Reality Bites: Do you compartmentalize your faith and your acceptance of science?

'REALITY BITES' is a series of 'bites' from my book:
Reality Check: Science Meets Religion

A short extract from Chapter 1:

Creation is a difficult subject for anyone to fathom—not to mention a time-consuming one—and that is probably why most people leave all the thinking to others and then plump for what they consider to be the most plausible argument. This book allows you to do that but, be warned, it will make you think a little. But it is worth it if the result is a unified view that embraces both science and religion—without compromise.

I believe one of the problems with scientists is that they tend to think that predicting how a sequence of events takes place—better still, putting a formula to it—gives it some inviolate rights of existence which obviate the need for a creator. Yet they do not know how things happen: just how things interact: cause and effect.

Ask a scientist where everything comes from and he will point back billions of years to the ‘Big Bang’ as if this explains everything. They may have formulae covering the expansion of the universe, but whatever happened at the very instant of the Big Bang—at the beginning of time—remains a mystery. Ask where all the energy needed to create the Big Bang came from and the scientist will shrug and say that one day science will have it cracked; it’s just a matter of time. (So who created ‘time’, exactly?) Science assumes this answer will lie in the ‘holy grail’ they call the ‘Theory of Everything’ yet this, despite being named, is really a non-theory: no more than wishful thinking. I think there is more chance of them turning into believers than coming up with that. Three decades ago, Stephen Hawking famously declared a Theory of Everything was on the horizon, with a 50 percent chance of its completion by the year 2000. In 2010, Hawking said he had given up—because there may not be a final theory to discover after all. Yet, somehow, I cannot imagine Hawking will be satisfied with a ‘Theory of Nothing’.

If there ever is a Theory of Everything, surely it must specify that everything comes from a single source? A single source would surely suggest ‘God’ in any case? Great knowledge gives mankind an inflated sense of superiority, which is why many scientists think ‘knowledge’ is the only altar to which they need bow.

The huge gap between science and religion is a hard one for man to grapple with, given his past makes him inclined to believe in a God offering eternal life beyond death; yet his present persuades him to imagine everything came about by chance. Yet how could a universe of space and time just happen by chance? How did energy and space suddenly appear from nowhere? How did time begin? The ‘chicken-and-egg’ riddle has nothing on this.

As a result of this intellectual conflict, a problem many believers face today is the need to compartmentalize their conceptions. On the one hand they have a belief based on ancient religious texts, written in days when man had no knowledge of science. On the other hand they see compelling scientific evidence which sometimes appears to conflict with their religious belief and cast doubt upon it. This uncomfortable juxtaposition is hardly a satisfactory union. Many imagine the only solution is to choose between the two—science or religion—which is why I believe it is time to force a reality check to show this need not be the case. We do not need to have split-personalities to be both believers and realists; but we do need to be pragmatists. I am very certain of this and hope to prove it because religion and science are equally strong ‘beliefs’. Yes, I also use the word ‘belief’ in connection with science because that is all scientific theory really is: faith in itself. If not, why does it change when scientists ‘learn’ more—and hence believe in something new? Ironically, in that respect, religion is far more stable than science.

Reality Check: Science Meets Religion, is a fascinating, accessible and entertaining book which aims to harmonize science and religion and to prove God is a consciousness that exists beyond his creation of space and time. Our consciousness is also external to space-time. The brain is merely a physical reflection of the mind. This book proves mind is external to the physical body, can survive death, and that modern, multidimensional science may help us to understand where Heaven is. Learn more, and watch a video trailer about the book, via the above link. The book includes over 70 links to supporting evidence online.

Watch out for regular 'Reality Bites' extracts in this blog.

A RANDOM READER REVIEW EXTRACT

Extremely well written and researched… Every point is very clear. The analogies are extremely imaginative and very effective. The passion in the work is powerful and every paragraph is thought-provoking... well thought through and persuasive.

—Gareth N