Great research–wrong conclusion
Two Harvard researchers recently released an article in Trends of Cognitive Science that have some interesting theological implications. The essence of the research is that a wide range of people all came to the same conclusions as to what was “right” when presented with a moral dilemma, regardless of their religious backgrounds (or lack thereof). The researchers concluded that this was an indication that humans around the world invented religion as a way of explaining our hard-wired sense of what is right.
Great research–wrong conclusion.
Romans 1:19 tells us “What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.” We didn’t invent God to explain our consciences, God built consciences into humans when He created us. Romans 2:15 says, “They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.”
It’s interesting that the Church of England this past week issued a statement encouraging their leaders to emphasize to people that religion and science are compatible. The Harvard researchers gave a great demonstration of that. Unfortunately, some are determined to try to find explanations of their own research that deny religion.
Science is not our enemy. All truth is God’s truth. And we sometimes hold too tightly onto unbiblical dogma, as when the Church persecuted scientists for saying the earth revolved around the sun rather than vice versa. But when we hear scientific “results”, we do have to keep in mind that the interpretation of the data is made by humans with their own biases.
