I believe in science.
I appreciate science. I like science. I think it is exciting when science discovers something new about the world around us. Science has certainly made my life better, and I have no problem with scientists continuing to ask questions and discovering things we did not previously understand.
But I don’t need science to prove Jesus Christ to me.
There is a difference between understanding creation and knowing the Creator.
Recently, I was reading something that used quantum reality as an illustration of how we understand God, time, and the finished work of Christ. I am certainly not qualified to teach quantum physics, and I wouldn’t attempt to.
But it caused me to think about something much more important.
How much do I really need to understand about how God does something before I can believe that God did it?
Through Faith We Understand
Hebrews gives us an interesting answer:
“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
— Hebrews 11:3, KJV
Notice the words: “Through faith we understand.”
The Bible doesn’t begin by scientifically proving God. Genesis simply begins:
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
— Genesis 1:1, KJV
Then God speaks:
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
— Genesis 1:3, KJV
How did that happen?
I don’t know.
I know what Scripture says: God spoke, and it happened.
Science may help us understand more and more about how the universe operates. I welcome those discoveries. But I don’t have to understand the physical mechanism behind God’s actions before I can believe that God acted.
Sometimes “God spoke” is enough.
Science Describes Creation
This is where I think we sometimes make things unnecessarily difficult.
Science studies the created world. It helps us understand matter, energy, biology, the universe, and even things at the quantum level that are very difficult for most of us to comprehend.
Those discoveries don’t threaten my faith.
If God created everything, then anything science genuinely discovers about creation is simply another discovery about the creation He made.
Quantum reality, whatever we ultimately learn about it, is still part of creation.
God isn’t subject to it.
God is the Creator.
Colossians says of Christ:
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…”
And then:
“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
— Colossians 1:16–17, KJV
Christ holds it all together.
So whether we’re talking about atoms, galaxies, quantum particles, the human body, or things science hasn’t discovered yet, we’re still talking about creation.
Science helps us understand creation. Faith allows us to know the Creator.
God Is Not Limited by His Creation
We experience life within time.
There was yesterday. There is today. There will be tomorrow.
But God knows the beginning from the end. He is not confined to our experience of time.
And the Bible shows us God stepping into human circumstances and changing what happens.
Hezekiah is a good example.
God told Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah:
“Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.”
— Isaiah 38:1, KJV
Hezekiah prayed.
God responded:
“I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.”
— Isaiah 38:5, KJV
Something changed.
Hezekiah was going to die. He prayed. God spoke. Fifteen years were added to his life.
How did God physically accomplish that?
The Bible doesn’t tell us.
Was there some process within the body? Was something happening at a level of creation we don’t understand? I don’t know.
And I don’t have to know.
God spoke, and His purpose came to pass.
That doesn’t mean we should use quantum physics—or any other scientific theory—to explain every miracle. We don’t know that.
It simply means that God, being God and the Creator of everything, is not controlled by the creation He made.
When God speaks and acts within His creation, created reality answers to Him—not the other way around.
I Don’t Need a Scientific Explanation for Christ
This becomes very personal for me.
I don’t know Christ because someone scientifically proved Him to me.
I know Christ through faith and relationship.
I have trusted Him. I have walked with Him. I have experienced Him. I have seen His Word work in my life.
That doesn’t make me opposed to science.
It simply means that science and my relationship with Christ are not the same kind of knowledge.
Paul said:
“That I may know him…”
— Philippians 3:10, KJV
There is a difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone.
I can study everything the Bible says about Christ. I can study history. I can study archaeology. I can study science. All of those things may add to my knowledge.
But ultimately, Christianity is an invitation to know Him.
You Don’t Have to Stop Asking Questions
This is especially important for someone who is new to Christ.
You may have questions.
Ask them.
You may wonder how creation happened. Study it.
You may wonder how miracles happen. Think about it.
You may have questions about biology, physics, the age of the universe, quantum reality, healing, prayer, or any number of other things.
Don’t be afraid of those questions.
Faith does not require you to stop thinking.
But neither do you have to solve every scientific question before you can follow Jesus.
There are things about God that I don’t understand. There are things about creation that scientists don’t yet understand. And there are things that perhaps we will understand better tomorrow than we do today.
My relationship with Christ doesn’t depend upon having all of those answers.
I can simply say:
I don’t know how God did it. I know the One who did it.
Faith While We’re Still Asking
Maybe that’s where faith and science can find their proper places.
Science continues asking, “How does this work?”
Faith allows me to say, “I trust God even when I don’t yet understand how.”
Those don’t have to be enemies.
I can appreciate scientific discovery without asking science to prove my Savior.
I can ask difficult questions without being afraid that the answers will somehow diminish God.
And I can admit that I don’t know something without weakening my faith.
Hebrews says:
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is…”
— Hebrews 11:6, KJV
There comes a point where I have to decide whether I trust Him.
Not because I understand everything.
Not because science has explained everything.
Not because I can tell you exactly how God does what He does.
But because I know Him.
So keep learning. Keep asking questions. Appreciate every true discovery science makes about this remarkable creation in which we live.
But don’t make understanding the mechanism a prerequisite for trusting the Creator.
Faith doesn’t require us to stop asking questions. It allows us to trust God while we’re still asking them.
