Can religion and science coexist?
Many will find the claim “I believe in science” a common phrase in today’s world.
Dr. John Carman, an evolutionary biologist at Utah State University, asserts that, “there is no room for belief in science.” In fact, says Carman, “belief in one’s science is a stumbling block to scientific progress.” Science can, however, be supported.
“If we look at the scientific method, there’s no room for faith. Because in science we create hypotheses, and then test them,” Carman says. “When a hypothesis gathers enough evidence in support of its claims, we call it a theory. But even good theories should not rise above continued scientific scrutiny. All we can say in science is that the evidence suggests that ‘such and such is the case’. That’s all.”
Take, for example, Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation versus Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. It was a mistake for scientists to accept Newton’s claims as an infallible scientific doctrine, especially given that Einstein later came bearing a more sound theory.
“Right now I’m writing a research paper on reproductive biology,” Carman says. “We’re making some discoveries that appear to disprove an evolutionary theory that has existed for a hundred years”.
In science, being skeptical and not “believing” theories is the name of the game. Carman’s research regarding asexual reproduction of plants through seeds may one day provide food for an additional billion people; it would be hybrid crop that self-replicates through its own seed, with no need of cross pollination.
But in religion, faith is vital. One can support a theory. However, one must have faith to consider oneself spiritually invested.
An expert and proponent of evolution, Carman claims, “When I was a teenager, I was taught that there was no death before Adam.”
Dr. John Carmen discusses his research in evolutionary biology in his office recently. Photo by Tim Carpenter
Now, Carman predicts that many religious teachers/leaders are less dogmatic about evolution and read the book of Genesis for its religious value, and not as an Earth science textbook.
“I think it’s more generational,” Carman says. “I see it more commonly in older people who have been strongly influenced by Christian leaders who insist that evolution is a false teaching.”
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leader Joseph Fielding Smith, for example, provoked a huge divide in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when he asserted that Adam and Eve were created by God 6,000 years ago and there was no other true doctrine. James E. Talmadge and B.H. Roberts, on the other hand, were supporters of evolution and believed that there were, before Adam and Eve, “pre-Adamite beings” on earth. The issue became so controversial that many apostles stormed out of the room in a meeting regarding the issue in 1931.
Today there is no official position on the theories of organic evolution in the Church of Jesus Christ “and those who say otherwise are citing their own opinion,” confirms Carman.
So what is so offensive to creationists about evolution? Why does the claim that science and religion cannot coexist remain?
“Taking things so literally in the Bible is problematic, for one thing,” Carman says. “When you say, well, ‘this is figurative,’ or, ‘this is just a story,’ then where do you draw the line? Was there a flood? Did Moses really lead the children of Israel through the Red Sea? It impinges on every miracle, even those of Jesus Christ. And the whole Bible is left open for debate.”
Supporting the scientific theory of evolution is an insurmountable challenge for those who feel that doing so invalidates a whole host of other biblical stories and beliefs. While some may become frustrated by this, others find this is a valid point and a delicate issue.
“It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s a story or not,” Carman says. “What keeps me religious is not proof, but the heartfelt conviction that my savior lives and set an example we don’t see anywhere else in human history.”
Carman grew up in a non-religious home and converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a teenager and served a church mission to New England and Canada. His main attraction to Mormonism was a spiritual conviction of its theological doctrines that differ from other Christian faiths.
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