Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

Scientists Seeking God

Scientists, until recently, seldom sought evidence of the existence of God. When they did, it seemed almost defensive against the rationalist and scientific claims that he did not. It wasn’t just that the Biblical stories of creation were obviously fictitious but that Darwinism and emerging theories about the universe seemed to make a creator unnecessary. Against this there developed a common myth that science and religion were diametrically opposed to each other.

It wasn’t so, or it was greatly exaggerated. Nearly half of all scientists continued to believe in God, and not necessarily because of science and in spite of science. The great American evolutionary biologist, Stephen Jay Gould, recognized this:

There is no warfare between science and religion, never was except as a historical vestige of shifting taxonomic boundaries among disciplines. Theologians haven't been troubled by the fact of evolution, unless they try to extend their own domain beyond its proper border . . . Similarly, most scientists show no hostility to religion. Why should we, since our subject doesn't intersect the concerns of theology? . . .  Unless at least half my colleagues are inconsistent dunces, there can be -- on the most raw and direct empirical grounds -- no conflict between science and religion. I know hundreds of scientists who share a conviction about the fact of evolution, and teach it in much the same way. Among these people I note an entire spectrum of religious attitudes -- from devout daily prayer and worship to resolute atheism. Either there's no correlation between religious belief and confidence in evolution – or else half these people are fools. (7)