What started as a joke – what happens when a pastor grabs a beer with a herpetologist? —ended with what could be a Science for the Church newsletter clickbait lede—“Church’s faith and science program inspires former president of student secular society to become a pastor.”
I get a little annoyed each time a science and faith conversation gets railroaded by the question of origins, climate change, or some other contentious issue. Sure, these are issues that our churches must wrestle with, but by putting all our attention on areas of felt conflict, we might entirely miss the ways science reveals how God works.
How has science impacted my prayer life? I remain confident that God can still answer my prayers. But I no longer pray the same way today that I did in my early years as a Christian, in part because of what science is teaching us about prayer and meditation.
This 30-minute listen is a great introduction to us and our work.
Since the Enlightenment, a commonplace assertion has been that no one (in light of the lawlike nature of the universe discovered by science) has reason to believe in a God who answers petitionary prayer. I suppose, if we’re not bothered by this apparent conflict, we haven’t really listened to modern science and felt its implications. C.S. Lewis… did listen to these voices and was bothered.
Several years ago, a pastor asked me if the scientific study of prayer is legit. I replied, “That’s complicated.” At the time, I did not fully understand how true this is. Learn more about why in this post.