Bill Nye's epic debate with Ken Ham of the Creation Museum continued the ongoing debate about the earth's origin.
While young earth creationists like Ham point to the Bible and place the earth's age at 6,000 years old, others rely on scientific evidence that say it's several billion years old. However, the debate does not need to pit science against religion. Plenty of scientists have deeply held Christian beliefs while still agreeing with mainstream scientific beliefs about evolution.
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Here are a few that we know of -- please add to this list by submitting scientists whom you know or admire who have faith and believe in the science of evolution.
Christians Who Believe In The Science Of Evolution
Though the above scientists have faith in God, these scientists below have beliefs that fall on a greater spectrum.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
"The impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief argument for the existence of God."Clarification: The full quote, from one of Darwin's letters, carries a different sentiment.A young admirer asked Darwin about his religious views (the original inquiry is lost), and the great naturalist answered: "It is impossible to answer your question briefly; and I am not sure that I could do so, even if I wrote at some length. But I may say that the impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief argument for the existence of God; but whether this is an argument of real value, I have never been able to decide."
Carl Sagan (1934-1996)
"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual...The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both." --American astrophysicist
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Max Planck (1858-1947)
"It was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious souls."--German physicist, noted for work on quantum theory
Erwin Schroedinger (1887-1961)
"I am very astonished that the scientific picture of the real world around me is very deficient. It gives a lot of factual information, puts all our experiences in a magnificently consistent order, but is ghastly silent about all and sundry that is really near to our heart, that really matters to us. It cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter and sweet, physical pain and physical delight; it knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, god and eternity."--Austrian physicist, awarded Nobel prize in 1933
William H. Bragg (1862-1942)
"From religion comes a man's purpose; from science, his power to achieve it. Sometimes people ask if religion and science are not opposed to one another. They are: in the sense that the thumb and fingers of my hands are opposed to one another. It is an opposition by means of which anything can be grasped."--British physicist, chemist, and mathematician. Awarded Nobel Prize in 1915
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Richard Feynman (1918-1988)
"God was invented to explain mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand."--American physicist, awarded Nobel Prize in 1965
Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977)
"I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science." --German-American rocket scientist
Nevill Mott (1905-1996)
Photo Credit: University Of Bristol
"Science can have a purifying effect on religion, freeing it from beliefs of a pre-scientific age and helping us to a truer conception of God. At the same time, I am far from believing that science will ever give us the answers to all our questions."--English physicist, awarded Nobel Prize in 1977
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