The Heart
and Hand of God:
Perspectives on Christianity and Science
a booklet by Constance K. Walker
(with William D. Walker)
Background
Late in 2003, it became clear that, while many books
dealing with the relationship between science and the Christian faith had been
published, nothing of booklet length was available. The small size and relatively low cost of a
booklet make it a resource that can be kept on hand, especially by those in
full-time ministry, to be given away when need or opportunity arises. Such a resource is most useful if it provides
a general framework for understanding how the two spheres of knowledge
intersect; a framework that can then be applied to a variety of perceived
conflicts.
With the encouragement of the students and staff
of Erskine Seminary, I set out to meet this need by expanding the text of my
convocation talk at Erskine College and transforming it into a booklet. The result is The Heart and Hand of God; Perspectives on Christianity and Science,
in which my husband also participated.
The first edition became available in October 2004, and the second
edition in November 2006. A French
translation is nearly complete.
The Heart
and Hand of God, while still in need of a publisher, has been printed and
distributed by the authors and has been used by churches, by campus ministries,
and in Erskine Seminary’s introductory Systematic Theology course. Individuals have also given it to interested
friends and colleagues. For students in
crisis, it has served as a lifeline; for the earnest inquirer, it has served as
an introduction to more comprehensive works; for those lacking the time or
inclination for in-depth study, it has served as a point of orientation and a
source of reassurance.
Scope and Tone of the Booklet
Since different Christians approach these issues
differently and come to different conclusions about how to relate the revealed
truths of Scripture to the uncovered truths of science, no attempt is made to
give a definitive, “this-is-how-it-is” recipe for reconciling the two kinds of
knowledge. The tone is more personal,
explaining the approach that is the most satisfying to us.
The booklet’s thesis is that science and
biblical Christianity, far from being antagonistic, as many suppose, are in
fact complementary, harmonious, and even synergistic. The text discusses the different roles of
science and Scripture, shows ways in which they complement and enhance one
another, and then addresses apparent conflicts, both historical and
modern. The warm and personal nature of
the Christian faith radiates from its pages, along with the essence of the
Gospel.
The booklet’s title is taken from a lovely
saying quoted in the writings of Adolphe Monod (1802-1856): “In creation God
shows us his hand; in redemption he gives us his heart.”
Table of Contents
(headings and subheadings)
Click here to view the Table
of Contents
The Issue of Origins
(a brief summary)
The science-and-faith issue that is of most
concern today is the relationship between the biblical account of creation and
the scientific evidence for the origins of the universe and of the human
species. Our position is that the
biblical account is both accurate and authoritative but should not be read as a
science text – that was not its purpose.
God created the entire universe in a systematic and orderly process, but
probably not in six 24-hour days.
Similarly, God created human beings and breathed his Spirit into us, but
that should not rule out the possibility that he used evolution to give rise to
our physical bodies. Unfortunately, the
scientific evidence for large-scale evolution has frequently been overstated
(we don’t yet know how much it can explain), while evolution has too often been
tightly and unfairly linked to a naturalistic, atheistic worldview. That linkage must be broken, but the science of evolution, when divorced from
those philosophies, need not and should not threaten our theology. Science may eventually be able to explain the
origin of our physical universe, but only back to a given starting point. It can never have ultimate answers, and it
cannot explain the source of the fundamental scientific “laws” that form its
basis. Science can only address the
physical, space-time world, not the spiritual and eternal realms where God
dwells and where ultimate truth resides.
The Authors
Constance
K. Walker (Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry) is a part-time Senior Research
Scientist in nuclear physics at Duke University. She is also the editor and
translator of Living
in the Hope of Glory (Phillipsburg NJ: P&R Publishing, 2002), a
nineteenth century devotional classic by Adolphe Monod, and the principle
editor of a new French edition of the same work under its original title, Les Adieux (Cléon
d’Andran: Éditions Excelsis / Aix-en-Provence: Éditions Kérygma, 2006).
William
D. Walker is James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Physics at Duke University
and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is still actively engaged in
particle physics research and is a ruling elder emeritus in the Presbyterian
Church in America.
Last modified: 6 December 2006