Is There a Conflict between Religion and Science?

            I found a video in my email box this morning. It is a video produced by PragerU and titled “Can You Believe in God & Science at the Same Time?” The following information was with the video: “Does belief in God get in the way of science? The idea that science and religion are inevitably in conflict is a fashionable way of thinking today. But the history of science tells a different story.” 

            Also today, an interesting article popped up in my news feed. Some may say that it was coincidence. However, I do not believe in coincidences. The article was titled “World-Renowned Scientist Finds Proof ‘God’ Created the Universe” and dated June 22, 2016. The article was written by Anugrah Kumar and was about Dr. Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist and co-founder of the highly regarded String Field Theory. 

Dr. Michio Kaku … has created a stir in the scientific community by saying he believe there is evidence that the universe was created by a higher intelligence and not by accident.

“I have concluded that we are in a world made by rules created by an intelligence,” the scientist said in an article published in the Geophilosophical Association of Anthropological and Cultural Studies, according to ForcesMente. “Believe me, everything that we call chance today won’t make sense anymore. To me it is clear that we exist in a plan which is governed by rules that were created, shaped by a universal intelligence and not by chance.” …

“I have concluded that we are in a world made by rules created by an intelligence, not unlike a favorite computer game, but of course, more complex and unthinkable,” Kaku said in 2015, according to Nova Evolution. “Analyzing the behavior of matter at the subatomic scale, hit by the pitch radius semi tachyon for the first time in history, a tiny point in space, totally free of any influence of the universe, matter, force, or law, is perceived in an unprecedented way absolute chaos. So, what we call chance no longer makes more sense, because we are in a universe governed by established rules and hazards not determined by universal plane. This means that, in all probability, there is an unknown force that governs everything.”

In an earlier video, the scientist said, “The final solution resolution could be that God is a mathematician. The mind of God, we believe, is cosmic music, the music of strings resonating through 11-dimensional hyperspace.”

            There are people who believe that we cannot believe science and in God at the same time. However, Doctor Kaku believes differently. He is a scientist, and he believes that we live in a world that was created by intelligent life and not something that came together as a result of an explosion.

          Albert Einstein was a famous physicist respected by most scientists. According to Alicia K. Stanton, Einstein “believed that religion and science have different, complementary purposes.” She quoted him as stating, “Science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be,” he wrote. “Outside of [science’s] domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary.” (Albert Einstein, in “Science and Religion,” in Ken Wilber, Quantum Questions: Mystical Writings of the World’s Greatest Physicists [1984] as quoted here.) 

            Russell M. Nelson is a man who knows both science and religion. He was a world-famous heart surgeon before his call to be an Apostle. He is now the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is sustained by members of the Church as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator of God. He spoke about religion and science when he dedicated the Life Sciences Building at Brigham Young University in 2015.

There is no conflict between science and religion. Conflict only arises from an incomplete knowledge of either science or religion, or both…. Whether truth comes from a scientific laboratory or by revelation from the Lord, it is compatible (in Marianne Holman Prescott, “Church Leaders Gather at BYU’s Life Sciences Building for Dedication,” Church News, Apr. 17, 2015, LDS.org. as quoted here). 

            We have statements by Dr. Michio Kaku (theoretical physicist), Albert Einstein (famous physicist), and Russell M. Nelson (heart surgeon, prophet, seer, and revelator) about the place of science and religion. They tell us that “there is evidence that the universe was created by a higher intelligence and not by accident,” “Science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be,” and “there is no conflict between science and religion.” From these statements and others, it looks as though God may be the greatest scientist of all.