Faith & Science

Faith & Science gathers Christian Standard articles that thoughtfully explore the relationship between Christian belief and the scientific world. Here you’ll find discussions on creation, origins, human identity, and how Christians can engage scientific discoveries without surrendering biblical conviction. These articles aim to encourage confidence in God as Creator, promote careful thinking, and equip believers to navigate questions about science and faith with clarity, humility, and hope.

May 1, 2022

Wes Beavis

Charles Darwin and the Restoration Movement

By Wes Beavis What relevance does Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory, have to the Restoration Movement? A lot. As a clinical psychologist, I spend most of my time counseling RM ministry leaders. I can attest to the relevancy of Darwin’s oft-quoted phrase, “survival of the fittest.” Simply put, those organisms that can adjust favorably to their environment are the ones that survive. If they can’t adapt, they die out. Finding Support in Autonomous Churches This “survival of the fittest” concept is very much a part of our movement’s construct. Pastors who can adapt and overcome their prevailing difficulties

March 1, 2022

Wes Beavis

Jesus and the ‘Bonding’ Chemical

By Wes Beavis Christian faith and science are not mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, secularized culture is convincing younger generations they must decide between the two. I constantly tell young people not to believe the secular voices that declare you must choose either science or faith . . . or worse, that if you are a Christian, you are by default a nonscientific Neanderthal. As both a follower of Christ and a clinical psychologist, I have developed a passion for discovering places where Christian faith and scientific discovery intersect—and there are countless intersections! For example, when the rich young ruler approached Jesus

June 12, 2014

Christian Standard

John Polkinghorne: A Bottom-Up Thinker

By C. Robert Wetzel   It must have been sometime in the mid-1980s that I saw the notice that Dr. John Polkinghorne would be giving a lecture at the University of Birmingham. What I did not know when I set out for the university that day was the special occasion that brought John Polkinghorne to Birmingham. He was to give an address on the topic of science and religion to the Joseph Priestly Society, the national professional organization of chemists. Polkinghorne was himself a nationally recognized mathematical physicist who had shocked his colleagues at University of Cambridge when he announced

June 9, 2014

Christian Standard

Science or Faith?

By Tim Stafford I”ve interviewed 11 scientists who, while disagreeing with each other, share the conviction that a person can embrace both science and faith in God. These days, almost every young American believes he has a choice to make. He can choose faith or he can choose science, but he can”t choose both. It”s extremely hard to choose faith over science, though some do. After all, if you breathe the air around any academic institution, you imbibe the belief that all the good jobs involve math and science. Watch college commercials during bowl or tournament games. Don”t they always””always“”include a

June 7, 2014

Christian Standard

The Late Great Ape Debate (Part 2)

By Bayard Taylor What should a Christian believe about God and creation? Some Christians hold firmly to one view, but not all Christians agree about which view is correct. Some have rejected God or the Bible as they”ve studied the science surrounding creation theories. And others, confused by the controversies, just try to avoid the subject. Here, adapted from Bayard Taylor”s book, is a survey of five main creation views, with arguments for or against each of them. (We published Part 1 yesterday — CLICK HERE to read it. And the entire book is available for download from Standard Publishing’s website.)

June 6, 2014

Christian Standard

The Late Great Ape Debate (Part 1)

By Bayard Taylor What should a Christian believe about God and creation? Some Christians hold firmly to one view, but not all Christians agree about which view is correct. Some have rejected God or the Bible as they”ve studied the science surrounding creation theories. And others, confused by the controversies, just try to avoid the subject. Here, adapted from Bayard Taylor”s book, is a survey of five main creation views, with arguments for or against each of them. (The entire book is available for download from Standard Publishing’s website.) Part 1: Two Kinds of Creation Almost 90 years out from

August 13, 2011

Christian Standard

Embracing Mystery, Remembering Churchill, and Reconsidering the Classics

By LeRoy Lawson Einstein”s God: Conversations about Science and the Human Spirit Krista Tippett New York: Penguin Books, 2010 Churchill and America Martin Gilbert New York: Free Press, 2005 Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin Tracy Lee Simmons Wilmington: ISI Books, 2002 There”s no yelling in Krista Tippett”s Einstein”s God, no name-calling. This book is not another shootout of science and religion. Instead, these transcripts from 10 episodes of her radio show Speaking of Faith thoughtfully raise issues that thinking people can”t avoid: Can science and religion get along? Can you believe in God and evolution? What is the primary

December 14, 2010

Christian Standard

The Tyranny of the Paradigm (Part 2)

Read “The Tyranny of the Paradigm (Part 1)” Read “The Tyranny of the Paradigm (Part 3)” _________________ By Jack W. Cottrell Previously I noted that Michael Denton speaks of how modern science regards Darwinian evolution as the determinative paradigm or controlling interpretive principle to which all scientific data must be made to conform””even when the data are in conflict with the paradigm. He calls this faulty methodology the “priority of the paradigm” (à la Thomas Kuhn). In that earlier essay I applied this concept to certain faulty theological systems, which likewise are distorted by the tyranny of their respective paradigms.

July 18, 2010

Christian Standard

The Tyranny of the Paradigm (Part 1)

By Jack Cottrell In 1986 Michael Denton wrote Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Adler & Adler, 1996), in which he is severely critical of evolutionary theory. He presented compelling arguments for intelligent design, especially from the living cell, before most of us ever heard of Michael Behe. This is significant because Denton is a respected molecular biologist and medical doctor””and a complete agnostic. Though he argues for design, he professes ignorance as to who or what the designer might be. Nevertheless, throughout this large volume, Denton offers many examples of scientific evidence that the phenomena of nature could not have

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