R. This is a pretty big question. Also, right about what?
Most Lutherans believe that science and religion are looking at the same kinds of issues from two different perspectives. The ELCA teaches that:
“Science and technology are expressions of the human responsibility to learn and predict, imagine and invent for the sake of caring for creation together. The God-given gifts of science and technology should be used only as a means to respect and promote communities, life and human dignity.”
It is a means of learning about the world that God has created. Of figuring out the what.
Religion is focused on figuring out the why and the who. So, we believe that God is the creator of all things. That God’s creation is good but that it is not exactly how it was intended to be. Religion gives us the base from which we live out our study and use of the creation God has given us stewardship over.
The problem comes when we confuse the two. When we believe that science can tell us the why of things. Or when we believe that religion and particularly the Bible are science texts, then things can become problematic. We are trying to put a square peg into a round hole.
Science, at its worst, can lead humans to believe they are God. Religion, at its worst, can lead humans to believe they totally understand God. But when viewed in the right way, both can give us a greater appreciation of the God who created the universe.
A postscript. We’re trying to see how many people are reading the newsletter in depth. If you read this line, drop me an email and let me know you “found it”. You will be entered into a random drawing for a gift card to Dan and Debbie’s!
Let me know if you have further questions by contacting me.
God’s Blessings,
Pastor Brian
Leave a Reply