Science vs God

Dr Amir D. Aczel, author of 17 books on mathematics and science, writes for Time magazine on why science does not disprove God.

Science is an amazing, wonderful undertaking: it teaches us about life, the world and the universe. But it has not revealed to us why the universe came into existence.

Biological evolution has not brought us the slightest understanding of how the first living organisms emerged from inanimate matter on this planet.

Neither does it explain one of the greatest mysteries of science: how did consciousness arise in living things? Where do symbolic thinking and self-awareness come from?

But much more important than these conundrums is the persistent question of the fine-tuning of the parameters of the universe: Why is our universe so precisely tailor-made for the emergence of life?

This question has never been answered satisfactorily, and I believe that it will never find a scientific solution. For the deeper we delve into the mysteries of physics and cosmology, the more the universe appears to be intricate and incredibly complex. To explain the quantum-mechanical behaviour of even one tiny particle requires pages and pages of extremely advanced mathematics.

Science and religion are two sides of the same deep human impulse to understand the world, to know our place in it, and to marvel at the wonder of life and the infinite cosmos we are surrounded by. Let’s keep them that way, and not let one attempt to usurp the role of the other.

Extract from time.com ‘Why Science Does Not Disprove God’