Science and faith: how Christians think about big questions

Ages 13 to 17 Read alone · about 60 minutes

Read together

Science and faith ask different kinds of questions. Science asks how the natural world works, and tests answers with evidence. Faith asks about meaning, purpose and what God is like. Many Christians, including many scientists, see the two as working together. Others feel tension between them.

Christians hold a range of views about the Genesis creation stories and the age of the Earth. Some read Genesis 1 as a literal six days and believe the Earth is young. Others accept an ancient Earth and read the days as periods or as a literary framework. Others accept evolution as God's way of creating, often called evolutionary creation. Some argue for intelligent design, which most scientific bodies do not count as science. Mainstream scientific organisations hold that evolution by natural selection and an Earth about 4.5 billion years old are well supported by evidence.

History matters too. In 1633 the Church tried Galileo over his support for a sun-centred solar system, and it later said it had handled the matter wrongly. Gregor Mendel, the founder of genetics, was a friar. In 1996, Pope John Paul II said that evolution is “more than a hypothesis”. The Christians who disagree about origins still share the faith that God is Creator.

Do it

1. Write two columns: “What science asks and how it checks” and “What faith asks and how it reasons”. Add three questions to each.
2. Read Genesis 1 and Psalm 19 slowly. What do they say about God and about the world? What kinds of things do they not try to say?
3. Read about one Christian scientist, such as Gregor Mendel, Francis Collins or Georges Lemaître (a Catholic priest and physicist who proposed the origin of the expanding universe). What did their faith mean to them?
4. Talk with a grown-up from your church about how they understand creation. Ask respectfully and listen for what you share.

Talk about it

• What kinds of questions can science answer well?
• How can Christians who disagree about origins still treat each other with love?

For the grown-up

This lesson is meant to help teens think, not to settle the question for them. It reports what scientific bodies say about evolution and the age of the Earth, and it describes honestly the range of Christian views. Your family and church may hold a particular view, and you are free to share it. Aim for curiosity, honesty and kindness, and be careful not to suggest that a teen must choose between loving God and loving truth. If your teen is struggling with doubt, see the lesson on doubt, prayer and community.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• Alister E. McGrath, Science and Religion: A New Introduction, 2nd ed. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
• Ronald L. Numbers, The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design, expanded ed. (Harvard University Press, 2006)
• National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine, Science, Evolution, and Creationism (National Academies Press, 2008)
• Pope John Paul II, Message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Evolution (22 October 1996)

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.