Evidence of an apparent conflict between religion and science is
everywhere: Time Magazine features a debate between a nationally
known atheist author and an imminent Christian scientist, a
newspaper article condemns those who advocate intelligent design,
legislatures fight over what can and cannot be taught in public
schools, courts intervene in cases that involve issues of faith
and science, three of ten candidates in a presidential debate say
they do not believe in evolution while the other seven say they
do. The controversy affects national and local policy, influences
education, and, some argue, could degrade our way of life if
scientific advancement or religious belief and practice are
stifled. The conflict is being waged on two levels. The public
level is a continuing war among relatively few activists. We see
warring books and articles, contentious town meetings, lawsuits,
legislative efforts, private schools, and other efforts by each
side to win and make sure the other loses. The other level of the
debate, like the submerged portion of an iceberg, is larger, more
insidious, and ultimately more hurtful to society. This conflict
is within the hearts and minds of a vast number of people who
sense an “either/or” conflict between the religion they believe
and the science they see, hear, and experience. This conflict has
no clear battle lines and no obvious winner or loser, but a high
mortality rate that includes all those people, particularly young
people, who simply opt out. Some check out of religion and become
“de-facto agnostics” who cl a faith when the chips are down,
but don’t practice it or get anything from it. Others check out
of science and reason. They allow their faith and their views
about the Bible to kill their intellectual curiosity, and they
look scientific truth in the face but refuse to see it. For the
most part, this conflict boils down to different beliefs among
people of faith about scripture, evolution, and the “isms” that
each has spawned. Most interpret the Bible and understand science
in ways that make finding an intellectually satisfying resolution
to the presumed conflict frustrating and even y. Any attempt
to reconcile the two requires learning new words that initially
sound like so much gobbledygook, reading an array of books and
articles that usually present only one side of a multi-faceted
issue and tend to obfuscate rather than enlighten, and making
judgments without all the facts. The purpose of Reconciling the
Bible and Science: A Primer on the Two Books of God is to take
the fog out of the controversy by telling in simple language the
story of the “Book of Scripture” and the “Book of Nature.” The
work is ed primarily at Christians and seekers who don’t need
proof of God but do seek a better understanding of the
relationship between their faith and science. It will be helpful
to those who are having difficulty reconciling their faith with
what they learn about science, those whose faith prevents them
from fully exploring science with an open mind, those who se
the teaching of evolution because they feel it is a threat to
faith, or others who just don’t know where to turn. Reconciling
the Bible and Science is based on a college level course that
Lynn Mitchell has taught for many years in colleges, churches,
and on television. It explains that faith in God and a belief in
the Bible do not preclude acceptance of science, and that the two
can in fact co-exist—perhaps even complement one another. It does
not try to convince readers of the validity of evolution or of a
particular approach to religious practice, but maintains that we
all should be free to make our own judgments about faith in God
without being constrained by anything science can discover, and
about science unfettered by presumed constraints of the Bible. An
“Introduction” piques the readers’ interest, introduces the
debate, and frames the issue as one involving
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