Is God Really Out There? A Scientist's Perspective

[Blog author's note: I didn't write this one.]

I was talking with a neighbor the other day and she said: "My husband
doesn't believe in God because he studies physics."  I couldn't help
but laugh a little as I explained that I am about 5 years into a 6
year physics Ph.D. program and I believe in God.

I always find this sort of attitude amusing.  Years ago when I was a
missionary in Taiwan we ran into an American living there working as
an English teacher who declared to us "Science is my God."  Which
seemed like an odd thing to me, that a method for investigating the
universe who be put on par with the creator of the universe.  Science
is a wonderful tool, but science is not God.  It isn't really a thing
at all it is just a method for quantifying, explaining, and predicting
the world around us. And although it has been very useful in helping
us understand many things it is not well suited to answer all
questions that may arise.  For example: I do not know of a scientific
way to prove that you love someone, or a way to quantify that love (I
love you 3 kilograms... I mean 4 Watts.... maybe 9 parsecs), but love
is real not withstanding.

So it is with God.  He exists, He is our creator, and He loves us.
Science has never disproved this, nor will it ever.  It doesn't matter
if we discover something on our knees praying or with a hundred
billion dollar particle accelerator, the truth is the truth and
eventually all methods of investigation must agree.  Believers should
not feel threatened by science.  For the most part science and
religion occupy independent realms.  Science tries to understand HOW
things happen and religion deals with the underlying WHY things
happen.  While science tries to predict what will happen next,
religion shows us how to influence and respond to those events by
changing our hearts, minds, and actions.  If there ever seems to be a
contradiction between science and religion it means one of two things.
 Either we have misunderstood what God was trying to teach us, or our
scientific understanding isn't yet complete.  Both errors stem from
the fact that we as human beings are imperfect and often misunderstand
what we are taught, both from God and from "science".

The scriptures are full of messages from God to the ancient prophets
instructing us how to be more like Jesus Christ: more loving, kinder,
more thoughtful, patient, and so on.  His living prophets continue to
deliver the same messages.  And until we get these important
principles incorporated into our lives I can't image Heavenly Father
spending his time telling us about quantum mechanics, sting theory, or
the Higgs Boson.  We are largely on our own when it comes to science
(which keeps me employed), but God has taught us all the essential
things.

The more I study the world around me the more I am struck by its
beauty.  I feel very grateful that I live in a time where I can make a
living as a scientist, studying how the world works.  Ever so slowly I
get to put together little tiny pieces of the puzzle of how God
created the universe.  I have a fantastic job.  But as much as I enjoy
that I am even more grateful that God has not left me to figure out
how to live my life on my own.  He has not left me to wonder if I am
just a series of electrical signal in my brain or something more.  I
am a child of God, I existed long before this universe was created and
I will continue to exist long after this life.  While on this earth
Jesus Christ commanded us to be perfect, and I do not believe he was
doing so in jest.  This was not some lofty ideal which we should
aspire to but never hope to reach. It was a real commandment that we
are expected to follow.  And as far away from perfect as I am today I
know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ I can become perfect,
my sins can be washed away with the atoning blood of the Savior.  My
heart can be changed as I follow Him and learn to accept His will.

Now as cool and exciting as science is, it can't compare to knowledge like that.


This is a video about a man named John Lewis, a professor of Planetary Sciences at University of Arizona and MIT. He advises the European and NASA space programs. Here he talks about the science, the universe, and God. Check it out.