Faith and science

When 16-year-old Noelle Kraus questions her father about the different perceptions of biblical teachings and science, of creation and evolution, he listens. He’s a research scientist at the Los Alamos [N.M.] National Laboratory where he leads a group investigating human brain function.

Although Bob Kraus describes the communication in his family as “open, honest and challenging,” he also says that occasionally he answers Noelle’s questions and those of her older sister, Michelle, a student at California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, in what he calls “faith letters.” This allows him to organize his thoughts and gives his daughters the chance to consider them in a thoughtful, private time. Here is one of these letters.

My dear Noelle,

You’ve asked how I can possibly be a scientist and still hold a strong faith in God and Jesus. For me science actually strengthens my faith, and my faith adds depth and meaning to science.

In today’s world the religious stuff we associate with faith seems so often to be at odds with science. During, oh, say Martin Luther’s time, science more or less complemented the Christian religion. This was probably because the state of science in those days didn’t challenge the precepts of faith or religion.