Faith and Science:
They Work Together
“There can never be any real opposition between religion and science; for the one is the complement of the other.”
— Max Planck (1858–1947)
By the Editorial Staff
Updated 6/2/2023
Introduction
We’ll explore in detail how many of the world’s top scientists and Nobel Prize winners were and are Christians. Catholicism endorses all modern mainstream scientific theories; in fact, many Catholics have contributed heavily to them or developed them in the first place (in the case of the Big Bang theory). Since the 17th century, the Church’s popes have been advised by a Pontifical Academy of Sciences: a gathering of luminaries who hail from all faiths and includes several atheists. While the Church may not have always been correct about all scientific matters, Catholicism ultimately embraces the belief that science reveals truth and enhances faith instead of diminishing it.
Many of the World's Top Scientists Are Christian
The Nobel Prize, first awarded in 1901 and established by Alfred Nobel, is awarded for outstanding work in three science categories: physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine. According to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes, a review of Nobel prizes awarded between 1901 and 2000, 64% of Nobel Prize laureates have identified as Christians (comprising 427 Nobel Prizes). Overall, Christians have won 72% of all Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, 65% in Physics, and 62% in Physiology or Medicine.
This tells us that many accomplished scientists are, in fact, Christian. Here’s what some of history’s most brilliant scientific minds had to say about their faith.
Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest mathematicians and physicists of all time: “I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.”
Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest (with a Ph.D. from MIT) and creator of the Big Bang theory: “I was interested in truth from the point of view of salvation just as much as in truth from the point of view of scientific certainty. It appeared to me that there were two paths to truth, and I decided to follow both of them.”
René Descartes, scientist, mathematician, and philosopher who pioneered analytic geometry: "Just as faith teaches us that the sovereign felicity of the other life consists in the contemplation of the divine majesty alone, so even now we can learn from experience that a similar meditation, although incomparably less perfect, allows us to enjoy the greatest happiness we are capable of feeling in this life."
Blaise Pascal, mathematician who laid the foundation for modern probability theory: “Jesus Christ is a God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.”
Michael Faraday, physicist and chemist who established the concept of the electromagnetic field: “I shall be with Christ, and that is enough.”
Louis Pasteur, discoverer of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization: “If perchance you should falter during the journey, a hand would be there to support you. If that should be wanting, God, who alone could take that hand from you, would Himself accomplish its work.”
Lord William Kelvin, physicist widely known as the inventor of the international system of absolute temperature: “Overpoweringly strong proofs of intelligent and benevolent design lie all around us and if ever perplexities, whether metaphysical or scientific, turn us away from them for a time, they come back upon us with irresistible force, showing to us our nature, the influence of free will, and teaching us that all living beings depend on one ever-acting Creator and Ruler.”
James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and scientist who developed the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation: “I think men of science as well as other men need to learn from Christ, and I think Christians whose minds are scientific are bound to study science that their view of the glory of God may be as extensive as their being is capable of.”
Sir J.J. Thomson, winner of the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics who discovered the electron: “As we conquer peak after peak, we see in front of us regions full of interest and beauty, but we do not see our goal, we do not see the horizon; in the distance tower still higher peaks, which will yield to those who ascend them still wider prospects, and deepen the feeling, the truth of which is emphasized by every advance in science, that ‘Great are the Works of the Lord.’”
Max Planck, winner of the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics and founder of quantum theory: “There can never be any real opposition between religion and science; for the one is the complement of the other. Every serious and reflective person realizes, I think, that the religious element in his nature must be recognized and cultivated if all the powers of the human soul are to act together in perfect balance and harmony. And indeed it was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious souls.”
Werner Heisenberg, winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize in Physics and founder of quantum mechanics: “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass, God is waiting for you.”
Alexander Fleming, winner of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and discoverer of penicillin: “My greatest discovery was that I needed God, and that I was nothing without him and that he loved me and showed his love by sending Jesus to save me.”
Ernest Walton, winner of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics and the first person in history to split the atom: “One way to learn the mind of the Creator is to study His creation. We must pay God the compliment of studying His work of art and this should apply to all realms of human thought. A refusal to use our intelligence honestly is an act of contempt for Him who gave us that intelligence.”
Max Born, winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics and a major contributor to the development of quantum mechanics: “Those who say that the study of science makes a man an atheist must be rather silly.”
Mary Kenneth Keller was the first person to earn a Ph.D. in computer science in the U.S. in 1965. While she left behind no publicly recorded quotes on God, her deep faith was obvious—she lived her entire adult life as a Catholic nun!
Donald Knuth, winner of the 1974 ACM Turing Award and pioneer of the analysis of algorithms: “My faith has been a source of inspiration because I believe God is pleased when people create innovations that make our world ever better.”
Joseph E. Murray, winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and pioneer of organ transplants: “Is the Church inimical to science? Growing up as a Catholic and a scientist—I don’t see it. One truth is revealed truth, the other is scientific truth. If you really believe that creation is good, there can be no harm in studying science. The more we learn about creation—the way it emerged—it just adds to the glory of God. Personally, I’ve never seen a conflict.”
Joseph H. Taylor, Jr., winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics and discoverer of the first known binary pulsar: “A scientific discovery is also a religious discovery. There is no conflict between science and religion. Our knowledge of God is made larger with every discovery we make about the world.”
William D. Phillips, winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics and physicist who developed methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light: “I believe in God because of a personal faith, a faith that is consistent with what I know about science.”
Gerhard Ertl, winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and physicist who laid the foundation of modern surface chemistry: “I believe in God. I am a Christian and I try to live as a Christian. I read the Bible very often and I try to understand it.”
William C. Campbell, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and discoverer of ivermectin, a drug which treats parasitic diseases: “Gabriel Rossetti, the English poet, felt sorry for atheists because they didn’t have anybody to feel grateful to. That always stuck with me, because we have so much to be grateful for. I believe, and I believe in prayer.”
John B. Goodenough, winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and developer of the lithium-ion battery: “The resurrection of Jesus, which transformed completely the thought and the lives of those who witnessed it, testified for me that the Holy Spirit that searches an open heart has the power and the love to free us from conformity and transform us by the renewing of our mind.”
Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976)
The Church Endorses Science
Lawrence M. Principe, a history professor at Johns Hopkins University, notes that “it is clear from the historical record that the Catholic church has been probably the largest single and longest-term patron of science in history, that many contributors to the Scientific Revolution were themselves Catholic, and that several Catholic institutions and perspectives were key influences upon the rise of modern science.”
On a January 2018 episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson brought up how the Catholic Church was integral to creating a calendar that is still used today in most parts of the world:
The world’s calendar is the Gregorian calendar after Pope Gregory put that into place in 1582 because the previous Julian calendar was messing up in the year. It was off by ten days. And the pope said, ‘We got to fix this.’ There’s a Vatican Observatory to this day. At the time, before telescopes were invented, these Jesuit priests were put into the service of figuring out why the calendar was shifting in the year.
When Colbert asked whether it’s true that a Catholic priest formulated the Big Bang theory, Tyson replied:
Yes, Georges Lemaître. Using Einstein’s equations […] he deduces that the history of the universe must’ve started with a bang. So Catholics have been in [scientific history] in multiple places.
Through this interview, Tyson not only debunks the common misconception that science and religion are always at odds with each other but also emphasizes how the Catholic Church has supported science throughout the centuries.
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences
The Catholic Church has long supported scientific learning. The Church welcomes and even sponsors cutting-edge scientific discoveries because it adheres to the belief that science does not diminish faith but, rather, enhances it. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI, gathers leading scientists to advise the Holy See and the international scientific community on scientific issues, including fundamental science, scientific policy, bioethics, science and technology of global problems, and science applicable to the problems of the developing world. The Academy has included luminaries such as Nobel Prize laureate Niels Bohr, former National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins, physicist Stephen Hawking, and Donna Strickland, who won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics.
The Academy adeptly gathers Catholics, Protestants, atheists, and members of other religions to share scientific ideas and discoveries, which highlights how much the Church values knowledge and firmly believes truth cannot contradict itself. This exchange of knowledge benefits the scientific community and informs the Church of the latest findings. For many years, the Academy had a Protestant president, Werner Arber (a 1978 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine for discovering enzymes that could cut DNA).
The Academy has its roots in the Academy of the Lynxes, which was founded in the early 17th century with Pope Clement VII’s blessing as the world’s first exclusively scientific academy.
The Vatican Observatory
As Tyson mentioned to Colbert, the Church has also held a long-standing interest in astronomy. Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar near the end of the 16th century to reflect the solar year more precisely. The previous Julian calendar had calculated the average year to be 365.25 days long, while the Gregorian calendar spaced leap years differently so that the average year was the more accurate length of 365.2425 days.
In 1774, the Vatican established the Observatory of the Roman College, a precursor to today’s Vatican Observatory, an “institution established by the Holy See for astronomical research and public outreach to advance the scientific understanding of our universe” that has “specialized in long-term survey projects from the 19th century Map of the Heavens to modern catalogs of galaxies, open clusters, and peculiar stars.” The current director of the Vatican Observatory is Brother Guy J. Consolmagno, an MIT-trained planetary scientist who remarked, “Religion needs science to keep it away from superstition and keep it close to reality… And science needs religion in order to have a conscience, to know that, just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do.” The Vatican Observatory leadership team is composed primarily of priest-scientists, such as Reverend Pavel Gabor (Ph.D. in astrophysics from Université Paris XI) and Reverend Christopher J. Corbally (Ph.D. in astronomy from University of Toronto).
When light pollution made it difficult for the Vatican Observatory to continue its observations near Rome, it constructed the 1.8-meter Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) in Arizona in 1993. The VATT has been responsible for many contributions to astronomy, including the discovery of massive astrophysical compact halo objects in the Andromeda Galaxy, surveys of the colors and morphologies of local galaxies, and the detection of over a hundred new asteroids and Kuiper Belt objects.
J.L. Heilbronn, a history professor at U.C. Berkeley and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, notes that “the Roman Catholic Church gave more financial aid and support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries, from the recovery of ancient learning during the late Middle Ages into the Enlightenment, than any other, and, probably, all other, institutions.”
While the Church has played an important role in advancing astronomy and other scientific fields, it has not always been right about every scientific truth. It was wrong to reject the heliocentric model of the solar system developed by Galileo Galilei 400 years ago. Pope John Paul II later acknowledged the fallibility of the Church in his public apology to Galileo, underscoring the Church’s support for scientific progress. Today, the Catholic Church endorses all modern mainstream scientific theories, including the Big Bang theory and evolution.
Faith and Science: Wrestling or Intertwining?
The two most recent popes have also affirmed that science complements faith.
Currently, I see in Germany, but also in the United States, a somewhat fierce debate raging between so-called “creationism” and evolutionism, presented as though they were mutually exclusive alternatives: those who believe in the Creator would not be able to conceive of evolution, and those who instead support evolution would have to exclude God. This antithesis is absurd because, on the one hand, there are so many scientific proofs in favor of evolution which appears to be a reality we can see and which enriches our knowledge of life and being as such. But on the other, the doctrine of evolution does not answer every query, especially the great philosophical question: where does everything come from? And how did everything start which ultimately led to man? I believe this is of the utmost importance.
— Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI clarifies the faith versus science debate, saying that the two fields are not opposite ends of a spectrum of belief, bookended by rationality and superstition. Rather, they are intertwined, supporting and inspiring one another. There is much evidence in the physical world to support evolution. Still, he maintains that the theory is insufficient for answering every question.
[God] created beings and allowed them to develop according to the internal laws that He gave to each one, so that they were able to develop and to arrive at their fullness of being. He gave autonomy to the beings of the universe at the same time at which He assured them of His continuous presence, giving being to every reality. And so creation continued for centuries and centuries, millennia and millennia, until it became what we know today, precisely because God is not a demiurge or a magician, but the creator who gives being to all things. ...The Big Bang, which nowadays is posited as the origin of the world, does not contradict the divine act of creating, but rather requires it. The evolution of nature does not contrast with the notion of creation, as evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve.
— Pope Francis
Pope Francis explains that God is not an overlord or wizard set on performing spectacular works. He is the creator, the giver of life. This creationary act is how we are touched by the divine. Pope Francis concedes that if we accept the proposed theory that the universe began with one phenomenal explosion, that act does not contradict the notion that God created such an explosion. We may accept the supposition that species evolve into creatures that, generation by generation, best conform to the ever-changing requirements of their environment. Such a belief does not negate the idea that God set those adaptation tools in place so that His creatures could thrive.
