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Martin Dove's web space: faith
This is the bit of my web space where I tell you a little about my spiritual side. Many people have the impression that scientists are, by inclination, atheists, or at least agnostics. This impression is fuelled, at least in part, by a number of scientists who are very vocal (and hence famous, I say cynically) and somewhat evangelical in their desire to push a "there is no God" agenda. However, the number of scientists who have some sort of religious faith is nowhere near as small as some might imagine, and I count amongst them.
So what do I believe and why? I was brought up as a christian by my parents, wavered a bit in my mid-teeage years, but came out of my teenage years with a settled christian faith. I tend towards what is labelled an evangelical faith, but one has to be careful here because these labels can be very confusing. Many of the problems that exist in the science vs christianity discussions hinge on how we interpret the parts of the Bible that are claimed to be in conflict with science, the most obvious example being the account of creation in the book of Genesis. In short, I do not find it hard to reconcile faith in a creator God with science without being silly about either; I am very happy that evidence points to an old age for the Earth and the Universe, I am happy with our understanding of evolution, and I am happy with the idea of the Big Bang. Similarly I am quite sure that the book of Genesis reflects the truth that the universe, our planet and life were created by God without having to impose a twenty-first century literal interpretation on the words. I am quite sure that the generations of Israelites who handed down and edited the stories of Genesis understood them as myth rather than as literal accounts, not least because they would have known that (contrary to the exact words in the Genesis story) that the Sun had to exist before the light that defines day and night.
I have no proof that God existed, but neither do atheists have any proof that God doesn't exist. Similarly, I have no proof that my christian faith is right and other faiths wrong (or perhaps not quite as right). What we all have to do – whether we are christians, members of other faiths, agnostics or atheists – is come to our own conclusions based on the evidences and experiences we have individually. We then have the duty to respect other people's views as a matter of equality. We also all have a right to explain our own views, and indeed the right to argue the merits of our beliefs, but no-one has a right to impose their own conclusions on others. In this regard, I note (and give my support) that organisations such as the Institute of Physics recognise that faith is a valid part of the whole-life experience of some physicists, in defiance of some who argue that such organisations should have no sympathy to the idea that some physicists can have religious faith.
So how does my christian faith work out in practice? Our family are members of St John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Cambridge. Kate and I run the Sunday School, which involves us leading small groups most weeks. I also organise a small music group, mostly composed of young people, who play in all-age services once a month. One fun thing we do is run the Christmas morning service each year, and I have written a number of scripts that I have made available for other people to use. I also serve on the church council.
