Cosmologist Paul Davies on Faith

Colossians 4:6
“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

I could easily fill up today’s entire Creation Moments broadcast by listing the scientific accomplishments and affiliations of Paul Davies. His research interests span the fields of cosmology, quantum field theory and astrobiology.

An opinion piece he wrote in 2010 for the New York Times angered many evolutionists when he argued that the faith scientists have in the immutability of physical laws has origins in Christian theology. Davies responded to their criticisms by saying, “I was dismayed at how many of my detractors completely misunderstood what I had written. Indeed, their responses bore the hallmarks of a superficial knee-jerk reaction to the sight of the words ‘science’ and ‘faith’ juxtaposed.”

Well, what Davies wrote in London’s Guardian newspaper in 1982 would have angered them even more. “Something strange is happening to the universe,” he wrote. “In the words of the astronomer Fred Hoyle, it is as though somebody has been monkeying with the laws of nature. A once-popular argument with theologians was to point out how astonishingly well ordered the universe is, how harmoniously its components dovetail together. All this, it was reasoned, must be the result of design, and therefore evidence of a Great Designer. Yesterday’s theologians would have been delighted with today’s discovery of just how delicately balanced the cosmic order turns out to be.”

Though Davies freely admits he is “not a religious man,” he brings a calm and mature voice to the debate over origins that other evolutionists would be wise to follow.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that the debate over origins would take place in a dialog that is free from emotional outbursts and name calling. Let our discussions kindle more light and less heat. Amen.

Author: Steven J. Schwartz
Ref: A. “The Great Conundrum in the Sky”, The Guardian, 9/2/82, p. 17. “Taking Science on Faith”. New York Times. 10/2/10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Davies. Photo: Paul Davies in 2006. (PD)

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