Hypotheses Non Fingo

It is not uncommon for those in the scientific community to criticize those of faith for the lengths we have been willing to go to in opposition of their most closely held beliefs (see, for example, the debate over Intelligent Design. For myself, I am inclined to take a view akin to the one Jesus took on taxes; to give scientific matters over to the scientific method, and to give religious matters over to faith. In saying this, I do not mean to yield the questions of human origins to the evolutionary biologists; instead, I mean to point out the absurdity of any attempt to argue the question of origins as if it were a scientific matter.

In writing his Principia Mathematica Sir Isaac Newton was careful to lay out his laws of motion while expressing Hypotheses Non Fingo ("I make no guesses" regarding the reason for those laws to be true. Noting that the culture in which Newton lived was not inclined to think scientifically, I feel that it was precisely this decision which allowed him to be successful in communicating his Principia to the world.

Modern society, on the other hand, appears to be as dependent on scientific reductionism as Newton's world was dependent on religion. Those who follow the scientific method want evidence and testability, and only those who are willing to submit to that kind of rigor will be welcomed in that discussion.

The problem with that situation is that we don't serve a God who will submit to testing. Other than tithing, I am not aware of any approved topic for testing God. Likewise, if He is really invisible or infinite (or both), measurement would not be possible either. You should also expect that miracles -- including the resurrection of Christ -- are by definition not reproducible.

Taking this one step further, those of us in the community of faith should not expect those in the community of science to be able to span the gap between science (describing what can happen) and history (describing what did happen). Thus, if you want to talk about Christ, you should expect to take some heat from those who don't follow your system of logic. This doesn't mean that your cause is hopeless; you simply have to wait for the "aha moment" when people are willing to speak about the bigger picture.

As a man who lives with one foot in each community, I run into this dichotomy on an almost daily basis. Does this make me bilingual?