God and Science

The Scientific Legacy of modern times has been undoubtedly marked with achievements and major advances. Nevertheless the image of scientific progress is sometimes divided into two different views. On one hand, science is considered to be the answer to any question and the remedy to any problem, in fact the numerous recent scientific achievements in the last decades appear to be confirming the theory that science could ultimately answer all the questions of man’s existence; On the other hand, science is sometimes believed to be a threat to man’s existence and a way of self destruction, notably because of the use of sophisticated armaments and nuclear weapons.

It is obvious that the scope of science is far from both extreme theories. Its purpose has been and will remain to be the continuous quest for the truth about space, nature and all aspects and phenomenon’s surrounding human life. This relentless search has conducted to many successes and has contributed to change the way we live, and has also created a sort of frustration as many other phenomena apparently trivial are still remotely understood though. Nonetheless, provisional conclusions constitute a good foundation for future understanding of the world we live in.

A huge formation of stars believed to exist in outer space, scientists
call it "Eye of God" due to its magnificent colors and shape.

The scientific progress made in the last century in many disciplines has resulted in a much better understanding of the earth, center of all experiments which continue to be the main “laboratory” to discover and learn. In the last five decades, practically since the end of the second world war, the scientific and technological progress realized by man has outpaced by far all what we have learnt, discovered and invented in our entire history! It would be interesting to note that man’s knowledge about God remains the same throughout the centuries and not a single leap has been achieved in that direction.

If mankind owes a lot to science and to the continuous scientific will of going further and deeper, scientists often question themselves about this secret hand that puts everything in order and makes our world function in perfect harmony. In fact scientists do not create, they only discover facts and truths, put them together and try to visualize their conclusions in man-made theories and inventions. Therefore man has always watched, experienced, learnt and tried to elaborate mathematical patterns and models in order to acknowledge, and to the best extent possible any natural phenomenon surrounding us. It is good to note that any scientific formula is only a good and close approximation of a natural event or phenomenon, and no theory in the world has ever claimed expressing an exact explanation of any event or phenomenon.

This reality leads us to admit the existence of a greater reason beyond man’s understanding of things, which sustains and controls our world, and this is the crucial point where science and religion converge. The result is that science can be the place where man encounters the creator of this world and therefore leads to a better and true understanding of this world.

As we are witnessing daily scientific achievements, we also discover the complexity and mysteries of our world, therefore the need for a new approach is imminent where morality shall be observed in scientific researches in order to reach better conclusions. Scientific achievements should always obey the imperatives of ethics and preservation of human rights and dignity, and deploy scientists efforts in the right direction for the good and the future of mankind. The evolution of our way of life will largely depend on our ability to use science for what is moral, just and good for humanity.