A debate about Christianity: faith versus science

Welcome to another installment of Better Bickering, the series in which I take a popular controversial issue and analyze it from each side of the issue. Through this process I hope we can all learn to understand opposing perspectives better, and that we can all strive to argue to learn instead of to win. In this installment I wanted to discuss the issue of a scientific reality of God.

God does not need to be proven; if He exists his existence is confirmed through presence, faith, and devotion, not scientific proof. While there is certainly an available method to definitively determine the reality of God, or at the very least the Eucharistic miracle, a proper scientific study is necessary, just as it is necessary for any scientific impossibility. While this could result in a deeper knowledge of God, it is far from necessary for the Christian community; there’s no need to go through with a study. Claiming the scientific proof of God, however, without going through the necessary steps of a valid and repeatable study, undermines the theological reality of God and falsely adopts the label of scientific reality without proper backing.

The steps necessary to prove God’s existence are common knowledge but have not been taken, so any claimed scientific proof is unfounded. Just as every other impossibility must go through the scientific method to be proven, so too must God, for our case through a test of the Eucharist. A statistically significant random sample of blessed wafers must be tested in a lab to determine their molecular makeup, whether it is actually flesh and blood or just bread and wine. Biological testing can be used to determine the makeup and identity of living flesh, if there is any. The study needs to go through the peer review process and be published in a scientific journal. It is no secret what needs to be done to gain scientific validity. It is by no means necessary, very few people are demanding that God be peer reviewed, but if scientific reality is to be claimed, the process is clear. One-off random instances of red on the wafer or a single sample being tested in a lab are not enough proof, and it is scientifically dishonest to claim true validity. It wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny in any other field of study, and if the church wants to claim scientific reality it shouldn’t there either. The scientific proof of God, or of the Eucharistic miracle, is not necessary, but if it is to be claimed then the proper scientific process must be followed, nothing else will suffice.

The claim of scientific reality without proper proof undermines the theological reality of God. Claiming that God is proven by science makes the proven reality of God equal to the theological one, He is theologically real and He is scientifically real in equal measure. But by not undergoing the proper process and still claiming scientific validity, it implies that God is unable to truly be proven to be real, thus making the claim of undeniable scientific proof an exaggeration or a flat lie. The church appears to need to cheat to claim a scientific reality. Thus, when the scientific and theological realities of God have been presented equally, and the scientific proof cannot be legitimately achieved, it implies that neither can the theological one be. If the theological reality stood on its own, or if the scientific reality came from proper science, then the proof of God would be entirely satisfactory. By claiming an untrue scientific reality that is equal in weight to the theological one however, it weakens the theological reality while adding very little to the faith.

While the steps to scientifically prove the existence of God, or more specifically transubstantiation, are not a secret, there is not an express need to undergo a proper study. Claiming a scientific reality without following the necessary processes however, is scientifically dishonest and undermines the theological reality of God. The church must either stop claiming an unfounded scientific truth, or they must undergo the proper methods to gain true scientific proof. By trying to have their cake and eat it too all the church is doing is undermining the faith and weakening God’s kingdom on earth.

If you want to send in your opinions about the scientific reality of God or suggest issues you want to see evaluated in a future installment please email any and all thoughts to me at wflannery001@csbsju.edu I thank you all for reading and I hope you will all strive to argue to learn rather than to win.