Can a Christian Be a Scientist? by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2015, all rights reserved. Chapter 1 I met a young man who had been a student at Cal Tech, in Southern California. That's a college with a good reputation. Supposed to be on a par with MIT, and with U. of Calif. in Berkeley. But the young man stopped studying at Cal Tech. I asked him why. He said, "Because I didn't want to be a Scientist." (He wanted to be an Engineer.) I think he continued his education at another university. So what's the difference between a Scientist and an Engineer? The work of an Engineer is mainly about using scientific and engineering principles to design things. You muster up your best knowledge and design the perfect automobile that has great performance and comfort with high gas mileage per gallon of fuel and low maintenance. Or, perhaps you design an electric car, or a Super Computer. But the Scientist deals more in the theoretical realm. Some Scientists work with the Supercollider, over in Europe, studying sub-atomic particles. In the early days, the subatomic particles that were known about were the Electron, the Proton, and the Neutron. But now, they've named more than twenty subatomic particles, one of the most recent to be discovered (they think), was the Higgs-Boson particle. I see nothing wrong with Christians becoming Engineers and designing things. I have a technical education, and majored in Engineering. I'm a Software Engineer, and write Computer Programs. And I'm a Digital Circuit Design Engineer, and have designed digital circuitry. The difference between digital electronics and analog electronics is that analog deals with a range of variable voltages, such as you would find in your home stereo system. But digital electronics deals with only two voltage levels: high and low, true or false, one or zero. For one certain family of digital Integrated Circuits, the two voltages are +5 volts and zero volts. It is this digital electronics that our computers are based on. There have, however, been a few analog computers, but they were found to be not nearly as accurate as digital computers. But if a Christian is considering becoming a Scientist, there will be some pitfalls. I believe your average Scientist is an Evolutionist. He believes in Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Darwin was apparently an Atheist. He didn't believe in God. But God says, "The fool has said in his heart There is no God." (Psa 14:1) So then, in the sight of God, Darwin is a fool. Do you really want to follow that fool, Darwin? I believe it was Darwin's intention, in inventing the Theory of Evolution, to try to explain how we got here without the need for God. The main problem with that is that we didn't get here without God. If God hadn't decided to create Adam and Eve, we wouldn't be here. You have to be careful what you study in college. Some of these colleges are teaching Evolution as though it were fact, and not a Theory. If you just buy everything that a college Professor tells you, it could send you to hell. When I was living in the Silicon Valley area, I rented a mail box from a small company that provided mail service. A lady there told me that she had been a Christian until she took a college course on Comparative Religion. That course talked her out of being a Christian. It would have been better for that lady never to have gone to college than to let a college course send her to hell. But here's a thing that can be done. When you see that a college course is steering you wrong, you can withdraw from that college course, and take some other course instead to get the credits needed for graduation. If Comparative Religion is required for graduation at your college, transfer your credits to another college where Comparative Religion is not a requirement for graduation. When Evolutionists try to estimate the age of the Universe, it always comes out in billions, or perhaps trillions of years. Why so long? Because they need that much time to try to make Evolution work. The problem is that no matter how much time you give it, Evolution still doesn't work. Chapter 2 These days, we have digital electronic watches. The battery in my watch is supposed to last ten years. But before electronic watches, we used to have wind-up, mechanical watches, with dozens of little gears in there. If you were to take one of those watches apart (or, a pocket watch with its gears and springs), and put all of the pieces in a box, and close the box, how long would you have to shake the box for all the pieces to go back to forming a watch that works like before you took it apart? The answer is forever. It's never going to happen. If you take two dozen monkeys and set them down at typewriters, how long before one of them produces a readable book, or even a chapter? Forever. Before the monkeys got very far, they'd realize that all this dumb machine does is make noise, and that there's no food to be produced, they would lose interest, and go on to something more interesting to the monkeys. Similarly, some primordial slime doesn't produce an amoeba that develops into a more complex animal, or perhaps a fish. There were no amoebas or fish until God created them. No trees, no vegetables, no horses, frogs, birds, reptiles until God created them. After God's creation, those creatures reproduce after their own kind. Monkeys always reproduce monkeys. Horses reproduce horses. Scientists talk about trying to discover the origins of the Universe. Oh, do you want to know how it all began? Read the Bible. The book of Genesis tells us, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..." It was all God's idea. He spoke the worlds into existence. He said, "Let there be light," and there was light. But if you simply must find another way as to how we got here, a way that doesn't involve God, then you are already traveling down the wrong road. A Scientist might say, "But most of my Scientist friends are Evolutionists." But you see, this is one area where majority doesn't rule. One of the early Astronomers, perhaps it was Galileo, came out with a statement that was at odds with the other Astronomers of the day. He said the Earth was more of a sphere, and not flat. But the fact that he was at odds with most other Astronomers doesn't make him wrong and them right. No, the earth really is egg shaped, and not flat, no matter what anyone says. You can see the curvature of the earth's shadow on the moon if you watch a lunar eclipse. If you're a Christian, and you want to be a Scientist, you're likely to have a lot of people telling you that you're a fool. Is that the kind of career you want? In some of my other books, I talk about not hanging around with the wrong kind of people. The Bible says, "Don't go with an angry man, and with a furious man you shall not go, so that you don't learn his ways, and get a snare to your soul." If you hang out with Scientists, you could get a snare to your soul, and miss heaven, and go to hell. I suggest, if you're a Christian, choose to be an Engineer rather than Scientist. Don't choose any career that would send you to hell. I had a friend in Grammar School, Virginia Trimble, who was supposed to have an I.Q. of 170, I think it was. There was an article about her in Life Magazine. This would have been in about the 1950's. Perhaps that article was listed in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. My mother taught Piano, and Virginia was one of her students. I invited Virginia to accompany me to my Protestant church, and we went. She invited me to her Jewish Synagogue, and we went. Virginia and I corresponded a little by mail while I was in the Navy. Virginia became an Astrophysicist, and hosted about an hour long program on TV that I happened to watch. Don't know her married name. An old high school friend of mine sent me an email. He sent the email to a list of people, and Virginia was on the list. So Virginia and I corresponded a little by email. She said she was an Atheist. But when she was young, she was Jewish. Judaism believes in God. What happened? She fell in among Scientists. If all your friends are Atheistic Scientists, that can tend to pull you away from the religion of your youth. Christianity is a better religion than Judaism. In fact, Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism, with Moses' promise of a Messiah (Savior). That Messiah is Jesus. I met a man in Houston who said he was a Messianic Jew, because he had accepted Jesus as Messiah. But Judaism is better than Atheism since God says that Atheists are fools. So what good is an I.Q. of 170 if when you die, you wind up in a fiery hell? Judaism would have put Virginia a little closer to going to heaven than Atheism. Virginia is probably enjoying a good life now, but "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul." Virginia's choice of a career among fellow scientists seems likely to result in her going to hell. And hell is forever. We will all go to one of two places: heaven, or hell, says Jesus, who also said, "You must be born again." (John chapt 3) Since we're speaking of Scientists and Christianity, you may be aware that there is a religion called "Christian Science." It is neither scientific, nor Christian. They think that sickness and disease are the result of wrong thinking. No, sickness and disease are generally demonic in origin, and Christian Science has no authority over demons. To cast out demons, you must be a born again Christian. Christian Scientists are not born again Christians. Jesus said, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" You lose your soul if you wind up in hell, where there's crying and gnashing of teeth, where their worms don't die, and where the fire is never quenched, Jesus said. There's nothing in this world, not money, or any other thing or person that is worth going to hell for. I love my family, but if one of them decides to go to hell, I'm not going with them. I'll try to talk them out of it, but I won't go with them to hell. Earlier this evening, I saw a program on TV. It was a rerun from an old series that still has some popularity. One of the musicians who soloed on tonight's program used to be an evangelical Christian. More recently, however, he has been attending a "Church of Religious Science," a false religion that doesn't believe the Bible nor the teachings of Jesus. I've been to that man's home in the San Fernando Valley, Calif. for a concert there. How did it happen that the man wandered off the right road and onto the wrong road? I think he fell in love with and married a woman who was not a Christian. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." If you're a Christian, don't let yourself fall in love with an unbeliever. In Corinthians, we're told that Christians shouldn't marry unbelievers. Dating is preparation for marriage. If you're a Christian, why would you be dating an unbeliever? Even if a young man were able to marry Miss America, would that be worth going to hell for? No, it wouldn't. The scriptures also say, "He that wanders out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead." That means you go to hell. We had counselors in High School. A counselor told me I should take French, not Spanish, because I would need the French for an advanced degree. It turns out that my studying French was not very useful, and Spanish probably would have been a lot more useful. I don't doubt that the Counselor meant well. But they may be working with limited information, especially if that Counselor is not a Christian. Your best Counselor is the Lord. Go to the Lord in prayer, and ask Him what vocation you ought to pursue. This is not a matter of a ten minute prayer, and then you make your decision. No, on life's more important decisions, such as what vocation, or whom to marry, we should pray, and then pray some more, and then pray some more, and then pray some more. People could save themselves from a lot of grief if they would do so. 1 Thess. 5:17 tells us to pray without stopping. ___James chapter 1 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings. 2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations, 3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. 7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted, 10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away. 11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. 12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man, 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death. 16 Do not err, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning. 18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, 20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God. 21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror, 24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26 If any man among you seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. ___James chapter 2 1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also, 3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool," 4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have despised the poor. Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats? 7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called? 8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well, 9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill." Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law. 12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment. 14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food, 16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that? 17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works." 19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God." 24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. ___James chapter 3 1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation. 2 For in many things we offend all. If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies. 4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants. 5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how great a matter a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind, 8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be. 11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries? Or a vine, figs? So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh. 13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace. ___James chapter 4 1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members? 2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask. 3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts. 4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God. 5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?" 6 But he gives more grace. So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up. 11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers. He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else? 13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit," 14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. 15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that." 16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin. ___James chapter 5 1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire. You've heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath. 5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter. 6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you. 7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near. 9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door. 10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 11 See, we count them happy that endure. You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. 12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation. 13 Is anyone among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is anyone merry? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven. 16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is does a lot of good. 17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. 19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him, 20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.