Do You Compartmentalize Your Mind to Rationalize Your Faith With Science?

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.
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 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.
The material within this article is just one of the many topics I cover in my book 'Reality Check: Science Meets Religion'. This book does what the title suggests: brings compatibility between religion and science. You can read more about what the book covers, and watch a video trailer for it, on my author website at: http://www.iankingsley.com/books/reality-check-science-meets-religion/. You might also like to look for my other related EzineArticles.

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