That Christian belief provided the fertile soil for scientific experimentation is recognized by scientists, historians, and philosophers. Dr. Peter Hodgson, lecturer in nuclear physics at Oxford University, said, “Christianity provided just those beliefs that are essential for science, and the whole moral climate that encouraged its growth.” The historian Herbert Butterfield stated that “science is a child of Christian thought.” The philosopher John MacMurray put it like this: “Science is the legitimate child of a great religious movement, and its genealogy goes back to Jesus.”
It is a well-established fact that for much of history Christianity and scientific study have been allies and not opponents.
Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) laid the foundations of modern astronomy and the scientific revolution by suggesting, on mathematical grounds, that the earth traveled around the sun. He held office in the Polish church as a Canon of Frauenburg Cathedral and described God as “the Best and Most Orderly Workman of all.”
Mathematician, physicist, and astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was the founder of modern mechanics and experimental physics. He argued that the earth was not the center of the universe. Although he was persecuted by the church, he was a devout Catholic Christian and once said, “There are two big books, the book of nature and the book of supernature, the Bible.”
The founder of modern optics was the brilliant early astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), best known for his discovery of the three principles of planetary motion. He was a deeply sincere Lutheran and said that he was “thinking God’s thoughts after Him.”
Perhaps the greatest scientist of all time was Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). He was certainly one of the most towering scientific intellects in history. He is well known for his formulation for the laws of gravity. He was also an expert in the fields of optics, astronomy, and differential calculus, and he was responsible for the first correct analysis of white light. He believed in the inspiration of Scripture and wrote theological as well as scientific books, regarding his theological books as more important. He believed that no sciences were better attested than the religion of the Bible.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was one of the greatest scientists of the nineteenth century. He discovered the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction. He was the first to produce an electric current from a magnetic field. He invented the first electric motor and dynamo. Again, the Christian faith was the single most important influence upon him.
