Is Christianity a Science Showstopper?

Reasons to Believe is an organization dedicated to the integration of science and faith.

Over at Reasons to Believe, Dr. Fazale Rana has posted this article addressing the question of whether Christianity inhibits scientific advance. It reminds me of an episode of the recent Fox Television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, in which host Neil deGrasse Tyson opined that whenever someone appeals to a divine explanation for a natural phenomenon, it “closes a door. It doesn’t lead to further questions.”

Rana responds that the integration of science and faith actually encourages the questioning process. For example, even if we are convinced that God created all life on earth, were are still free to investigate the question how he did this.

I would add that naturalistic explanations actually inhibit the questioning process in their own way. Whenever someone declares, “Nature did it,” we can no longer legitimately ask questions about meaning, value, or purpose.