What Christians believe is derived solely from the canonized scripture, which is the inerrant word of God.  In my various and sporadic readings of Luther and Calvin, I’ve been able to gain a more integrated understanding of God, mankind, and the world, and how they relate to each other.

            What sets Christianity apart is our understanding of the unique relation between God and those who enjoy salvation.  Pagans see God as inhabiting the creatures to varying degrees of holiness, which then leads to the caste system, human sacrifice and other social ills.  Muslims see God as cut-off from man, and it is every “believer’s” endeavor to re-establish that connection and to go to paradise.  However, Christians view Man’s relation to God in terms of the priesthood of the believer, where God is in immediate fellowship with the creature.  As Paul wrote in Romans 5, “through Jesus Christ we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand.”

            This impacts my approach to prayer, which I have found to be an intensified experience when combined with such practices as study, contemplation or fasting.  More recently, I’ve been going through a process of improving my prayer, not so much what I say or how I say it, but making sure that I really mean it.

            Now, what we believe about man’s relation to man strongly influences how we live as Christians, since we naturally live around other people.  Muslims believe they are superior to Christians and Jews, and that Christians and Jews are in turn superior to everyone else.  Even Roman Catholics have very explicit hierarchies, although I think in the end all Christians agree that before God, we are all lost sinners and no one has a claim over anyone else.  So the only distinction among persons is what God chooses to bestow for His own purposes.  And with those distinctions we’re to do as Jesus told James and John, the sons of Zebedee, “whoever would be great among you must be your servant (Mark 10:43).”

            This understanding leaves me with a sense of humility about what I have, and about who I am, and I think this humility can best be reflected in Christian tithing and service.  Have you ever heard a Christian complain about suffering from tithing and from serving others?

            Then, finally there is the relationship of the world relative to God.  And this is wrapped up in the Doctrine of Common Grace.  That is, although the world is corrupted by original sin, good things do happen, and happen regularly.  So instead of a monastic retreat from the world, we are called to be in the world, but not of the world.  We are not just free to pursue, but we are called in to, earthly endeavors (business, science, government, art, etc.). 

            We all enjoy common grace in different ways, and it’s frequently through our avocation.  I’m a scientist, and it has occurred to me that scientific discovery is a specific privilege of common grace – known as natural revelation.  To paraphrase Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper, from whom I have drawn my inspiration here, when you look at something through a microscope or a telescope all you are really doing is seeing things with improved eyes.  But science happens when these observations lead to an understanding of laws, which give us a peak inside the mind of the creator.  In scientific discovery, no matter how minor, another detail on the blueprint of creation has been revealed – and that is a privilege of common grace that scientists experience personally.

A Christian Worldview of Science

            While teaching physics at Calvin College, there are two thrusts of my own world view that I have presented to my students.

1) Science is about the truth.  Without an expectation of immutable fact, science has no secure value.  Science would simply change along with other fads and trends.  I am more guarded in claiming that specific theories reflect absolute truth, though a well tested theory is at least a good model of the truth, if not a statement of it.  In that sense science is about the truth, but it is not THE truth.  However, it is the expectation of absolute truth that compels scientists and Christians to form an unanticipated union.  Christians and scientists find themselves united in opposition to the post-modern teaching that the truth is in the mind of its questioner.

2) Science is a gift from God.  Our capacity to subdue the earth begins with understanding it.  This process was mandated by God (Gen. 1:28), and He has graciously equipped us with the ability to do it successfully.  God’s good work is revealed to us through the study of nature, and per the doctrine of common grace, everybody enjoys this natural revelation, regardless of their faith, or lack thereof.  In this sense, when called to teach science, God’s directive to share science with all people is an act of ministry.