"People often ask me if my science causes me to doubt God.  I think the opposite is true."

Ard Louis is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at Oxford University. He leads an interdisciplinary research group studying problems on the border between chemistry, physics and biology: for example, how a virus self-assembles once its components have been made. Ard first went into science thinking it would be a great platform from which to be a missionary in a closed country (which it is), or that it would provide unique opportunities for him to witness to unbelieving colleagues (which it has). But as he read and pondered more, he realized that his study of God's creation was not just a means to an end. It was itself an act of worship. 

Finding God in Gabon

Ard was born in the Netherlands, but he was raised in Gabon in West Africa, where his parents taught biology at a small school run by a Gabonese church. The school was set deep in the rain-forest and enabled kids from local villages to get a high school education. It was an idyllic childhood, complete with a pet chimpanzee called Bertje (pictured below). Bertje was adopted by Ard's family after its mother was killed by hunters. But what Ard treasures most from this time in his life was not playing with Bertje, or running barefoot in the jungle, but the faith of his friends. Ard's parents each had remarkable conversion stories. His mother had been a convinced atheist and President of the Nietzsche Society and his father had ended up becoming a believer after lying to a potential landlord about having faith in order to get a place to live! (You can read more of their story here.) Ard's parents were "Dutch hippies" and they were young in their faith when they moved to Gabon. Ard credits his own faith primarily to seeing "the dynamic power of the gospel" in the lives of his African friends.

Pursuing God at Utrecht and Cornell

Ard continued his education at a boarding school in Ivory Coast before returning to the Netherlands for an undergraduate degree at the University of Utrecht. Coupled with the culture shock of moving from West Africa to Western Europe, Ard now found himself at a prestigious university where people of faith were scarce. Ard recalls a culture that was "unrelentingly anti-Christian" and he assumed that professors at Utrecht would certainly not be followers of Jesus - until he discovered one brilliant physics professor who was! After enjoying his fascinating lectures on quantum physics, Ard was invited to this man's home and discovered that he too was a serious Christian.  Finding such a mentor was very helpful to Ard as he finished his undergraduate studies and went on to his graduate studies at Cornell. Far from science eliminating faith, Ard had concrete examples in his life of people who were pursing science at the highest level and also pursuing a life of vibrant Christian faith.

Today, Ard sees science and theology not as antithetical but as "cousinly disciplines." As a Christian, he believes that God created and sustains the universe and that if God were to stop doing that it would not "slowly grind to a halt" it would simply stop existing. Believing in science is not an alternative to believing in God. Rather, science describes the "customs of the Creator" by which God sustains his universe. (See here for Ard's clear and compelling explanation of why science doesn't eliminate the possibility of miracles.)

Rejecting Nothing Buttery 

Ard has now spent decades doing cutting-edge research and exploring the interface between science and Christianity. He calls out some prominent atheists (like fellow Oxford professor Richard Dawkins) for engaging in "nothing buttery" - Ard's term for when people claim that because something has been described scientifically it is "nothing but" that description. 

Ard points out that you can account for every atom of the human body in chemical terms. For example, the average human contains enough phosphorus for 2000 matches, enough iron for one nail, enough chlorine to disinfect a swimming pool and enough fat to make 10 bars of soap! But it would be foolish to think you'd accounted for a human being once you'd accounted for all their atoms and molecules. It is similarly foolish to say that human beings are "nothing but" mammals. 

Ard is passionate about science. But he argues that its strength depends on its limits. Science can't answer questions of meaning and purpose and Ard believes it is a "dangerous mistake" for us to think that science can ground our ethics. While science can help us answer many important questions about the natural world, believing science is the right tool for answering every important question is like thinking you can use a stethoscope to assess a broken heart. 

Developing a Christian mind

Ard and his wife Mary, who teaches at Oxford's business school, run a program at Oxford called "Developing a Christian Mind" to help graduate students integrate their faith and their research.  About 100 Christian academics from Oxford have taught for the program and it now has over 1000 alumni, many of whom hold academic positions at universities around the world.

While Ard firmly believes that his research is itself worshipful, he also takes every opportunity to witness for Christ from the position of credibility the Lord has given him. For example, in 2017, Ard was interviewed by Morgan Freeman for the National Geographic documentary, "The Story of God." In the interview, Freeman observed, "There's a widespread sense that as scientists discover more and more about the natural world, they're kind of taking away the wonder and taking away the awe." Ard agreed that that's what many people think, but disagreed that this is the right conclusion: "I think the more we learn about the world," he suggested, "it points more towards God, rather than less."

I asked Ard to share what he's pondering right now. He replied:

"People often ask me if my science causes me to doubt God.  I think the opposite is true. The more you learn about how amazing and beautiful the world is, the more it points to someone behind it all.

Thousands of years ago the Psalmist said, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them." (Psalm 8:3-4)

All that our telescopes and microscopes have done is to amplify this sense of awe and wonder. But awe and wonder by themselves don't bring us to Jesus Christ. For that more is needed, such as the testimony of others, the reliability of scripture, and the witness of the Holy Spirit.  These things work together. Over the years, the more I learn and experience of God, the more my faith has grown."

Let's pray for Ard and for his many colleagues at Oxford who are seeking to worship God with their research and to make Jesus known in their university and beyond! And let's worship God with the work he has given us to do today - whether it's caring for children, tending the sick, populating a spreadsheet, or mowing a lawn. Whatever we do, let's work at it with all our hearts as working for the Lord, for it is Christ we are serving (Colossians 3:23-24).

Next week's email will feature UC-Berkeley Philosophy Professor, Lara Buchak. If a friend forwarded you this email, subscribe below to receive it!

A Christian Case for Reading Godless Books

 A few months ago, I read the Booker-Prize winning novel, Girl, Woman, Other, by British-Nigerian author Bernadine Evaristo. Today, I'm over at Christianity Today reviewing the book and arguing that Christians should be open to reading novels by non-believers not just despite the fact that their protagonists may make moral choices we could not endorse, but sometimes precisely because they do.  Click on the image below to read the piece.

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