Scientists & God: The Myth of
Incompatibility
Robert J. Marks II
Distinguished Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Baylor University
Abstract
•
Is true scientific pursuit mutually exclusive of a faith in God. Those
who objectively pursue their truth through the scientific method, some
say, cannot realistically embrace a belief in a living God. This posturing
often arises from an ignorance of the Christian faith and it’s role in
science. Indeed, both today and in history, a number of scientists,
mathematicians and engineers are motivated in their work by the
uncovering of the precise orderliness and wonderful interrelations in
God's creations. Many not only study the creation, but have pursued
the identity of the Creator and have come to submission to God through
acceptance of the sacrifice of His Son. Examples from history who
embrace Christ as savoir include many giants in science and
technology, including Isaac Newton - the father classical physics and
co-creator of calculus, Michael Faraday - the father of electrical
engineering, and Blaise Pascal - mathematician extraordinaire and
inventor of the first computer. The myth of incompatibility between
science and faith is without foundation or substance.
The Mindset of the Academy
• Tolerance?
– Tolerance
– The Origin
• Overt or Covert?
– Anecdotes
– Curricula
Excerpts
• Index
What motivates research at the
Academy?
Seeking
Truth
?
and/or Seeking Fame?
Seeking Fame?
• Dr., Ph.D., FIEEE, FOSA
• Illustration...
To: marks@u.washington.edu
From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Beller medal
Dear Bob: I am attaching a file that gives a short list of my contributions to optical science and education.
If you feel that I qualify as a candidate for the Esther Hoffman Beller Medal, I would very much
appreciate and be honored by a letter from you on my behalf for this medal. Please note that the letter
must be at OSA by Oct. 1. The address is:
Optical Society of America
Communications Dept.
MS 112, 2010 Massachusetts Avenus. [sic], NW
Washington, DC 20036-1023
Fax: 202-416-6134
awards@osa.org
I thank you in advance.
Attachment Converted: "g:Proposed Candidate for the Esther Hoffman Beller Medal.doc"
e-mail from an IEEE
Professional Society governing
board concerning actions of an
Awards Committee (1999)…
“I have never known an awards
committee where the members
grant each other the
awards/medals. I don't contest that
the committee members are not
deserving of an award, but the
mere fact of serving on a selection
committee should exclude one
from receiving the awards being
distributed.”
The Awards Committee was giving
their members awards!
Modest Mindset of the
Academician
U.S. News & World
Report reports a poll of
university professors
found that 94% of the
respondents thought
they were better at
their jobs than their
average colleague.
U.S. News & World Report 16 Dec 96 p26
Seeking fame through research: Occupational Hazard?
“Famous Researchers' Ultimate Stress: When Doing Science Leads To Suicide”
Emil Fischer (1852-1919),
Percy Bridgman (1882-1961),
Hans Fischer (1881-1945),
Stanford Moore (1913-1982),
Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906),
Alan Turing (1912-1954),
Leading Factors
isolation, 50 percent;
physical illness, 47 percent;
politics 42 percent;
depression 31 percent.
Minor precipitating factors
death of a close relative, 17 percent;
overwork, 14 percent;
business problems, 11 percent
grant problems, 8 percent;
problems with the administration, 3 percent.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Jesus Christ
Molly Gleiser, a chemist, is the founder of Suicide Prevention Among Scientists, based in Berkeley, Calif.
Richard H. Seiden, a former professor of suicidology at the University of California, Berkeley
The Scientist, Vol:, #4, pg 21
www.the-scientist.library.upenn.edu/yr1990/nov/prof2_901126.html
What motivates research at the Academy for some?
Truth, fame and/or
What motivates research at the Academy?
Seeking
God
!?!
1. The Beauty of Creation!
2. Who Created this beauty?
The Beauty of Creation
Motivation?
•
Premise #1: Some Scientists’ and
Mathematicians’ embrace a strong belief in
God. Motivation for research, in certain
cases, stems in part from their curiosity of
discovering God’s creation and the awe
and remarkable beauty of the relationships
they uncover.
“Science brings man nearer to God”
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur (John Hudsion Tiner, Louis Pasteur - Founder of Modern Medicine, Milford, MI: Mott
Media, Inc., 1990, p.75.)
• “The more I study nature, the more I
stand amazed at the work of the Creator.
Into his tiniest creatures, God has placed
extraordinary properties ...”
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
John Hudsion Tiner, Louis Pasteur - Founder of Modern Medicine,
Milford, MI: Mott Media, Inc., 1990, p.75.)
• “God is going to to reveal to us things
He never revealed before if we put our
hands in His.”
George Washington Carver (1865-1943)
(who named his laboratory God’s Little Workshop.)
Ethel Edwards, Carver of Tuskegee (Cincinnati, Ohio; Ethyl Edwards
& James T. Hardwick, 1971) pp.141-42.
1. Gutenberg, Johann
2. Newton, Isaac
3. Luther, Martin
4. Darwin, Charles
5. Shakespeare, William
6. Columbus, Christopher
7. Marx, Karl
8. Einstein, Albert
9. Copernicus, Nicolaus
10. Galileo Galilei
11. Da Vinci, Leonardo
12. Freud, Sigmund
13. Pasteur, Louis
14. Edison, Thomas
15. Jefferson, Thomas
16. Hitler, Adolf
17. Gandhi, Mahatma
18. Locke, John
19. Michelangelo
20. Smith, Adam
21. Washington, George
22. Khan, Genghis
23. Lincoln, Abraham
24. Aquinas, St. Thomas
25. Watt, James
26. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeu
27. Bonaparte, Napolean
28. Bach, Johann Sebastian
29. Ford, Henry
30. Beethoven, Ludwig Von
31. Watson & Crick
32. Descartes, Rene
33. King, Martin Luther Jr.
34. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
Biography’s Top 100 Persons of the Millennium
35. Lenin, Vladimir
2. Isaac
Newton
36. Fleming,
Alexander
37. Voltaire
The father
of classical physics.
38. Bacon, Francis
39. Alighieri,
Co-Discoverer
ofDante
Calculus
40. Wright Brothers
41. Gates, Bill
42. Mendel, Gregor
43. Mao, Zedong
44. Bell, Alexander Graham
45. William the Conqueror
46. Machiavelli, Niccolo
47. Babbage, Charles
48. Wollstonecraft, Mary
49. Gorbachev, Mikhail
50. Sanger, Margaret
51. Jenner, Edward
52. Churchill, Winston
53. Curie, Marie
54. Polo, Marco
55. Magellan, Ferdinand
56. Stanton, Elizabeth
57. Presley, Elvis
58. Joan of Arc
59. Kant, Immanuel
60. Roosevelt, Franklin D.
61. Faraday, Michael
62. Disney, Walt
63. Austen, Jane
64. Picasso, Pablo
65. Heisenberg, Werner
66. Griffith, D.W.
67. Zworykin, Vladimir
Blaise Pascal
The father of computer engineering
13. Louis Pasteur
The father of microbiology
Thomas Bayes
69. Harvey, William
70. Pope Gregory Vll
71. Tubman, Harriet
72. Bolivar, Simon
73. Princess Diana
74. Fermi, Enrico
75. Pincus, Gregory
76. The Beatles
77. Hobbes, Thomas
78. Isabella
79. Stalin, Joseph
80. Elizabeth I
81. Mandela, Nelson
82. Bohr, Neils
83. Peter the Great of Russia
84. Marconi, Guglielmo
85. Reagan, Ronald
86. Joyce, James
87. Carson, Rachel
88. Oppenheimer, Robert J.
89. Anthony, Susan B.
90. Daguerre, Louis
91. Spielberg, Steven
92. Nightingale, Florence
93. Roosevelt, Eleanor
94. Patient Zero
95. Chaplin, Charlie
96. Caruso, Enrico
97. Salk, Jonas
98. Armstrong, Louis
99. Da Gama, Vasco
James Clerk Maxwell
The founder of electromagnetics
The founder of statistical inference
61. Michael Faraday
The father of electrical engineering
100. Suleiman I
68. Franklin, Benjamin
http://www.biography.com/features/millennium/index.html
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
“...one of the greatest names in the history of human thought”
Newtonian Physics
Quantum
Theory
(very small)
Relativity
(very big)
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Newton’s Contributions
 Newtonian Physics
 The Calculus
 Law of Universal
Gravitation
 Optics
“In late editions of his
scientific works he [Newton]
expressed a strong sense of
God's providential role in
nature.”
Microsoft Encarta.
http://www.newton.cam.ac.uk/newtlife.html
 Reflecting Telescope
 White light
components
Namesakes
 Newton (mks unit of force)
 Newton’s rings
 Newton Optimization
 Newtonian Physics
 Apple’s Newton
 Newtonian constant
of gravitation = 6.672 59
× 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2
God observed in nature...
“[The] beautiful system of the
the sun, planets and comets
could only proceed from the
counsel and dominion of an
intelligent and powerful
Being.”
Isaac Newton quoted from
Newton’s Philosophy of Nature: Selections From His Writings (Hafner Publishing, 1953)
From “Optics” by
Isaac Newton
“God in the beginning
formed matter in solid,
massy, hard,
impenetrable, moveable
particles, of such sizes
and figures, and with
other such properties,
and in such proportion
to space, as most
conduced to the end for
which He formed them.”
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou
hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Revelation 4:11
Newton on Atheism
“Atheism is so
senseless and odious
to mankind that it never
had many professors.”
Isaac Newton quoted from
Newton’s Philosophy of Nature: Selections From His Writings (Hafner
Publishing, 1953)
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
“Michael Faraday's scientific
work laid the foundations of
all subsequent electrotechnology.” Lenore Symons,
IEE Senior Archivist
http://www.iee.org.uk/publish/faraday/faraday1.html
The Father of Electricity
Faraday’s
Contributions
 Faraday’s Law
 Discovered electromagnetic
induction: generators, motors &
transformers.
The Faraday Effect
A magneto-optic effect in which the polarization
plane of an electromagnetic wave is rotated
under the influence of a magnetic field parallel
to the direction of propagation.
 Discovered Benzene
Michael Faraday...
Build first practical electric motor.
Coined the terms
 electrode,
 anode,
 cathode
 electronic
Namesakes
Farad = unit of capacitance
Faraday’s constant =
F=96 485.309 C mol-1
was a devoted admirer of
Faraday. While still in Berlin,
… [he] kept a large portrait of
Faraday in his study.
“Albert Einstein...
“Later, having escaped the Nazis,
Einstein again displayed a large
portrait of Faraday - this time in
his Princeton study.”
Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics, Ludwig Charles, 1978, Herald Press, Scottsdale, PA.
“[Faraday’s] standard
of duty was
supernatural. It was
formed entirely on
what he held to be
the revelation of the
will of God in the
written word, and
throughout all his life
his faith led him to act
... to the the very
letter of it.”
Dr Bence Jones "The Life and Letters of Faraday”. See also
http://www.iee.org.uk/publish/faraday/faraday2.html
Faraday on Knowledge vs. Wisdom
“Alas! How foolish perhaps to leave home, to leave those
whom I loved and who loved me for a time uncertain in its
length, but certainly long and which may perhaps stretch out
to eternity! And what are the boasted advantages to be
gained? Knowledge. Yes, knowledge but what knowledge?
Knowledge of the world, of men, of manners, of books , and
of languages… Alas! How degrading it is to be learned when
it places us on a level with rouges and
scoundrels! … Ah, Ben, I am not sure that I have
acted wisely in leaving a pure and certain
enjoyment for such a pursuit”
Homesick Michael Faraday in a letter
from Rome to friend Benjamin Abbott
during science tour of Europe as
assistant of Sir Humphry Davy.
Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics, Ludwig
Charles, 1978, Herald Press, Scottsdale, PA.
Faraday & AWARDS
• Faraday was offered
and refused the
Presidency of the
Royal Society. He
responded no… "I
must remain plain
Michael Faraday to the
very last."
Thomas Bayes (1702 – 1761)
Bayes Theorem
P[ B | A]P[ A]
P[ A | B] 
P[ B]
•Baysian Inference: Making classifications using
an historical data base.
•Foundation of most modern e-mail spam filters.
Thomas Bayes, Divine Benevolence,1731, and D.R. Bellhouse, “The Reverend Thomas Bayes FRS: a Biography to Celebrate the
Tercentenary of his Birth” <http://www.stats.uwo.ca/faculty/bellhouse/bayesbiog.pdf>
Thomas Bayes (1702 – 1761)
•Reverend Bayes was a pastor of the
Presbyterian Chapel in Tunbridge Wells, 35
miles southeast of London.
•Bayes didn’t bother to publish his
mathematical work. It was all published
posthumously. Bayes was elected Fellow of
the Royal Society in 1742 having no
published works on mathematics.
Bayes did publish about his faith. “God always does that which is right
and fit, and that all his moral attributes, [namely] justice, truth,
faithfulness, mercy, patience, [etc.] are but so many different
modifications of rectitude.” Thomas Bayes, “Divine Benevolence”, 1731.
D.R. Bellhouse, “The Reverend Thomas Bayes FRS: a Biography to Celebrate the Tercentenary of his Birth”
<http://www.stats.uwo.ca/faculty/bellhouse/bayesbiog.pdf>
James Clerk Maxwell
On an Electrical Engineering Student’s T-Shirt...
Maxwell’s
And God said...

D  


B
 E  
t

B  0

  D
 H  J 
t
and there was light.
Equations
Quotes…
• “Was it a god who wrote these
lines…” Ludwig Boltzmann –
Nobel prize winner in Physics on Maxwell’s equations (quoting
a line from Goethe).
• “To anyone who is
motivated by anything
beyond the most
narrowly practical, it is
• “[Maxwell’s equations] can be
worth while to
appreciated, by those who
understand Maxwell’s
understand them, on an
equations simply for the
aesthetic level.” Halliday &
good of his soul” J.R.
Resnick, Physics II, Wiley (1962)
Pierce, Electrons, Waves
and Messages, Hanover
– a widely used undergraduate
House, 1956.
Physics text.
“The formulation of these
[Maxwell’s] equations is the most
important event since Newton’s
time” Albert Einstein
James Clerk Maxwell
“As with Faraday, his
profound
investigations into
nature were
concomitant with
deep religious
reverence for
nature’s cause.”
Sir Joseph Larmor in the Biographical
Notes to: James Clerk Maxwell, Matter
and Motion, (Dover, 1991).
“The only desire which I can ..have is like David to
serve my own generation by the will of God, and
then fall asleep.”
Maxwell (near death).
Lewis Campbell & William Garnet, The Life of
James Clerk Maxwell, London 1882, p.309
“I believe ... that
‘Man's chief end
is to glorify.God
and to enjoy Him
for ever’.”
James Clerk
Maxwell
Ian Hutchinson
MIT IAP Seminar: The Faith of Great Scientists, Jan 98
Dimitri Egorov •Egorov worked on triply
Born: 22 Dec 1869 in Moscow, Russia
Died: 10 Sept 1931 in Kazan, USSR
orthogonal systems and
potential surfaces and made
major contribution to
differential geometry.
•Egorov also worked on
integral equations and a
theorem in the theory of
functions of a real variable is
named after him
•In 1923 Egorov was elected president of the Moscow
Mathematical Society
•In 1923 Egorov became director of the Institute for
Mechanics and Mathematics at Moscow State University
http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Egorov.html
Dimitri Egorov
•The Church was repressed after the
revolution. Egorov defended them. In
1922-23 and again in 1928, clergy were
executed in mass.
•Egorov tried to prevent the attempt to
impose Marxist ideology on scientists.
•In 1929 Egorov was dismissed as
director of the Institute for Mechanics
and Mathematics and given a public
rebuke.
•Egorov was arrested as a "religious sectarian" and put in prison.
An "Initiative group" took over the Society in November 1930. They
expelled Egorov denouncing him as “a reactionary and a
churchman.”
•Egorov went on a hunger strike in prison and eventually died.
http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Egorov.html
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
• Kepler’s Laws
1. The orbits of the
planets are ellipses, with
the Sun at one focus of
http://www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scientists.html
the ellipse.
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/kepler.html
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
• Kepler’s Laws
http://www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scientists.html
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/kepler.html
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
• Kepler’s Laws
III. The ratio of the
squares of the
revolutionary periods
for two planets is
equal to the ratio of
the cubes of their
semimajor axes.
2
P1
2
P2

3
R1
3
R2
http://www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scientists.html
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/kepler.html
Johannes
• “Throughout his life, Kepler was a
profoundly religious man. All his
Kepler writings contain numerous references
to God, and he saw his work as a
fulfilment of his Christian duty to
understand the works of God. Man
being, as Kepler believed, made in the
image of God, was clearly capable of
understanding the Universe that He
had created. Moreover, Kepler was
convinced that God had made the
Universe according to a mathematical
plan.”
• “When asked: Why do you do
science?", Kepler answered that he
desired in his scientific research to
obtain a sample test of the delight of
the Divine Creator in his work and to
partake of his joy.”
http://www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scientists.html
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Kepler.html
(1623-62)
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
(1623-62)
(1623-62)
•PASCAL: a high
level programming
language designed by
Niklaus Wirth in 1974
as a teaching
language for
computer scientists.
•Pascal’s Law: the
pressure in a fluid is
transmitted equally to
all distances and in all
directions.
•PASCAL: A unit of
pressure. 1 bar
equals 100,000
Pascal
•Pascal’s triangle.
Pascal: Computer Engineer
• In 1642, Pascal began to create a machine that
would be similar to an everyday calculator to help
his father with his accounting job.
•He finished the final model in 1645.
•He presented one to Queen Christina of Sweden
and he was allowed a monopoly over it by royal
decree.
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/index.html
Pascal: the Mathematician
http://www.norfacad.pvt.k12.va.us/project/pascal/blaise3.htm
1
1 1
2
1 2 1
3
1 3 3 1
4
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
5
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
6
7 1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
...
...
Pascal’s Triangle
Pascal’s Triangle
& Pizza
1
1 1
2
1 2 1
3
1 3 3 1
4
1 4 6 4 1
Four (4) available toppings
(Extra Cheese, Onions, Pepperoni, Tomato)
1 5 10 10 5 1
5
C,O,P,T
6 1 6 15 20 15 6 1
You can choose two.
7 1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
...
...
There are 6 possible pizzas ...
CO,CP,CT,OP,OT,PT
Pascal’s Triangle,
Pizza & Poker
From 52 toppings,
choose 5
= 2,598,960 pizzas
= number of possible
poker hands
Note:
From 52, choose 13
= 6,227,020,800
= number of possible
bridge hands
Pascal & AWARDS
“Fame is so sweet
that we love
anything we
connect with it,
even death.”
Blaise Pascal
(Pensees)
Pascal’s
thoughts...
“Man finds nothing so intolerable as to be
in a state of complete rest, without
passions, without occupation, without
diversion, without effort. Then he faces his
nullity, loneliness, inadequacy,
dependence, helplessness, emptiness. And
at once there wells up from the depths of
his soul boredom, gloom, depression,
chagrin, resentment, despair.”
Pascal’s Thoughts
...there are two ways people avoid thinking about
such matters: diversion and indifference.
Regarding diversion, Pascal says we fill up our
time with activities to avoid facing the truth of
our state. "The natural misfortune of our
mortality and weakness is so miserable, that
nothing can console us when we really think
about it.... The only good thing for man,
therefore, is to be diverted so that he will stop
thinking about his circumstances.”
http://www.probe.org/docs/pascal.html
Nirvana’s Curt Cobain offers a
Translation of Pascal:
“With the lights out it's
less dangerous
“Here we are now.
Entertain us.”
… “The denial, the
denial, the denial, the
denial, …”
Smells like Teen Spirit
Nirvana
Were all motivated by belief in
God?
Pierre Simon Laplace (1749-1827).
Laplace transform

X (s)   x(t )est dt
0
Laplace Noise
Laplace helped to establish the metric system.
Napoleon appointed Laplace Minister of the
Interior but removed him from office after only six
weeks “because he brought the spirit of the
infinitely small into the government.”
Napoleon asked
Laplace why God was
not mentioned in any
of his work on
celestial mechanics.
Laplace responded ...
Laplace
“Sire, je n’avais pas
besoin de cette
hypothese.”
“Sire, I had no need
of that hypothesis.”
Petr Beckmann, “A History of Pi”, St.
Martin’s Press, 1971.
What a beautiful creation!
Who is the Creator??
What a beautiful creation!
Premise #2
Numerous great researchers
embrace Christianity:
The knowing of God, the
creator of the universe,
personally. Belief in God’s
supremacy and saving grace
made possible through the
sacrifice of His son, Jesus
Christ.
http://www.ccci.org/laws/index.html
God in the Literature
•
“References to God continued in the scientific literature
until the middle to late 1800's. It seems likely that the
lack of religious references after this time seem more
from a change in social and professional conventions
among scientists rather than from any change in
Indeed, contrary
to popular myth, scientists
appear to have the same
range of attitudes about
religious matters as does
the general public.” Alan
Lightman (MIT) in Origins
underlying thought.
http://www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scientists.html
Christian Professors
Today …
Professor William Zoller
Chemistry
Professor William Bradley
cialab.ee.washington.edu/MarksStuff/ccc/Zoller/Zoller.html
Mechanical Engineer
Professor Phillip E. Johnson
Professor of Law
www.arn.org/docs/johnson/pj_sched.html
www.clm.org/real/ri9702/walkup.html
Professor John Walkup,
Electrical Engineer
www.clm.org/real/ri9702/walkup.html
Professor Vernon Burton
Professor of History and Sociology,
Senior Research Scientist
at the National Center for
Supercomputing Applications.
Dr. Nancy Simpson
Texas A&M
University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign
http://clm.org/real/ri9910/simpson.html
Dr. Liz Miller
Texas A&M
http://clm.org/real/ri9910/simpson.html
http://clm.org/real/ri9809/cogdell.html
http://clm.org/real/ri0002/burton.html
Dr. George M.
Marsden
Franscis A.
McAnaney
Professor of History
Notre Dame
http://clm.org/real/ri9902/
marsden.html
Dr. George M. Marsden
Professor of Electrical &
Computer Engineering
University of Texas, Austin
Dr. Hugh Ross,
Astrophysicist
www.reasons.org
Dr. David Manuwal
Professor, Wildlife Science
Chair, Division of Ecosystem
Sciences
University of Washington
www.cfr.washington.edu/People/ Faculty/Manuwal/
“There is one God, the
Father, ever-living,
omnipresent, omniscient,
almighty, the Maker of
heaven and earth, and
one Mediator between
God and man, the man
Christ Jesus.…”
Sir Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton on Christ
Isaac Newton on Christ
“To us there is but one God,
the Father, of whom are all
things, and one Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom are all things,
and we by Him. That is, we
are to worship the Father
alone as God Almighty, and
Jesus alone as the Lord, the
Messiah, the Great King, the
Lamb of God who was slain,
and hath redeemed us with
His blood, and made us kings
and priests .”
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton, Sir David Brewster, Memoirs of
the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac
Newton. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud
of Witnesses (Portland, OR: American Heritage
Ministries, 1987; Mantle Ministries, 228 Still
Ridge, Bulverde, Texas), p. 338.
Apotheosis of Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727),
engraved by George Bickham senior (d. 1769), 1732.
“We account the Scriptures of
God to be the most sublime
philosophy. I find more sure
marks of authenticity in the
Bible than in any profane
history whatsoever...
Worshiping God and the Lamb
[Jesus Christ] in the temple:
God, for his benefaction in
creating all things, and the
Lamb, for his benefaction in
redeeming us with his blood.”
Newton’s Proclamation
Sir Isaac Newton
Tryon Edwards, D.D., The New Dictionary of Thoughts-A Cyclopedia of
Quotations (Garden City, NY: Hanover House, 1852; revised and enlarged
by C.H. Catrevas, Ralph Emerson Browns, and Jonathan Edwards
[descendent, along with Tryon, of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), president
of Princeton], 1891; Sir Isaac Newton. Henry H. Morris, Men of ScieniceMen of God (El Cajon, CA: Master Books, A Division of Creation Life
Publishers, Inc., 1988), pp. 23-26. The Standard Book Company, 1955,1963),
P. 47. Henry H. Halley, Halley's Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan Publishing House, 1927, 1965), P. 19. Charles E. Jones, The
Books You Read (Harrisburg, PA: Executive Books, 1985), P. 118.
Faraday: Speculations
“[T]hough the thought of
death brings the thought of
judgment, it also brings to the
Christian thought of Him
[Jesus Christ] who died, …
[and] rose again for the
justification of those who
believe in Him.”
Michael Faraday
Walter Jerrold, Michael Faraday, Man of Science, p. 120.
Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses
(Portland, OR: American Heritage Ministries, 1987; Mantle
Ministries, 228 Still Ridge, Bulverde, Texas), p. 147.
“Speculations! I know nothing about speculations. I’m resting
on certainties. `I know my Redeemer liveth’ and because He
lives I shall also live.” purported to Faraday near death when
queried by reporters about “speculations” of life after death.
Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics, Ludwig Charles, 1978, Herald Press, Scottsdale, PA.
“Christ [is] the
power of God
and the
wisdom of
God. The
Christian
religion is a
revelation and
that revelation
is the Word of
God.”
Michael
Faraday
George Wilson, Short Biographies
for the People, Vol. IV. Stephen
Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of
Witnesses (Portland, Oregon:
American Heritage Ministries,
1987; Mantle Ministries, 228 Still
Ridge, BuIverde, Texas), p. 147-8.
Faraday’s faith in Christ
James Clerk Maxwell
and the Christian Proposition
Ian Hutchinson
MIT IAP Seminar: The Faith of Great Scientists, Jan 98
“Clearly, from this
early age, a devout
Christian faith and
demanding mental
discipline were, for
Maxwell, part of the
same experience.”
http://silas.psfc.mit.edu/Maxwell/maxwell.html
Johannes Kepler
“I believe only and
alone in the
service of Jesus
Christ. In Him is
all refuge and
solace.”
http://www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scientists.html
Pascal: A Christian Faith Scholar
“We know God only
through Jesus Christ…
through Jesus Christ we
know God. All who have
pretended to know God,
and prove Him without
Jesus Christ, have only had
impotent proofs.”
Pensees is French for "thoughts"
"There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man,
which only God can fill through His Son Jesus Christ."
Pascal’s Wager…
“How can anyone lose who chooses to
become a Christian? If, when he dies,
there turns out to be no God and his faith
was in vain, he has lost nothing - in fact,
he has been happier in life than his
nonbelieving friends. If, however, there
is a God and a heaven and hell, then he
has gained heaven and his skeptical
friends will have lost everything in hell!”
Henry H. Morris, Men of Science-Men of God (El Cajon, CA: Master Books, A Division of Creation
Life Publishers, Inc., 1988), pp. 15-16.
Pascal’s Wager: A Venn Diagram
No
God
You Believe!
You Don’t Believe.
At least
you led
a good
life!
Life with
limited
purpose
God
Eternity
Exists With
God!
Eternity
Without
God
Science & Faith…
Premise #1: Some Scientists, Engineers and Mathematicians
embrace a strong belief in God. Motivation for research, in
certain cases, stems in part from their curiosity of
discovering God’s creation and the awe and remarkable
beauty of the relationships they uncover.
Knowing the painting is not the same
as knowing the painter.
“Premise #2: The knowing of God, the creator of the
universe, personally. Belief in God’s supremacy and
saving grace made possible through the sacrifice of His
Son, Jesus Christ.”
What Christians believe:
1. God LOVES you and offers a wonderful
PLAN for your life.
He loves you & wants you to know Him personally!
2. Man is SINFUL (imperfect)
and SEPARATED from God.
Therefore, you cannot know
perfect
and experience God's
love and plan for your life.
www.ccci.org/laws/languages.html
imperfect
What Christians Believe (cont)...
3. Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision
for man's sin. Through Him you can
know and experience God's love and
plan for your life.
What Christians Believe (cont)
4. We must
individually
RECEIVE the gift
of Jesus Christ as
Savior and Lord
(Master); then we
can know and
experience God's
peace, love and
plan for our lives.
Pascal’s Conversion
Pascal’s conversion to Christianity. Found in the lining of his coat on his death
Monday, Nov 23,
1654
Certitude.
Certitude.
Feeling. Joy.
Peace.
God of Jesus
Christ.
"Thy God and
my God." (Jn
20:17)
Forgetfulness
of the world and
of everything,
except God.
“Memorial
In the year of grace, 1654,
On Monday, 23rd of November, Feast of St Clement,
Pope and Martyr,
And others in the Martyrology,
Vigil of St Chrysogonus, Martyr, and others,
From about half past ten in the evening until about
half past Twelve,
Fire!
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, (Ex
3:6; Mt 22:32)
Not of the philosophers and scholars.
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.
God of Jesus Christ.
"Thy God and my God." (Jn 20:17)
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything,
except God.
He is to be found only in the ways taught in the
Gospel.
Greatness of the Human Soul.
"Righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee,
But I have known Thee." (Jn 17:25)
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.
I have separated myself from Him.
"They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living
waters." (Jn 2:13)
"My God, wilt Thou leave me?" (Mt 27:46)
Let me not be separated from Him eternally.
"This is eternal life,That they might know Thee, the
only true God, And Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent." (Jn 17:3) Jesus Christ...
Let me not be
separated from
Him eternally.
"This is eternal
life,That they
might know
Thee, the only
true God, And
Jesus Christ,
whom Thou
hast sent." (Jn
17:3)
Joy, joy, joy,
tears of joy.
Pascal’s Conversion (cont)
“Jesus Christ
I have separated myself from Him:
I have fled from Him,
denied Him,
crucified Him.
Let me never be separated from Him.
We keep hold of Him only by the ways taught in the
Gospel.
Renunciation, total and sweet.
Total submission to Jesus Christ and to my
director.
Eternally in joy for a day's training on earth.
"I will not forget thy words." (Ps 119:16) Amen.
Pascal’s Conversion (cont)
PRAYER (traditional language):Almighty God, who didst grant to thy servant Blaise Pascal a Great intellect, that he might
explore the mysteries of thy creation, and didst kindle in his heart a love for thee and a devotion to thy service: Mercifully
grant to us thy servants, according to our several callings, gifts of excellence in body, mind, and will, and the grace to use
them diligently and to thy glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever.
PRAYER (contemporary language):
Almighty God, who gave your servant Blaise Pascal
a great Intellect, that he might explore the
mysteries of your creation, and who kindled in his
heart a love for you and a devotion to your service:
Mercifully give us your servants, according to our
various callings, gifts of excellence in body, mind,
and will, and the grace to use them diligently and to
your glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever.”
(translation by Emile Caillet and John C. Blankenagel, Great Shorter Works of Pascal, Philadelphia,
Westminster Press, 1948). See http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/233.html
Solomon’s Sage Advice...
11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly
embedded nails-given by one Shepherd.
Solomon’s Sage Advice
12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
12b. Of making many books there
is no end, and much study wearies
the body.
13. Now all has been heard; here is
the conclusion of the matter: Fear
God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole [duty] of man.
Ecclesiastes 12