Friends or Foes?

In April, we are beginning a new sermon series entitled "Three Good Reasons Not to be a Christian" (see our website at lotc.org for a brief video). The series will look at some of the ways that the church has failed to live up to it call to be a source of hope, grace and love in the world. The first sermon will deal with the age-old conflict between science and religion. The first thing, I think, that bears mentioning is that to the extent that the church has continued a relationship of animosity with science, it has ended up hurting itself in two very important ways. First, the church has become distracted from presenting the “meat” of the gospel to the world, which is new life in Jesus Christ. Instead, we have become sidetracked by these struggles over creation versus evolution, and every nuance thereof. Secondly, the church's response to science has provided a poor witness of God’s love and grace to all people. But, I am encouraged. There is movement on both sides to turn the disciplines of theology and science into friends, not foes. I applaud these efforts. One such effort is the formation of the Psychiatry and Religion Forum at UCI Medical School. Here is a link to an article from the Orange County Register about the forum. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kheriaty-allen-says-2002942-psychiatry-religious. Check out the article. There is hope for the relationship between religion and science. Praise God!