Mormon "Science"

This post does not represent the doctrine of any church, just the beliefs of the author.

When I worked at Mormon.org I'd often get the question, "How can you believe in God when so much of what he supposedly does can be explained by science?" I didn't understand at first. I had never supposed that people really saw this as a mental conflict outside of the movies until that moment. I want to explain, as I did to them, how many people who believe in God see science as a highway to belief rather than a hurdle.

This doesn't have to be us

Some see believing in God as accepting that God works by mysterious forces, some sort of "cosmic magic", so if we can measure it, quantify it, and understand how it works, it can't be God.

However, many Christians feel no conflict between science and faith precisely because we believe that scientific research is the process of man coming to understand how God works. We believe that not only is God not offended by evolution or entropy, but that he is often the architect of such natural laws. He knows better than any of us the stuff of which the universe is composed. He used them to "organize" the earth, and is master of all the elements.

When many Christians read, "And God said, Let there be light"
we don't picture him conjuring mystical lights, we see him setting our earth in it's orbit around the sun.

When we read, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground"
we see him building a body out of amino acids, proteins, cells, and other organic building blocks made from elements of the earth.

To roughly paraphrase a quote from NASA consultant John S. Lewis in the video below,

"Science answers the how, the when, and the where questions of the universe. Religion answers the who and why."

Nasa Consultant and former MIT professor talks about his views on Science vs. Religion

We believe that God is eager for us to learn all we can. We see him as an infinitely advanced parent, who loves nothing more than for his children to learn of his works and his creation. Thus for many Christians the pursuit of scientific knowledge can in fact be a spiritual pursuit. (D&C 88:76–80)

I hope this has helped give some perspective on how some religious people relate to science. If you want to know more feel free to visit Mormon.org or ask a friend, I think you'll discover some unique and interesting insights can come with a harmonious belief in both God and science.