Faith vs. Science?

For some reason today I was thinking about Faith and Science and Art.

A lot has been said about Faith vs. Science. A lot of people feel very strongly one way or the other. The Scopes "Monkey" trial was probably the biggest display, but we're still arguing these things today.

I feel like folks on both the faith and the science side of things are missing the boat. It's not faith vs. science, it's faith and science, or faith with science and vice-versa.

It's about truth. Pontius Pilate asked Jesus "What is Truth?" and we're right there with him, asking the same question in our day and time. What is truth? What is the truth about life, in general? And the truth about my life, right here right now?

Jesus doesn't answer him in words but if we look at his life and ministry, we can see a much bigger answer in his actions and his teachings.

In his life I see a person who broke the laws of phyics and medicine, but also broke the rules of society and culture.

In his teachings I see truth that is much bigger than either a scientific equation or a confession of faith. Is a parable true? Well, the story of the Good Samaritan never really happened, but does that make it any less true?

Or the Creation story in Genesis. Is it true? Well it may have physically happened that way, but I don't think it really matters one way or another. When I read the story, I find truth, not about geology, astronomy, biology and evolution, but a story (a poem!) about a beautiful creation that was done entirely from scratch by a powerful and loving God. To make it say something about evolution is like asking an eagle to dig into the ground - that's just not what it's meant to do.

In my life, I feel like I have moments when the beauty of life really strikes me, "thin moments" where the veil between Creature and Creation seems to disappear. And I've found that these moments come in all different situations. It can be reading scripture for sure. But it can also be reading a story of pure fiction, watching a movie, gazing at a painting or a sculpture, or seeing someone else do what they are meant to do. I've even had such an experiment when studying math or seeing the amazing, elegant beauty of science at its best.

Truth is a multi-faceted, shape-shifting thing. There's no one statement that can define all truth. I think that's probably why Jesus didn't answer Pilate. What could he say? Suffice it to say, for us, that Jesus was and still is the truth. In all its complexity, in all its many forms. With that in place, there is no particular type of truth that we should ever be afraid of.