Dr Pamela L. Gay is an astronomer, writer, and podcaster focused on using new media to engage people in science and technology. Explore online, learn, and discover!This I Believe
There is an NPR series called “This I Believe” which I truly adore. The people who submit their words are able to somehow tie their core beliefs into a minute or so of audio that can somehow describe a lifetime of truth.
I haven’t submitted an essay to that series because my beliefs don’t compress down to a minute of just-so audio. And for me, stating my beliefs feels like standing naked.
And yet, what I believe effects my every action, and what I believe is always there in my actions for the discerning observer to guess. Perhaps this means I am always naked?
I am a Christian. I don’t believe in the literal truth of the entire Bible, especially the early chapters of the Old Testament, but I believe in the theological framework that it outlines. All men are sinners. All men can be saved. I personally believe in the salvation of Jesus Christ, but I also believe there are those who are saved without ever knowing Jesus Christ in their heart because they see in the Universe certain self-evident moral truths which we as humans must struggle to live by. There is room for this belief in the epistles, and given time, and the pile of comments I’m sure this entry will draw, I’m certain I will annotate these words with Biblical passages. And in my heart of hearts, I am always a bit afraid God isn’t as narrow as the Bible would teach.
I am a scientist. I don’t believe science offers the answers to everything, especially questions of the soul and morality, but I believe in the theoretical framework that is defined through scientific observations. The Universe is old (billions of years old) and has evolved from a singularity to today’s world of stars, planets, and life. I believe that to be educated is to understand there are certain self-evident scientific truths that we as humans must struggle to try and understand. There is nothing I have found in the Bible to deny room for this belief, and I am interested in the the pile of comments I’m sure this statement will draw. And in my heart of hearts, I have never been afraid scientific observations are completely wrong.
In considering the juxtaposition of these two sets of statements I find a weak heart, but no contradictions.
People who know me in real life, know that while I am a loud advocate of science, I am a very quiet voice in Christianity. While at Urbana in December of ‘93, I heard a talk on tent making that made a lasting impression. There is a quiet strength in actions. There is something that appeals to me in living a Christian life and when asked, “Why do you do this [kindness of some unrequired sort]?” to respond that it is the correct thing to do, and then, when asked, to bring in my religious beliefs. When asked what I believe, I tell the truth.
But I have to admit that while I am never afraid to say I am an astronomer, I am always afraid to say I am a Christian.
Scientists and Christians are both humans and given to passions. They are fallible as individuals, and given to agendas that go beyond the narrow confines of what science or the Bible says. As humans, they can yell, and avoiding people who yell is one of my (not necessarily low down the list) goals in life.
But I think I’m going to have to get over my fear, because I’m discovering I’m passionate about calling attention to the narrow-mindedness of people believing all or most Christians are anti-science and of people believing all or most scientists are anti-Christian. And I’m really tired of the name calling that originates from both sides.
I am a Christian. And I am a scientist. And I find no internal contradictions.
FAQ:
How do you explain Genesis?
How does one explain the Big Bang to a non-literate society? The book of Genesis is an excellent picture that leaves out the math and still can be loosely fit on the story of science.
How do you explain Miracles?
I can’t. I don’t try. I only need to explain with logic things that can be reproduced, measured, and observed. Everything else I leave to the part of my brain that believes sometimes one monkey typing on one type writer can create Hamlet in one glorious initial set of magically improbable key strokes.
Where is evolution happening today?
Evolution has been shown to occur most often when populations are forced to fill new ecological niches. We can watch the populations of animals on isolated mountain tops genetically diverge. We can watch new strains of plants emerge in the face of disease. Currently we are in the midst of a period of extinctions. With the total biodiversity of the planet going down, we are in the accidental process of making room for a new burst of niche filling evolution.
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[...] In responce to the many comments asking me about my beliefs, I have created a separate page that can be found here. *Hayward, James L. (1998), The Creation/Evolution Controversy : an Annotated Bibliography, Scarecrow Press/Salem Press, p. 11 [...]
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[...] “Let me ask you a question that you won’t want to answer” personal questions – Are you a Christian? or Do you believe in [...]
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[...] found this post by StarStryder (Dr. Pamela Gay) discussing her position as a Christian and a [...]
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[...] Dr Gay is an astronomer, writer, and podcaster, who focuses on using new media to engage people in science and technology. On her website ‘About‘ page, she writes that she is often asked about her belief system and created a page to answer that question here. [...]
Hi, Dr Pamela,
I am not happy with my original comment, explainable by staying up too late listening to you and Fraser’s excellent podcast, and not getting my own thoughts in order.
First of all, I love your podcast. To hear such passion about the wonders of the Universe is thrilling and since listening to your show and other science podcasts, I am much more aware of the wonders of my surroundings, and of the exciting possibilities of the many unanswered questions to how everything is made and how it all works. You have helped broaden my perspectives.
I was very surprised to hear you were Christian. I guess my surprise is more on the fact that you ascribe to a particular dogma rather than you believing in some sort of god as original creator. As a scientist or thinker, the more we know, the more we know we don’t know, and the more we question our beliefs and assumptions. Someone once described an expert as someone who knows what he doesn’t know. Thus I find it surprising that your faith is based on a two thousand year old book full of contradictory accounts and a strange mix of a vengeful petty, mean, vain god and a lovey dovey huggy bear god. It must be so hard to reconcile for someone of intelligence unless one is a practitioner of Orwell’s Doublethink.
When a scientist describes themselves as Christian, I sincerely hope they have arrived at their faith through an examination of all their religious options, rather than simply being Christian through childhood indoctrination. We are so malleable as children, our brain is wired to absorb information as quickly as possible, and we cannot filter out lies from truth. This is the cause of people having the same faith as their parents. Dawkin’s memes, indeed.
I am disappointed you are not an atheist purely out of my self interest, not because I think you would be happier to let go of your faith. You would be a great member of the rationalist movement – a great communicator, knowledgeable and thoughtful. I am simply disappointed you are on the other side of this particular culture war. I believe the more atheists there are in the world, the more peaceful and cooperative the world will be. Religious belief divides us and the assertion of moral superiority (my belief is right, yours is wrong) is dangerous. Either only one of the hundreds of religions is right, or they are all wrong. Occams’s razor would choose the second option, I believe.
You are a great role model, and I hope to introduce my daughter to your podcast when she is old enough to sit still long enough. Your approach of not only telling us what we know, but how we know what we know is an excellent lesson to develop sound thinking skills. Thinking skills not particularly compatible with believing in particular religious dogma!
Hi. Good belief page. I feel that LeMaitre would have said something consistent with that.
I find your views refreshing and aligned to my own. The search for knowledge sometimes becomes a search for truth or proof, but belief does not require proof. I observe however that when examining the smallest building blocks of everything – atoms that there are 3 component parts in each atom; a Proton, a Neutron and an Electron – three in one. Furthermore that there are three Quarks within each Proton and each Neutron. I expected there to also be three of something in each Electron so that the three in one picture becomes complete. We could then indeed say that everything bears the signature of the creator! Maybe further searching will show this? What a perfect Trinity this would be! Proof indeed of the existence of God which is written on everything like a signature on a painting!
Thanks, Pamela, for your work. I heard you last week at the Q3 event in Kentucky. Keep it up. You are helping many, many of us make more sense of our faith and our world.
People must be permitted to choose their own beliefs. I would fight for that ideal for many reasons not the least of which that oppression of beliefs only change the public expression of those beliefs. Organisations that seek to do so are doing themselves and society a huge disservice by deluding themselves.
I’ve listened to about 60 of your podcasts so far. I’m working my way through the whole set, and that isn’t about to change. Your show on Special Relativity gave one of the simplest and least pretentious non-mathematical explanations on the topic that I’ve ever heard. That doesn’t go away or get forgotten due to your personal beliefs. Such attitudes are wasteful of too many wonderful minds.
That isn’t to say that I’m not disappointed that someone of your knowledge and education would cling to religion. I’ve seen religion do so much harm in my own life that I cannot pretend that I’m cool with people believing in fictional premises dictating their morality. It speaks more to the power of religion brainwashing and programming children at a young age than of openness of mind.
This isn’t Quantum Mechanics vs Relativity where one theory can take over where the other stops. Even without believing in creationism, and limiting your faith when it comes to literal interpretation, it still goes against the science way too much to be ignored.
In most cases when I encounter someone intelligent who understands science and has religious beliefs I’d recommend reading Carl Sagan’s Demon Haunted World. in your case I bet you’ve already read it.
Either way I think what you’re doing with Astronomy is fantastic and hope you don’t stop anytime soon. Don’t dellude yourself about Skeptics being less militant than fundamentalist Christians though. Have you seen some of Richard Dawkin’s audiences? Scary! Scientific doesn’t have to mean obnoxious, destructive or surly.
Pamela – you and the persistent little boy Fraser have entertained me since the beginning – yes I have heard every episode – I found your site when I moved from the UK to China six years ago. So thank you for the enriching experience.
You describe being an academic very well but I perceive from your Christian beliefs that your ability and your science is not enough for you. Thousands of years ago people worshipped the sun which was at least real – since then many people worship all kinds of fantasies, respect the instincts of the ancients at least and let go – embrace your science and it will embrace you. The true Gods are human beings – the world was built by a few thousand physicists – and it may be the only one.
Please keep teaching science it is the only way we can progress.
love and respect
David cockburn
Go Pamela – well put. It takes more ‘faith’ (as in irrational belief) to deny God than it does to believe in God after gazing into the mysteries of the universe. I’ve never heard of a Christian renouncing God on their deathbed, but have heard of many cases of atheists embracing God at that time. Kudos for having the guts to state your beliefs so clearly. Peace & blessings…
I love your explanations on the univers. Your a christean, that’s your decission. I’m from Belgium and I’m an ‘amateur’ astronomer of the age of 69, not an observer but a listener and a reader about. A lott of succes for the future.
Thank you. Maybe if other scientist, astronomers and even christians are as open minded as you are we might have found answers to what we seek and what we ask in our daily life. It’s unfortunate and sad that science and religion can’t find a common ground. Why can’t we just explore and go on with our moral and spiritual values and beliefs instead of proving who is wrong and who is right. There is nothing to gain in the never ending banter.
I do hope there will be more like you in the future of atronomy. It doesn’t hurt to be a scientist and a christian. Thank you again.
Hi Dr Pamela, nothing could have surprised me more to here that you believe in God, I have listened to every episode of Astronomy cast (you have even answered one of my questions on the pod cast) and never would have guessed. I have read your “this I believe” in which you state what you believe, but I could not find any explanation as to why you believe, or what compels you to believe (other than your moral truths comment). Do you intend to expand upon your essay?
It don’( border me if your are a christean or not, that is your personal live involved only. I’m one of the firdt loidteners to your podcast. Your doing a great job, especially for me because I can onderstand you completely, because my language is Flemisch or Dutch if you like. I live in Begium and I am 69 years old. For the future still a lot of succes.
Wow, great post. Thanks for sharing.
As a Christian who also happens to be an (amateur) scientist and skeptic, I often find myself the whipping boy of both sides (though admittedly, I feel that overall, Christians are more accepting of my passion for science than scientists are accepting of my Christianity).
It’s very refreshing to see that you’re not alone in a community, so for that, I thank you.
Dr. Pamela Gay,
It’s great to find a fellow scientific-Christian. It is ironic in that I’ve felt both sides of the heel. However, in the past 10 years I’ve been extremely saddened by the march of anti-science in the name of God. Under the Bush administration, Fox News, and extreme Fundamentalist regimes Science has suffered cataclysmic hits as people forget or openly chagrine the role of science (Astronomy, Physics, and Medicine) under the pressures of Greed and “in the name of God”. The only thing we can hope to do is educate people and elect those who subscribe to logic… but many of those in science have grown angry at the power and influence those with no moral or clinical knowledge have at dictating National policy.
Ironically, I think the people who can make the biggest impact are those like yourself, Dr. Francis Collins MD PhD, and I’d hope even a little scrapper like myself to help people see the light.
Wishing you all the best.
Sincerely,
-Jeff
Hi Pamela,
Love Astronomy cast! Check out the ASA (American Scientific Affiliation). It has been a great help to me as a Physician (major: Biology) and Christian believer.
Thanks for the great work.