Scientists who believed in God

Discussion in 'Religion Archives' started by 1Dude, Mar 31, 2004.

  1. 1Dude Registered Senior Member

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    Sorry All! This is a bit long but I hope you will find it interesting.

    Great Scientists Who Were Also Creationists
    by Timothy R. Stout

    Abstract: Many major fields of science were founded by Bible-believing Christians. A number of these are listed and discussed. Newton, Faraday, Kelvin, and Maxwell, who are among the greatest physicists in history, were all Bible-believing Christians.

    Many of the major fields of science were founded by Christians. This information was taken from the book Men of Science, Men of God by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

    1. Johann Kepler (1571-1630) was the founder of physical astronomy. Kepler wrote "Since we astronomers are priests of the highest God in regard to the book of nature, it befits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God.

    2. Robert Boyle (1627-1691) is credited with being the father of modern chemistry. He also was active in financially supporting the spread of Christianity through missions and Bible translations.

    3. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was one of the greatest early mathematicians, laid the foundations for hydrostatics, hydrodynamics, differential calculus, and the theory of probability. To him is attributed the famous Wager of Pascal, paraphrased as follows: "How can anyone lose who chooses to be a Christian? If, when he dies, there turns out to be no God and his faith was in vain, he has lost nothing--in fact, has been happier in life than his nonbelieving friends. If, however, there is a God and a heaven and hell, then he has gained heaven and his skeptical friends will have lost everything in hell!"

    4. John Ray (1627-1705) was the father of English natural history, considered the greatest zoologist and botanist of his day. He also wrote a book, "The wisdom of God Manifested In The Works of Creation."

    5. Nicolaus Steno (1631-1686) was the father of Stratigraphy. He believed that fossils were laid down in the strata as a result of the flood of Noah. He also wrote many theological works and late in his life took up religious orders.

    6. William Petty (1623-1687) helped found the science of statistics and the modern study of economics. He was an active defender of the Christian faith and wrote many papers sharing evidence of God's design in nature.

    7. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) invented calculus, discovered the law of gravity and the three laws of motion, anticipated the law of energy conservation, developed the particle theory of light propagation, and invented the reflecting telescope. He firmly believed in Jesus Christ as his Savior and the Bible as God's word, and wrote many books on these topics.

    8. Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) was the father of biological taxonomy. His system of classification is still in use today. One of his main goals in systematizing the varieties of living creatures was an attempt to delineate the original Genesis "kinds." He firmly believed in the Genesis account as literal history.

    9. Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was one of the greatest physicists of all time, developed foundational concepts in electricity and magnetism, invented the electrical generator, and made many contributions to the field of chemistry. He was active in the various ministries of his church, both private and public, and had an abiding faith in the Bible and in prayer.

    10. Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) was the founder of the science of comparative anatomy and one of the chief architects of paleontology as a separate scientific discipline. He was a firm creationist, participating in some of the important creation/evolution debates of his time.

    11. Charles Babbage (1792-1871) was the founder of computer science. He developed information storage and retrieval systems, and used punched cards for instruction sets and data sets in automated industrial controls. He was also a Christian with strong convictions and wrote an important book defending the Bible and miracles.

    12. John Dalton (1766-1844) was the father of atomic theory, which revolutionized chemistry. He was an orthodox, Bible-believing Christian.

    13. Matthew Maury (1806-1873) was the founder of oceanography. He believed that when Psalm 8:8 in the Bible talked about "paths in the seas," that there must therefore be paths in the seas. He dedicated his life to charting the winds and currents of the Atlantic and was able to confirm that the sea did indeed have paths, just as spoken of in the Bible.

    14. James Simpson (1811-1879) discovered chloroform and laid the foundation for anesthesiology. He said his motivation to perform the research leading to this discovery was a fascination in the book of Genesis with Adam's deep sleep during the time in which Eve was fashioned from his side. He said his biggest discovery was finding Jesus Christ as Savior.

    15. James Joule (1818-1889) discovered the mechanical equivalent of heat, laying the foundation for the field of thermodynamics. Joule also had a strong Christian faith.

    16. Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) was the father of glacial geology and a great paleontologist. He believed in God and in His special creation of every kind of organism. When Darwin's Origin began to gain favor, Agassiz spoke out strongly against it.

    17. Gregory Mendel (1822-1884) was the father of genetics. He had strong religious convictions and chose the life of a monk. He was a creationist and rejected Darwins's ideas, even though he was familiar with them.

    18. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was the father of bacteriology. He established the germ theory of disease. His persistent objections to the theory of spontaneous generation and to Darwinism made him unpopular with the scientific establishment of his day. He was a Christian with extremely strong religious convictions.

    19. William Thompson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907) is considered one of the all-time great physicists. He established thermodynamics on a formal scientific basis, providing a precise statement of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Lord Kelvin was a strong Christian, opposing both Lyellian uniformitarianism and Darwinian evolution. In 1903, shortly before his death, he made the unequivocal statement that, "With regard to the origin of life, science...positively affirms creative power."

    20. Joseph Lister (1827-1912) founded antiseptic surgical methods. Lister's contributions have probably led to more lives being saved through modern medicine than the contributions of any one else except Pasteur. Like Pasteur, Lister was also a Christian and wrote, "I am a believer in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity."

    21. Joseph Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) developed a comprehensive theoretical and mathematical framework for electromagnetic field theory. Einstein called Maxwell's contributions "the most profound and most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton." Maxwell rejected the theory of evolution and wrote that God's command to man to subdue the earth, found in the first chapter of the book of Genesis in the Bible, provided the personal motivation to him for pursuing his scientific work. He acknowledged a personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

    22. Bernhard Riemann (1826-1866) developed the concept of non-Euclidian geometry, which was used by Einstein in his development of the theory of relativity. Riemann was also a Christian and had hoped to go into the ministry until he got sidetracked by his interest in mathematics. He apparently made several efforts to prove the validity of the book of Genesis using mathematical principles.

    23. Joseph Henry Gilbert (1817-1901) was a chemist who developed the use of nitrogen and superphosphate fertilizers for farm crops and co-developed the world's first agricultural experimental station. He thus laid the foundations for the advances in agricultural science which have provided the means for farmers to feed the large populations in the world today. Gilbert is yet another scientist with a strong faith and demonstrated this by signing the Scientist's Declaration, in which he affirmed his faith in the Bible as the Word of God and expressed his disbelief in and opposition to Darwin's theories.

    24. Thomas Anderson (1819-1874) was one of the initial workers in the field of organic chemistry, discovering pyridine and other organic bases. Like Gilbert, he also signed the Scientist's Declaration, in which he affirmed his faith in the scientific accuracy of the Bible and the validity of the Christian faith.

    25. William Mitchell Ramsay (1851-1939) was among the greatest of all archeologists. He acquired "liberal" theological beliefs during his days as a university student. However, as he began to make various archaeological discoveries in Asia Minor, he began to see that archaeology confirmed the accuracy of the Bible and as a result he became converted to Christianity.

    26. John Ambrose Fleming (1849-1945) was the inventor of the Fleming valve which provided the foundation for subsequent advances in electronics. He studied under Maxwell, was a consultant to Thomas Edison, and also for Marconi. He also had very strong Christian beliefs and acted on those beliefs by helping found an organization called the "Evolution Protest Movement." He wrote a major book against the theory of evolution.

    27. Werner Von Braun (1912-1977) was the father of space science. He wrote, ."..the vast mysteries of the universe should only confirm our belief in the certainty of its Creator. I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science."

    28. Albert Einstein (1879-1955), formulator of the theory of relativity, which is one of the single greatest intellectual accomplishments in the history of man. Einstein was Jewish and thus did not follow in the Christian tradition of Newton or Faraday. He did not believe in a personal God, such as is revealed even in the Jewish Bible. Yet, he was overwhelmed by the order and organization of the universe and believed this demonstrated that there was a Creator.

    So, many if not most of the major branches of science were founded by Bible-believing Christians. As a physicist I also find it intriguing that the five greatest physicists in history--Newton, Faraday, Thompson, Maxwell, and Einstein--were each outspoken in their belief that the universe was placed here by a Creator. Furthermore, four of the five were staunch Christians with firm convictions that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God.
     
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  3. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    Your title is misleading. Few of the men you mention were Creationists. A Creationist is somebody who believes in the literal truth of the Genesis story. I would be interested in any evidence you have that any of the "big five" you mention were creationists.

    On the other hand, these men were certainly Christians (except for Einstein, who once opined that the religion most compatible with his own views was probably Buddhism). This is not unexpected. They were men of their time, and at the time most western European people identified themselves as Christian.

    There is a valuable lesson here, too - that very smart people are not always right. Some of the people you mention opposed Darwinian evolution, and they were not alone in that. In fact, it took until around 1940 for the majority of biologists to accept the theory of evolution as fact, simply because insufficient evidence for it had been collected before that.
     
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  5. ConsequentAtheist Registered Senior Member

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    Why should anyone find this "interesting"? Parenthetically, #25 is a bit of a joke.
     
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  7. Zero Banned Banned

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    Oh come on. How could you fail to tack on "Darwin" at the end of the list? Have you no good sense of humor? Don't miss it next time, kiddo.

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    --Long Live the Female Messiah.

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  8. Dr Lou Natic Unnecessary Surgeon Registered Senior Member

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    Most of them were alive when creationism wasn't questioned. "Science" would start with the bible.
    So really they weren't scientists at all.
    And einstein does not belong on that list.
     
  9. spuriousmonkey Banned Banned

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    I'll bet we could make a longer list of scientists who don't believe in creationism.

    But in the end it is just a list. Scientific theories are not weighed on merit by comparing lists of opposing and supporting scientists.
     
  10. 1Dude Registered Senior Member

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    86
    The mere fact that these scientists believed in God does not prove that Christianity is true or even that God exists. Neither does the fact that other scientists are atheists prove that Christianity is not true or that God does not exist. Some people I know actually think that. The same logic must be applied to both equally. Basically, my conclusion from this is that there are very intelligent people on both sides of the fence. Some people are not able to even admit that much.
     
  11. Dr Lou Natic Unnecessary Surgeon Registered Senior Member

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    "Some people are not able to even admit that much."
    Me for one.
    From what I have seen one side of the fence is undeniably far more heavily populated with intelligent people than the other.
    Today atleast.
    once upon a time just about everybody was religious because common knowledge did not have an adequate understanding of the world.
     
  12. spuriousmonkey Banned Banned

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    Of course, intelligence is not linked to 'having the truth'.

    What was your aim of this thread if I may enquire this much?
     
  13. Jan Ardena OM!!! Valued Senior Member

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    13,968
    Dr Lou Natic,

    Most of them were alive when creationism wasn't questioned.

    And your proof of evidence is......?

    So really they weren't scientists at all.

    You forgot to add.."in my opinion.

    And einstein does not belong on that list.

    So please explain these quotes;

    My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.

    As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene....No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.

    Love
    Jan Ardena
     
  14. atheroy Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    383
    Jan
    And your proof of evidence is......?
    You're kidding right?

    Like it was said these were men of their time, it's not a heck of a lot different in some places of the world at the moment. Those tools in bible belt america banning schools from teaching evolution. If you grow up in a staunch society your beliefs will not greatly deviate. If people weren't brought up to believe in religion they'd never know about it. I use myself as proof of that. I was brought up in a totally neutral household and have felt that in terms of knowledge and, even though collectively the human race knows little about anything (relatively), the desire or forgone conclusion of god or religion is irrelevant now. Maybe a hundred or a thousand years ago it was needed, but it's little more than an ingrained social construct that provides some generally valuable morals and what i like to call "blanky" protection.
     
  15. ConsequentAtheist Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,579
    You're cherry-picking. As you no doubt know, the quote is from a radio interview and in response to the question: "You accept the historical existence of Jesus?". On a different occasion he also noted the following:
    To be sure, the doctrine of a personal God interfering with natural events could never be refuted, in the real sense, by science, for this doctrine can always take refuge in those domains in which scientific knowledge has not yet been able to set foot. But I am persuaded that such behavior on the part of the representatives of religion would not only be unworthy but also fatal. For a doctrine which is able to maintain itself not in clear light, but only in the dark, will of necessity lose its effect on mankind, with incalculable harm to human progress.​
     
  16. Jan Ardena OM!!! Valued Senior Member

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    13,968
    atheroy

    You're kidding right? Like it was said these were men of their time,
    it's not a heck of a lot different in some places of the world at the moment.


    So you know for sure that no-one questioned creationism, everybody just conformed to the governments/churches wishes? Because this is the standard of evidence you would need to give credence to your point, otherwise i can only accept it as your opinion which i do not currently agree with.

    If you grow up in a staunch society your beliefs will not greatly deviate.

    Man isn't just about "belief, it is perfectly natural for us to question nature, ourselves, our origins. We generally accept society's teachings up to a certain age, then we start to question. There is a natural need & tendency to question, in the same way there is a natural need for a child to play. I agree some people question more than others (as some children are more playful) and as such some will be happy to accept what they are told without too much question, or any. But you will always find such diversity in human society, and i doubt that time can have an effect on that.

    If people weren't brought up to believe in religion they'd never know about it.

    And ignorance is bliss, yeah?

    I use myself as proof of that. I was brought up in a totally neutral household and have felt that in terms of knowledge and, even though collectively the human race knows little about anything (relatively), the desire or forgone conclusion of god or religion is irrelevant now.

    To say you accept that the human race has little knowledge of everything, you conclusive statement is rather absolute and final. Needless to say i don't share that opinion, but in the same breath there is a type of religion and understanding of God, i find almost irrelivant, which is one where they believe they are the only true religion of God. These i refer to as 'institutionalised religions'.

    Maybe a hundred or a thousand years ago it was needed, but it's little more than an ingrained social construct that provides some generally valuable morals and what i like to call "blanky" protection.

    But that is not religion, that is something to make you feel good. It is always in the interest of ruling powers to give some kind of hope to the masses, a kind of carrot waving. This helps the masses in general, keep some kind of order. Eventually these ruling power will leave their formula of religion behind and jump to the next ship, simply because the old formula will not be accepted by the masses. But this i do not regard as religion, but a mental construct. W
     
  17. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    20,855
    Aside from what James R has mentioned, could it be that the religious views of those scientists might be what they tell the public but may not necessarily be their personal views.
     
  18. Jan Ardena OM!!! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    13,968
    ConsequentAtheist,

    You're cherry-picking.


    This issue is not about me, it is about a quote made by Einstein. please stick to the issue. Thanks.



    I'm sorry, but your reply does nothing to change the meaning. Here it is again.

    "No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."

    Can someone please explain how Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, does not believe in the existence of God especially when he makes statement like the above.

    Jan Ardena.​
     
  19. Raithere plagued by infinities Valued Senior Member

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    3,348
    Nowhere did Einstein ever state that he believed Jesus was God or the son of God. In fact, he repeatedly stated that he did not believe in a personal God which would make him a Deist at most and he specifically stated that a Jesuit would consider him an atheist. All your quote seems to indicate is that he believed Jesus was a real person. Like many people he may have considered Jesus to have been a wise teacher and moralist but an otherwise entirely normal and non-divine person.

    ~Raithere
     
  20. shrubby pegasus Registered Senior Member

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    454

    i dont care if einstein or anyother great scientist believed in any type of god. it is totally a moot point. einstein didnt believe in quantum mechanics either, does that mean QM cannot be real even though we hae insurmountable evidence it is? those scientists lived in a different period than we do, religious belief is very much a result of cultural exposure
     
  21. JustARide America: 51% fucking idiots Registered Senior Member

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    401
    Jan, just a list for your perusal.

    Albert Einstein:


    "I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern without any superhuman authority behind it."

    "I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own - a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms."

    "The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which based on experience, which refuses dogmatic. If there's any religion that would cope the scientific needs it will be Buddhism..."

    "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."

    "It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." (1954, from "Albert Einstein: The Human Side", edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffmann, Princeton University Press.)

    "I am convinced that some political and social activities and practices of the Catholic organizations are detrimental and even dangerous for the community as a whole, here and everywhere. I mention here only the fight against birth control at a time when overpopulation in various countries has become a serious threat to the health of people and a grave obstacle to any attempt to organize peace on this planet."

    "The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."

    "If this being is omnipotent, then every occurrence, including every human action, every human thought, and every human feeling and aspiration is also His work; how is it possible to think of holding men responsible for their deeds and thoughts before such an almighty Being? In giving out punishment and rewards He would to a certain extent be passing judgment on Himself. How can this be combined with the goodness and righteousness ascribed to Him?"

    "It has not done so up to now." (Einstein's reply to a reporter's question if religion will promote peace)

    "Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by laws of nature, and therefore this holds for the action of people. For this reason, a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer, i.e. by a wish addressed to a Supernatural Being."

    "The minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools and press, usually the Church as well, under its thumb. This enables it to organize and sway the emotions of the masses, and make its tool of them."

    "I received your letter of June 10th. I have never talked to a Jesuit priest in my life and I am astonished by the audacity to tell such lies about me. From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist." (Albert Einstein to Guy H. Raner Jr, July 2, 1945, responding to a rumor that a Jesuit priest had caused Einstein to convert from atheism. Article by Michael R. Gilmore in Skeptic magazine, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1997)

    "I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being."

    "The idea of a Being who interferes with the sequence of events in the world is absolutely impossible."


    Albert Einstein regularly made reference to God and "religiosity," but he was referring to a vague sense of wonder that he felt when he pondered the universe. He made it abundantly clear that he did not accept conventional, mainstream religion as, in any way, authoritative. As for his quote about Jesus -- it should be noted that admiring a person or a story does not connote belief in the all the religious baggage attached to him/it.

    Josh

    It's just a ride. - Bill Hicks
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2004
  22. SkinWalker Archaeology / Anthropology Moderator

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    Original source of information: http://www.innercite.com/~tstout/cs/pog_a.shtml

    Bleh. Ramsey was less than reliable (Mitchell & Waelkens, 1998) in his archaeological and historical observations.

    Now Lewis Binford, Walt Taylor, Michael Schiffer, Marvin Harris... these are among the greatest archaeologists.

    Mitchell, Stephen & Waelkens, Marc (1998), Pisidian Antioch: The Site and its Monuments. The Classical Press of Wales; 1 Ed edition
     
  23. ConsequentAtheist Registered Senior Member

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    I take issue with the disingenuous selectivity of your quotes.


    You are very sorry, and the quote offered has everything to do with Einstein and creationism.


    The statement has nothing to do with God.
     

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