The reason I started studying science apologetics is because I saw many students having trouble reconciling the two. The debate between faith and science seems to always be one that troubles many believers. Instead of allowing science to cause doubts, I felt like when properly understood, we can actually use science to point to God. As I have studied the sciences, I have found that they have strengthened my faith rather than weakened it.

It is for this reason that it saddens me when I hear of someone leaving Christianity because they started studying science. For my final test in my Creation vs. Evolution class, we had to watch a video advocating for evolution and then respond. In this video, there was a college student who grew up in a Christian home but then began to doubt his faith when he learned about evolution in college.

The biggest problem I see is that many videos showing the difference between creation and evolution only present one view of creation. It seems like people from both sides of the debate are not properly representing the other side. Ask most Christians if they believe in evolution and they will say no. Then ask them to define evolution and many will have trouble. Does it seem reasonable to reject something that you don’t even know how to define? The same is true for many on the side of evolution. The thing I see in video after video advocating for evolution is that they only present the young-earth view, and then they find the craziest person explaining it so it just sounds ridiculous.

This video I watched for my final presented the debate between creation and evolution and really only gave two possibilities; young-earth or evolution. There creationists interviewed admitted to only being taught young-earth creationism and that it is the only correct view. If anything was presented other than a literal six days, then it was looked at as heresy. Even bringing up the Big Bang made the father question, “Which day did that happen?” At one point a creationist was speaking to a church and taught them to say, “Where you there?” whenever a person mentions millions of years. The problem is that he wasn’t there even if the earth is only 6,000 years old, so he has the same issue. Claiming that you have to be at an event in order to know it happened would destroy every single history department.

I think it is arguments like these that make Christians seem unreasonable. Is that really the best we have to offer? Can we only ask what day something happened or ask them if they were there? I don’t think so. I think that Christians need to be engaged in this discussion and that we need to do it reasonably and informed. If we can do this, then I think we will see a difference in students questioning their faith when it comes to this issue.

It is presented that the Bible and science cannot go together and therefore you either do bad science if you’re a creationist or you do bad theology if you believe in evolution. The problem is that this attitude only allows for one interpretation of the sciences and one interpretation of theology. This however creates a false dichotomy. There aren’t only two options, and we have to be willing to look at the evidence and see where it leads us.

There are many scientific discoveries that seem to point to evolution. There are similarities in DNA, homology of bone structures, and even examples of micro-evolution. Fossils have been found that seem to be transitional species. If not understood properly, this can cause Christians to have serious doubts. Instead of dismissing these things as not important the same way evolutionists sometimes dismiss creationists and being unreasonable, lets get a better understanding of the data so that we can have an intelligent discussion.

Christians are able to explain the beginning of the universe, the origin of life, and the scientific evidence without just saying, “God did it.” This is what the students in the video were looking for. They wanted to use science to better understand God instead of having to throw out science and say “God did it.” The great we can use science to point to God.

Therefore, I am convinced that if we begin to teach a better understanding of science to students from a younger age, then there is a less chance of students doubting thier faith in college. The reason I am taking these classes is because I think there is a big disconnect between science and faith among Christian youth. We do not need to be afraid of science like the students in the video were. We also don’t need to throw faith out the window in order to accept science. God is the creator of both the natural world and His Word. It is for this reason that I believe we are able to look at both science and faith and come to a better understanding of how the world works without having them contradict