This shows us that science and religion are not conflicting
sources of information, but that, on the contrary, science is a method that
verifies the absolute truths provided by religion. The clash between
religion and science can only hold true for certain religions that incorporate
some superstitious elements as well as divine sources. However, this is
certainly out of the question for Islam, which relies only on the pure
revelation of God. Moreover, Islam particularly advocates scientific
enquiry, and announces that probing the universe is a method to explore the
creation of God. The following verse of the Quran addresses this issue:
“Do they not look at the sky above them? How We have
built it and adorned it, and there are no rifts therein? And the earth -
We have spread it out, and set thereon mountains standing firm, and caused it
to bring forth plants of beauteous kinds (in pairs). An insight and a
Reminder for every slave who turns to God. And We send down from the sky
blessed water whereby We give growth unto gardens and the grain of crops.
And tall palm-trees, with shoots of fruit-stalks, piled one over another.”
(Quran 50:6-10)
As the above verses imply, the Quran always urges people to
think, to reason and to explore everything in the world in which they
live. This is because science supports religion, saves the individual
from ignorance, and causes him to think more consciously; it opens wide one’s
world of thought and helps one grasp the signs of God self-evident in the
universe. Prominent German physicist Max Planck said:
Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of
any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science
are written the words: Ye must have faith. It is a quality which the
scientist cannot dispense with. (J. De Vries, Essential of Physical Science,
Wm.B.Eerdmans Pub.Co., Grand Rapids, SD 1958, p. 15.)
All the issues we have treated so far simply put it that the
existence of the universe and all living things cannot be explained by
coincidences. Many scientists who have left their mark on the world of
science have confirmed, and still confirm this great reality. The more
people learn about the universe, the higher does their admirations for its
flawless order become. Every newly-discovered detail supports creation in
an unquestionable way.
The great majority of modern physicists accept the fact of
creation as we set foot in the 21st century. David Darling also maintains
that neither time, nor space, nor matter, nor energy, nor even a tiny spot or a
cavity existed at the beginning. A slight quick movement and a modest quiver
and fluctuation occurred. Darling ends by saying that when the cover of
this cosmic box was opened, the tendrils of the miracle of creation appeared
from beneath it.
Besides, it is already known that almost all the founders of
diverse scientific branches believed in God and His divine books. The
greatest physicists in history, Newton ,
Faraday, Kelvin and Maxwell are a few examples of such scientists.
In the time of Isaac Newton, the great physicist, scientists
believed that the movements of the heavenly bodies and planets could be
explained by different laws. Nevertheless, Newton believed that the creator of earth and
space was the same, and therefore they had to be explained by the same
laws. He said:
“This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets
could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful
Being. This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but
as Lord over all, and on account of His dominion. He is wont to be called
Lord God, Universal Ruler.” (“Principia”)
As is evident, thousands of scientists who have been doing
research in the fields of physics, mathematics, and astronomy since the
Middle-Ages all agree on the idea that the universe is created by a single
Creator and always focus on the same point. The founder of physical
astronomy, Johannes Kepler, stated his strong belief in God in one of his books
where he 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.” (Dan Graves,
Scientists of Faith, p. 51)
The great physicist, William Thompson (Lord Kelvin), who
established thermo-dynamics on a formal scientific basis, was also a Christian
who believed in God. He had strongly opposed Darwin ’s theory of evolution and totally
rejected it. In 1903, short before his death, he made the unequivocal
statement that, “With regard to the origin of life, science... positively
affirms creative power.” (David Darling, Deep Time, Delacorte Press, 1989, New
York.)
One of the professors of physics at Oxford University ,
Robert Mattheus states the same fact in his book published in 1992 where he
explains that DNA molecules were created by God. Mattheus says that all
these stages proceed in a perfect harmony from a single cell to a living baby,
then to a little child, and finally to an adolescent. All these events
can be explained only by a miracle, just as in all the other stages of
biology. Mattheus asks how such a perfect and complex organism can emerge
from such a simple and tiny cell and how a glorious human is created from a
cell even smaller than the dot on the letter ‘I’. He finally concludes
that this is nothing short of a miracle. (Robert Matthews, Unraveling the Mind
of God, London Bridge, July, 1995, p.8)
Some other scientists who admit that the universe is created
by a Creator and who are known by their cited attributes are:
Robert Boyle (the father of modern chemistry)
Iona William Petty (known for his studies on statistics and
modern economy)
Michael Faraday (one of the greatest physicists of all
times)
Gregory Mendel (the father of genetics; he invalidated
Darwinism with his discoveries in the science of genetics)
Louis Pasteur (the greatest name in bacteriology; he
declared war on Darwinism)
John Dalton (the father of atomic theory)
Blaise Pascal (one of the most important mathematicians)
John Ray (the most important name in British natural
history)
Nicolaus Steno (a famous stratigrapher who investigated
earth layers)
Carolus Linnaeus (the father of biological classification)
Georges Cuvier (the founder of comparative anatomy)
Matthew Maury (the founder of oceanography)
Thomas Anderson (one the pioneers in the field of organic
chemistry)
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