Science And Faith

   Science without religion is lame,religion without science is blind. •Albert Einstein 

By Adediran Adetutu 

    Faith in this context is the belief in God and His supernatural power.

    The relationship between science and faith has always been a controversial issue between scientists and believers. One may wonder how these two are connected. The aspect of science we would be considering is Medical Science but first let’s check out science and faith.

What is Science?

     Science is basically the study of nature and physical things around us [things we can see, feel, and touch]

Science also deals with the mind and body.

What is Faith?

     Faith is strong, profound belief in God who created nature and all things [things we can see and those beyond our human eyes and it involves the spirit, soul (mind), flesh (body). 

     From these definitions we can say that science is a subset of faith for how can we talk about nature and not refer to the one who created it.

      Present day medicine emphasizes on the psychosomatic factors i.e. factors pertaining both to the mind and body and how the body manifests the state of mind. There is a connection/relationship between how and what a man thinks and what occurs in the body i.e. the external is controlled by the internal this is what a branch of medical science called PSYCHOLOGY deals with.

      For instance when you are sad [though sadness is an emotion] but it is expressed in the body through sluggish movements, facial expressions and sometimes reduced mobility or a guy who sees a nude or semi nude lady would feel or think or fantasize or imagine himself having sex with the lady all of which occurs in the mind and then these feelings are transmitted to the body resulting into his arousal. The body is merely a reflection of what goes on in the mind, this is why scientists and priests emphasize on the fact that if you believe you will succeed, and you will succeed but if you believe otherwise it would be the so.

     Before the birth of psychologists, things concerned with emotions like guilt, shame etc were related with pastors, clergies and priests for instance members of congregation do confess their wrongdoings to their pastors and priests which most times troubled their  mind but now people go to psychologists when they are troubled.

      Science and Faith intersect in their dealings with the mind and body .The aspect of medical science that intersect with faith is Psychology

  Psychologists have come to realize that not all diseases are caused by bacteria, fungi and virus but (maladies or sickness of the mind like fear, anxiety, shame, tension, unforgiveness etc) whose effects are manifested in the body and seen or perceived as illness or disease.

       Faith helps in healing so does medical science but their techniques are different. Faith involves the use and belief in supernatural power while science makes use of acquired facts through observations which leads to hypothesis….. Etc. Both faith and psychology help in detecting problems, reasons behind medical problems thereby helping making things easier for medical doctors.

     Anxiety is a mental malady that I don’t believe is caused by virus or bacteria but lack of peace in the mind. Both faith or let’s say spiritual science and psychological science can bring relieve or peace to the mind but how? Faith will expect you to believe and surrender all your problems, fears, to God who can give you eternal peace  while science expects you to confront your fears or free your mind by relieving yourself of your duties and taking time to appreciate nature(created by God), do things you enjoy probably go on a vacation. Both can offer solution but in different ways and note if anxiety is not treated it would cause another illness e.g. insomnia which will affect the body adversely.