Rev. David Wilson Rogers
For many years two ideological perspectives have been cast as enemies of one another. One chose to demonize the other because it dared to challenge long held and deeply believed belief systems regarding the other. Over time, the hatred toward one by the other has ebbed and flowed. Regrettably, in times it has become violent and even deadly. Yet, the true tragedy is that both need each other in spite of the fact that mistrust and closed minds have reached a point where both sides will frequently have nothing to do with the other out of a false assumption that the other side has nothing to say about genuine truth. As a result, where the two sides could genuinely strengthen each other, the world of knowledge has become polarized and lacks the sacred balance of wisdom called for in Scripture. Perpetuating the ideological conflict between Christianity and Science is a sin.
The problem is nothing new. As Galileo Galilei, Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Keppler, and countless others learned the hard way, as scientific theory, discovery, and understanding clashes with strict Biblical interpretations of the way the Creation works, often the Church is quick to fight back. The problem is, regardless of how faithful to scripture and the teachings of the church as believers seek to be, countless times have proven that when Christianity attempts to refute Science, it is Christianity that ends up being wrong.
Not only has several hundred years of Christian rejection of sound and established scientific discovery proven many faithful to be fools. This tragic reality has also needlessly cost lives as was vividly demonstrated throughout the covid pandemic as countless faithful embraced religious theories rather than sound medicine in preventing needless death.
The rejection of scientific thought by Christians is not limited to medicine, or the traditional scientific disciples such as physics, biology, or chemistry. It frequently rejects the fundamental principles of learning, research, and cultivating a better understanding of how our world works. When relevant theories like Critical Race Theory are categorically rejected by the Church without adequate—or accurate—comprehension of how they work and actually serve humanity in important ways, the church suffers.
