GodAandScience.org

People of Faith - Famous Scientists

  1. Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543)
    Copernicus was the Polish astronomer who put forward the first mathematically based system of planets going around the sun. He attended various European universities, and became a Canon in the Catholic church in 1497. His new system was actually first presented in the Vatican gardens in 1533 before Pope Clement VII who approved, and Copernicus was urged to publish around this time. Copernicus was never under any threat of religious persecution - and was urged to publish both by Catholic Bishop Guise, Cardinal Schonberg, and the Protestant Professor George Rheticus. Copernicus referred sometimes to God in his works, and did not see his system as in conflict with the Bible.
  2. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
    Kepler was a brilliant mathematician and astronomer. He did early work on light, and established the laws of planetary motion about the sun. He also came close to reaching the Newtonian concept of universal gravity - well before Newton was born! His introduction of the idea of force in astronomy changed it radically in a modern direction. Kepler was an extremely sincere and pious Lutheran, whose works on astronomy contain writings about how space and the heavenly bodies represent the Trinity. Kepler suffered no persecution for his open avowal of the sun-centered system, and, indeed, was allowed as a Protestant to stay in Catholic Graz as a Professor (1595-1600) when other Protestants had been expelled!
  3. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
    Galileo is often remembered for his conflict with the Roman Catholic Church. His controversial work on the solar system was published in 1633. It had no proofs of a sun-centered system (Galileo's telescope discoveries did not indicate a moving earth) and his one "proof" based upon the tides was invalid. It ignored the correct elliptical orbits of planets published twenty five years earlier by Kepler. Since his work finished by putting the Pope's favorite argument in the mouth of the simpleton in the dialogue, the Pope (an old friend of Galileo's) was very offended. After the "trial" and being forbidden to teach the sun-centered system, Galileo did his most useful theoretical work, which was on dynamics. Galileo expressly said that the Bible cannot err, he saw his system as concerning the issue of how the Bible should be interpreted.
  4. Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
    Descartes was a French mathematician, scientist and philosopher who has been called the father of modern philosophy. His school studies made him dissatisfied with previous philosophy: He had a deep religious faith as a Catholic, which he retained to his dying day, along with a resolute, passionate desire to discover the truth. At the age of 24 he had a dream, and felt the vocational call to seek to bring knowledge together in one system of thought. His system began by asking what could be known if all else were doubted - suggesting the famous "I think therefore I am". Actually, it is often forgotten that the next step for Descartes was to establish the near certainty of the existence of God - for only if God both exists and would not want us to be deceived by our experiences can we trust our senses and logical thought processes. God is, therefore, central to his whole philosophy. What he really wanted was to see his philosophy adopted as standard Catholic teaching. Rene Descartes and Francis Bacon (1561-1626) are generally regarded as the key figures in the development of scientific methodology. Both had systems in which God was important, and both seem more devout than the average for their era.
  5. Isaac Newml">Grace of God
  6. Gossip
  7. Abortion and the Sanctity of Life
  8. Partial Birth Abortion
  9. Will Christians Go Through the Great Tribulation?

    10. Cults

    Mormonism

  10. Are Mormon Texts Inspired?
  11. Mormon Contradictions
  12. One God or Many?
  13. God unchangeable or progresses?
  14. Archeology and the Book of Mormon
  15. Smithsonian Statement on BOM
  16. Testimonies of Ex-Mormons
  17. Mormon Links
  18. Word 6 Mormonism Archive

    19. Jehovah's Witnesses

  19. Jehovah's Witnesses and Christianity Differences
  20. Should We Worship Jesus?
  21. Who is the Creator of All Creation?
  22. Who is Our Savior?
  23. Who is Our Shepherd?
  24. Who sent the Holy Spirit?
  25. Who Sent the Prophets?
  26. Who Resurrected Jesus?
  27. Who Resurrects the Dead?
  28. Who Will Judge Mankind?
  29. Who Goes to Hell?
  30. What is the Fate of Those Who Reject Jesus Christ?
  31. Who Has All Power and Authority?
  32. Did Christ Die on a Cross?
  33. Where Do We (Believers) Go When We Die?
  34. Does Man Have a Spirit?
  35. One Body of Believers
  36. Christ's Second Coming
  37. Eternal Life: Through Knowledge or Jesus Christ?
  38. Word 6 Archive

    39. Slideshow

  39. Introduction
  40. Cobe quotes
  41. Origins of Big Bang
  42. Cobe results
  43. Universe models
  44. Extradimensionality
  45. Design Argument
  46. Universe design
  47. Moon and design
  48. Jupiter and design
  49. Earth and design

    50. Discovery

  50. Chapter 1
  51. Chapter 2
  52. Chapter 3
  53. Chapter 4
  54. Chapter 5
  55. Chapter 6
  56. Chapter 7
  57. Chapter 8
  58. Chapter 9
  59. Chapter 10
  60. Chapter 11

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    69. Young Earth

  69. Young-earth creationism
  70. Day-Age Genesis creation
  71. Long creation days
  72. Biblical defense of day-age
  73. Age of Universe
  74. Genesis Flood Must be Local
  75. Scientific Evidence for a Young Earth?
  76. Big Bang 'Problems'?
  77. Decreasing Speed of Light?
  78. Magnetic Field
  79. Moon Dust
  80. Saturn's Rings
  81. Earth's Rotation
  82. Population Growth
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    84. Last updated 1/18/01