and its origin in a Big Bang. It will explore the current limits of scientific theory and the present state of research. It will argue that science does raise questions which form a natural bridge into the explanations of theology.

    Are We Alone in the Universe?: A Christian Response The fascination with SETI, the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, is manifested not only in science but also in science fiction. What are the religious dimensions to this search and what does the Christian faith say in response?

    From the origins of SETI to the current state of research, this lecture will explore some of the key questions involved – what does it mean to be human and how are the Christian doctrines of incarnation and redemption seen in a cosmic perspective.

  • Rev Dr Mark Worthing, Research Fellow at the Graeme Clark Research Institute, Tabor Adelaide - The historical relationship between science and faith

    • The relationship between science and theology has always been as complex as it has been fascinating. The discovery in our own age that science and theology may actually have important things to say to one another in the search for understanding has awakened renewed interest in their relationship. Yet neither Christian theologians nor natural scientists are agreed as to what the relationship between the two should be - or even has been. As a way of gaining insight into the current situation I offer a brief survey of the history of the relationship between science and theology. I suggest there have been four distinct phases in the history of this relationship: 1. The Unity of Religious and Scientific Worldviews; 2. The Separation of Science and Theology; 3. The 'War' between Science and Religion ; 4. An Emerging Era of Rapprochement between Science and Theology. Understanding these phases, and how they often overlap is necessary if we are to move forward in the dialogue between theology and the natural sciences.


The conference was an initiative undertaken by Tabor Adelaide in collaboration with the prestigious Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, based at St Edmunds College, Cambridge University, UK. It was organised under the auspices of Tabor’s new Graeme Clark Research Institute, which was officially launched at 4.00pm on Monday 29th August 2011 at Tabor Adelaide, 181 Goodwood Road, Millswood, South Australia 5034.

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