TRUMPING
GOD WITH SCIENCE

Topics: Afterlife; Atheism; Belief; Creation; Creator; Experiencing God; Fellowship with God; Hope; Knowing God; Meaning of Life; Nature; Religion; Science; Worldview

References: Genesis 1:1–2; Psalm 14:1; 104; Isaiah 40:26; John 1:1–3; Romans 1:18–23; Colossians 1:15–17

According to a 2006 Newsweek poll, people in the United States said they believed in God by a margin of 92 to 6. Only 2 percent answered, “Don’t know.” Still, many people are atheists.

Astronomer Carolyn Porco believes science is a better system than God. “Science itself should attempt to supplant God in Western culture by providing the benefits and comforts people find in religion: community, ceremony, and a sense of awe,” Porco says. “Imagine congregations raising their voices in tribute to gravity—the force that binds us all to the earth, and the earth to the sun, and the sun to the Milky Way.”

Porco admits there are limits to finding spiritual fulfillment by exploring the universe—namely, our innate desire to understand what is beyond the universe. She writes, “The people who want to know that they’re going to live forever and meet Mom and Dad in heaven? We can’t offer that.”

—Jerry Adler, “The New Naysayers,” Newsweek (September 11, 2006)