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Faith and Science Are Not at Odds

Science classrooms can often be intimidating places full of beakers, test tubes, numbers, graphs, data tables, and the like. One can easily be overwhelmed by such seemingly daunting instruments and figures. However, when examining the evidence closely, there’s unexpected Truth to be found lying just beneath the surface, if one knows how to look for it. 

 
HS girls science lab 

AN INTELLIGENT DESIGNER

There is a long-standing tension between science and faith. However, these two facets cannot be viewed independently of one another. Evidence of a creator God is woven through science, and one’s faith can be affirmed through the truths seen in science. The two are integrated in a seamless fashion, making it impossible to tease one apart from the other. It is through the knowledge of an Intelligent Designer that one can have a full appreciation and understanding of the evidence nature presents to us, clearly pointing to a creator God when examined in its entirety.
 

PK Hands On

 

One such example comes from the microscopic world around us—the flagellar motor of bacteria. Think about a motor in a boat that makes the propeller turn to propel the boat forward. The flagellar motor works in the same way. It’s just as complicated. It is through the examination of the science of the flagellar motor that one can see the fingerprints of God. There are approximately 50 different parts and pieces to the flagellar motor, including those parts to construct it and those to keep it running. Without any one of these parts, it won’t work. It’s like a mousetrap; take away one one part, and it’s doomed to fail. 

 

Evolution is based on the preservation of features that provide an advantage. All fifty parts and pieces would have to come into existence simultaneously to provide that advantage, which simply isn’t possible. The science itself reveals that this motor must have been created by an Intelligent Designer. 

 

MS Steam planes

 

LEARNING SCIENCE, DEFENDING FAITH


For Christian schools such as Mount Paran Christian School, students have an opportunity to grow their faith through Bible classes, chapels, Bible studies, and small groups. However, there is a more unassuming way that students grow their faith and grow closer to God: the science classroom. 

At MPCS, not only are students taught the laws that govern the natural world, but they’re also taught to design experiments, interpret data, and make claims based on evidence with scientific explanations. More importantly, these skills are ones that can be used to defend one’s faith. Students acquire these skills in science classrooms. Pairing these skills with the data so readily available in nature, students are taught that they can defend their faith with science in addition to the scripture. 


 

HS girls bible

 

SCIENCE TAUGHT FROM A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW

Science is taught through a biblical worldview at MPCS, with a special focus on the creative nature of God. For example, in MPCS high school physics classes, students examine energy and waves, with a particular emphasis on light. Light is a fascinating phenomenon, having the nature of both particles and waves. Students build on their chemistry knowledge and learn that electrons are particles that are really just standing waves that hold the world together. 

Students then compare Jesus to a light wave. In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Jesus is the one who holds the world together. In Colossians it is written, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (1:16-17). From a Christian quantum mechanics viewpoint, Jesus is the light; He is the very essence of what holds this universe together from a standpoint of matter. 

 

LS diamond mine

 

These are examples of the topics that are discussed in science classrooms. Mount Paran Christian School students are free to explore the intersection of faith and science and have teachers who love the Lord, read the Word, and seize opportunities to pause and reflect on a creator in the classroom. Students are taught to look at data and make claims based on the evidence with which they are presented. They learn to construct strong arguments citing evidence, which is a critical skill in sharing one’s faith. The goal of Mount Paran Christian School’s science classes is not to have students be able to recite endless facts about the subject, but to walk away with critical thinking skills that carry over into their daily lives. Students are then equipped with a trifecta of scientific knowledge, critical thinking, and biblical knowledge. 

HS science lab

 

Biblical truths are a part of science at MPCS, just as science is a part of biblical truths. In Romans 1:20, Paul writes, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” This is how we teach science. We equip students to critically evaluate the world around us so that God’s hand is clearly seen in every facet of science, growing students who love the Lord and see truth in the beauty of the design of the world around them.

Dr. Bonnie Stephens is a science teacher at Mount Paran Christian School. Dr. Stephens received a B.S. in Applied Biology from Georgia Tech and a Ph.D. in Biology (concentration in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry) from Georgia State University.  Her teaching career took her to Chattahoochee Tech before she landed at MPCS, where she has enjoyed a career spanning all levels of Biology as well as Environmental Science. Notably, she has been selected by the PAGE STAR student of the year twice as the MPCS STAR Teacher. She also earned her status as a Georgia Independent School Master Teacher in 2019.


To more about the faith-infused elevated educational experience at Mount Paran Christian School, click here.

 

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