Does Science Make God Irrelevant? E-Book

Hans Madueme

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 79

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

How Faith and Science Can Coexist to Glorify Our Creator   Questions surrounding the origins of the universe and the accuracy of biblical accounts place science at the forefront of discussions between atheists and Christians alike. Believers criticize the natural sciences as untrustworthy or even as an enemy of faith, while atheists reprimand Christians for denying empirical facts of nature. Is it possible to rightly love both God and science? In this concise book, author Hans Madueme offers a biblically informed perspective on science, helping readers embrace both faith and science in a responsible and God-glorifying way. Does Science Make God Irrelevant? addresses misconceptions, explains how Christian assumptions make science possible, clarifies the tension between science and miracles, and illustrates ways faith and science can coexist as allies. In turn, readers will see how good science glorifies God and helps us praise our Creator.  - Optimistic: Helps readers maintain a biblically sound worldview and a positive view of science  - Informed Perspective: Author Hans Madueme's medical and theological background informs his thoughts on the topic of faith and science  - Short, Accessible Format: Explains science from a biblical perspective using 4 simple steps - Part of the TGC Hard Questions Series: Equips readers with answers to difficult questions facing today's church

Leseprobe

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“The greatest strength of this exciting, accessible book is the clear way Madueme respects and describes the various interactions between Christianity and science. He rightly notes that the warfare depiction of their relationship has been rejected by historians of science for decades. Where there are conflicts, they by no means characterize the main ways faith and science have rightly interacted for centuries. This is a must-read, if for no other reason than how it debunks the standard narrative about alleged conflicts between Christianity and science, such as the Galileo affair and the Scopes Trial. Madueme knows his stuff, and I highly recommend this book.”

J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Biola University

“As the myth of warfare between science and religion resurges in our culture, many find themselves caught up in disputes over everything from climate to vaccines to evolution. This book may surprise you with its far-ranging review of the complex, often mutualistic relationship between theology and science. Madueme offers a fruitful way of relating science and faith.”

Todd Charles Wood, Founder and President, Core Academy of Science

“Here’s a helpful book that is also fun to read. Hans Madueme explains the relationship between faith and science with wit and humility. More importantly, he directs our awe and amazement of creation to its proper aim—to worship of the Creator.”

Kenneth Keathley, Research Professor of Theology, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, Faith and Science: A Primer for a Hypernatural World

“What an attractive book! It’s brief, highly readable, and full of carefully deployed knowledge. Hans Madueme speaks to many kinds of people, from young Christians puzzled by the alleged hostility between faith and science to inquirers wondering whether the Christian faith shows intellectual virtue. Well worth your time!”

C. John Collins, Professor of Old Testament, Covenant Theological Seminary; author, Science and Faith: Friends or Foes?

“Hans Madueme provides an irenic and evenhanded account of the common approaches to understanding the relationship between science and religious belief. In answer to his question ‘Does science make God irrelevant?,’ he gives a resounding no! I highly recommend this short introduction to an important subject.”

Stephen C. Meyer, Director, Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture; author, Return of the God Hypothesis

“Today, a destructive narrative permeates our culture and the church: Science and Christianity are at odds. Highly respected theologian Hans Madueme effectively challenges this false narrative. Having spent years working at the frontier of the science-faith conversation, he is well suited to remind us of the role Christianity played in the origin of modern science. By presenting the reader with the appropriate theological and philosophical frameworks, he ably guides us to the conclusion that Christianity fully harmonizes with science.”

Fazale “Fuz” Rana, biochemist; President and CEO, Reasons to Believe

Does Science Make God Irrelevant?

TGC Hard Questions

Jared Kennedy, Series Editor

Did the Resurrection Really Happen?, Timothy Paul Jones

Does God Care about Gender Identity?, Samuel D. Ferguson

Does Science Make God Irrelevant?, Hans Madueme

Is Christianity Good for the World?, Sharon James

What Does Depression Mean for My Faith?, Kathryn Butler, MD

Where Is God in a World with So Much Evil?, Collin Hansen

Why Do We Feel Lonely at Church?, Jeremy Linneman

Does Science Make God Irrelevant?

Hans Madueme

Does Science Make God Irrelevant?

© 2025 by Hans Madueme

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Ben Stafford

Cover images: Unsplash

First printing 2025

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

Scripture quotation marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-9797-8 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-9799-2 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-9798-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Madueme, Hans, 1975– author. 

Title: Does science make God irrelevant? / Hans Madueme. 

Description: Wheaton, Illinois : Crossway, 2025. | Series: TGC hard questions | Includes bibliographical references and index. 

Identifiers: LCCN 2024038937 (print) | LCCN 2024038938 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433597978 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781433597985 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433597992 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Science and religion. | Christianity. 

Classification: LCC BL239 .M35 2025 (print) | LCC BL239 (ebook) | DDC 261.5/5—dc23/eng/20250103

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024038937

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024038938

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2025-03-19 02:57:11 PM

Contents

Does Science Make God Irrelevant?

Notes

Recommended Resources

Scripture Index

A growing number of people believe the earth is flat. No one knows exactly how many people share this belief, but a recent survey showed that 10 percent of 1,134 respondents believe the earth is flat—with 9 percent unsure.1 In 2017, the American rapper B.o.B started a GoFundMe page to prove flat-earth theory by launching a satellite into space. That same year, NBA player Kyrie Irving made waves in a podcast interview defending a flat-earth cosmology. He later recanted and explained how viewing too much YouTube brainwashed him. You can roll your eyes, but an alarming number of people have been converted to a flat-earth view through YouTube disinformation.2

Surely most readers3 will agree that flat-earthism is preposterous (“absolute bonkers,” my son would say). You’re probably not a flat-earther, but if you are an evangelical Christian, you may share some of that view’s skepticism about contemporary science. If you are older, you have seen popular scientific advice about healthy eating, for example, change over the years. At one time, doctors told us low-fat diets reduce heart disease, but now they think some fats have health benefits. Same with eggs—first they were unhealthy; now nutritionists tell us they are healthy. Maybe you have thought, “Scientists change their mind about almost everything if you wait long enough.” In light of how issues have been politicized in North America, many religious people are skeptical about climate change, and in a post-COVID world, Christians concerned about government overreach are often vaccine-skeptical, too.

The trouble with our skepticism is that if we are not careful, we can adopt a warfare understanding of the relationship between science and Christianity. Ironically, the atheist Jerry Coyne reflects the same attitude in his bestselling book Faith vs. Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible. The title tells you what he thinks about religious beliefs. Right from the preface, he pulls no punches: “Faith may be a gift in religion,” he writes, “but in science it’s poison, for faith is no way to find truth.”4 Coyne pits science and faith against each other, on opposite sides of the fence. Yes, believers reject his atheism, but we are often tempted to fight the same battle. Coyne fights for science, we might say, and we fight for faith.

Sadly, parents and churches can respond to this perceived war between science and faith by shielding young people from any serious interaction with mainstream science. They recognize that some scientific beliefs contradict what the Bible says about God and the world we live in, so they shut down their kids’ interaction with secular science altogether. While sincere, this protective approach can backfire. It sets up young people who grow to love science as adults to be skeptical about their childhood faith later in life. At the other extreme, many non-Christians like Coyne agree Christianity and science will always be irreconcilable. The biblical view of origins doesn’t count as genuine knowledge, they say, because it opposes empirical science. What’s more, Scripture is full of supernatural events that cannot be proved scientifically: at best, science is agnostic about a world where miracles happen; at worst, science denies such a world exists.

I wrote this book for young Christians who love Jesusand science. Our society keeps telling you science and faith can’t get along, but deep down you hope for an evangelical faith that takes science seriously. My aim in this book is to show you why that hope is entirely justified. Science and faith are intimate friends. The book unfolds in four steps: (1) criticizing the contemporary idea that science and faith have always been enemies, (2) explaining how Christian assumptions make science possible, (3) clarifying the perceived tension between science and miracles in the Bible, and (4) illustrating some ways faith and science can coexist as allies. By the end of the book, I hope you will be able to see how good science glorifies God.