Regarding tenable compatibility or coexistence, the philosophies of science and religion are best appraised by those whose lives they have crisscrossed the most. One reason for this being that: just as “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”, so does religion dwell in the hearts of its believers. And as my research progressed, studies after studies not only refuted; but also, dismantled the hackneyed notion that science and religion are in conflict. As I journeyed through the centuries, till this day, it became clear that the greatest (and the most accomplished) scientists were united in their belief in God. Their own testimonies are here to emphasize. See them below, listed according to their respective rankings on this website. As should be expected, all the unranked persons have no weblinks on sapaviva.com.
- “I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies but not the madness of people. Atheism is so senseless and odious to mankind that it never had many professors. God created everything by number, weight and measure. I do not define time, space, place, and motion as being well-known to all.”
—- ISAAC NEWTON - “Since the fabric of the universe is most perfect and is the work of a most wise God, nothing whatsoever takes place in the universe in which some rules of maxima and minima do not apply.”
—- LEONHARD EULER - “Our universe is the best possible one that God could have created. Miracles are not to be multiplied beyond necessity.”
—- GOTTFRIED LEIBNIZ - “There are problems to which I attach greater importance than to those of mathematics; for example, our ethics and relationship with God. Their solutions lie beyond the scope of science. I succeeded not because of my own efforts, but by the grace of God.”
—- CARL FRIEDRICH GAUSS - “Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it is consistent with the laws of nature. I thank God that I will not rest my dying head upon speculations. Peace is a beautiful gift from God.”
—- MICHAEL FARADAY - “I constantly sought knowledge and truth, and it became my belief that for gaining access to the effulgence and closeness to God, there is no better way than that of searching for truth and knowledge.”
—- ALHAZEN IBN AL-HAYTHAM - “Mathematics is the language with which God wrote the universe.”
—- GALILEO GALILEI - “The gift of mental power comes from God. If we focus our minds on it, we shall be in tune; and thus, benefit from that great gift.”
—- NIKOLA TESLA - “Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.”
—- ALBERT EINSTEIN - “An equation, for me is meaningless, unless it expresses a thought of God.”
—- SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN - “Persistence in scientific research leads to what I call instinct for truth. A little bit of science will take you away from God; but more science will bring you back to Him.”
—- LOUIS PASTEUR - “I have measured the earth, the skies, and all the planets. Now, let us glorify God through astronomy.”
—- JOHANNES KEPLER - “It is not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious. God exists whether we like it or not. Many scientists know this reality. As men who dedicated their lives to science, nobody will mistake us for fantasists.”
—- MAX PLANCK - “I am a Christian, which means that I believe in the deity of Christ, like Tycho de Brahe, Copernicus, Descartes, Newton, Leibniz, Pascal, like all great astronomers and mathematicians.”
—- AUGUSTIN-LOUIS CAUCHY - “The only desire which I can have is like David to serve my own generation by the will of God, and then fall asleep.”
—- JAMES CLERK MAXWELL - “God, the Supreme Being, is neither circumscribed by space, nor touched by time; He cannot be found in a particular direction, and his essence cannot change. The secret conversation is thus entirely spiritual; it is a direct encounter between God and the soul, abstracted from all material constraints.”
—- AVICENNA of PERSIA (IBN SINA) - “Of all the created comforts, God is the lender; you are the borrower, not the owner.”
—- ERNEST RUTHERFORD - “The universe was created for us by a supremely good and orderly God.”
—- NICOLAUS COPERNICUS - “I know that faith is hard to prove; but I believe in God. There is a God-shaped vacuum in every heart.”
—- BLAISE PASCAL - “The wisdom of God manifested in the works of creation.”
—- ROBERT BOYLE - “My experiences with science led me to believe in God. Some people challenge science to prove the existence of God; but, we do not need a candlelight in order to see the sun.”
—- WERNHER von BRAUN - “By the help of God and with His precious assistance, I say that Algebra is a scientific art. The objects with which it deals are absolute numbers and measurable quantities which, though themselves unknown, are related to things which are known, whereby the determination of the unknown quantities is possible.”
—- OMAR AL-KHAYYAM - “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
—- GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER - “I thank God who has given me this faith, in which I have the firm intention to live and die.”
—- ALESSANDRO VOLTA - “I have seen the eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipotent God pass close by, and I knelt prostrate in adoration.”
—- CARL LINNAEUS - “How great is God, and our science is just a trifle.”
—- ANDRÉ-MARIE AMPÈRE - “After the knowledge of, and obedience to the will of God, the next aim must be to know something of His attributes of wisdom, power and goodness as evidenced by His handiwork.”
—- JAMES PRESCOTT JOULE - “If you study science deep enough and long enough, it will force you to believe in God.”
—- WILLIAM THOMSON KELVIN - “God alone is the author of all the motions in the world.”
—- RENÉ DESCARTES - “The object of mathematics is the honor of the human spirit. God ever arithmetizes.”
—- CARL GUSTAV JACOBI - “Should a priest reject Relativity because it contains no authoritative exposition on the doctrine of the Trinity? Once you realize that the Bible does not purport to be a textbook of science, the old controversy between religion and science vanishes. There is no conflict between religion and science.”
—- GEORGES HENRI LEMAȊTRE (The Catholic priest, Astronomer, and Professor of Mathematical Physics who initiated the Big Bang Theory) - “In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God.”
—- CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN (The initiator of Evolutionary Theory) - “Man’s efforts should always be goal-oriented: the Christian’s for the glory of God. In view of this, I hope that my studies benefited my neighbors; and ultimately, glorified God.”
—- MARIA GAETANA AGNESI (Eminent scholar and humanitarian; as well as the first woman awarded a Professorial Chair of Mathematics in a European university) - “Only the scientist tries to understand things pertaining to that mysterious language which God has inscribed in nature.”
—- SANTIAGO RAMÓN Y CAJAL (Eminent Professor of Neuroanatomy and Histopathology at Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid; 1906 Nobel Prize laureate) - “I am proud to be a Christian. I believe not only as a Christian, but as a scientist as well. A wireless device can deliver a message through the wilderness. In prayer the human spirit can send invisible waves to eternity, waves that achieve their goal in front of God.”
—- GUGLIELMO GIOVANNI MARCONI (Pioneer of Wireless Communications Systems; 1909 Nobel Prize laureate) - “My scientific works helped in consolidating my belief in God the Creator.”
—- CHARLES GLOVER BARKLA (Distinguished Physics Professor at Cambridge, Liverpool, London and Edinburgh; 1917 Nobel Prize laureate) - “This much I can say with definiteness — namely, that there is no scientific basis for the denial of religion — nor is there in my judgment any excuse for a conflict between science and religion, for their fields are entirely different. Men who know very little of science and men who know very little of religion do indeed get to quarreling, and the onlookers imagine that there is a conflict between science and religion, whereas the conflict is only between two different species of ignorance.”
—- ROBERT ANDREWS MILLIKAN (Distinguished Physics Professor at Chicago and Pasadena; 1923 Nobel Prize laureate) - “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”
—- WERNER KARL HEISENBERG (Distinguished Physics Professor at Goettingen, Leipzig, and Chicago; One of the founders of Matrix Mechanics; 1932 Nobel Prize laureate) - “Can a good scientist believe in God? I think the answer is: Yes. In the first place, a scientist, more than other scholars, spends his time observing nature. It is his task to help to unravel the mysteries of nature. He comes to marvel at these mysteries. Hence, it is not hard for a scientist to admire the greatness of the Creator of nature. From this it is only a step to adore God.”
—- VICTOR FRANZ HESS (Distinguished Physics Professor at Graz, Innsbruck, and Fordham; Discoverer of Cosmic Rays; 1936 Nobel Prize laureate) - “I have said for years, that speculations about the origin of life lead to no useful purpose, as even the simplest living system is far too complex to be understood in terms of the extremely primitive chemistry scientists have used in their attempts to explain the inexplicable that happened billions of years ago. God cannot be explained away by such naive thoughts.”
—- ERNST BORIS CHAIN (Eminent Professor of Biochemistry and Pathology at Oxford; Pioneer in Antibiotics; 1945 Nobel Prize laureate) - “One way to learn the mind of the Creator is to study His creation. We must pay God the compliment of studying His work of art and this should apply to all realms of human thought. A refusal to use our intelligence honestly is an act of contempt for Him who gave us that intelligence.”
—- ERNEST THOMAS SINTON WALTON (Eminent Physics Professor at Dublin, Cambridge, and Belfast; 1951 Nobel Prize laureate) - “Those who say that the study of science makes a man an atheist must be rather silly people.”
—- MAX BORN (Eminent Professor of Quantum Mechanics, Optics and Solid-State Physics at Frankfurt, Goettingen, Edinburgh, and Cambridge; 1954 Nobel Prize laureate) - “If I consider reality as I experience it, the primary experience I have is of my own existence as a self-conscious being, which I believe is God-created.”
—- JOHN CAREW ECCLES (Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Canberra, Chicago and New York; 1963 Nobel Prize laureate) - God is personal; yet, omnipresent. He is great source of strength: who made an enormous difference to me.”
—- CHARLES HARD TOWNES (Provost and Eminent Professor of Quantum Electronics at M.I.T.; Discoverer of Laser Technology; 1964 Nobel Prize laureate) - “God is truth. There is no incompatibility between science and religion. Both are seeking the same truth. Science shows that God exists.”
—- DEREK HAROLD RICHARD BARTON (Regius Professor of Chemistry at Glasgow; 1969 Nobel Prize laureate) - “I think only an idiot can be an atheist. We must admit that there exists an incomprehensible Power or Force with limitless foresight and knowledge that started the whole universe going in the first place.”
—- CHRISTIAN BOEHMER ANFINSEN Jr. (Distinguished Professor of Biology and Biochemistry at Johns Hopkins; 1972 Nobel Prize laureate) - “I believe in God. It makes no sense to me to assume that the universe and our existence is just a cosmic accident, that life emerged due to random physical processes in an environment which simply happened to have the right properties. As a Christian I begin to comprehend what life is all about through belief in a Creator, some of whose nature was revealed by a man born about 2000 years ago.”
—- ANTONY HEWISH (Distinguished Professor of Radio Astronomy at Cambridge; Discoverer of Pulsars; 1974 Nobel Prize laureate) - “We can and must ask God which way we ought to go, what we ought to do, how we ought to behave.”
—- NEVILL FRANCIS MOTT (Eminent Professor of Particle and Semiconductor Physics at Manchester, Cambridge, and Bristol; 1977 Nobel Prize laureate) - “I do not think our civilization has succeeded in discovering and explaining all the principles acting in the universe. I include the concept of God among these principles. I am happy to accept the concept without trying to define it precisely. I know that the concept of God helped me to master many questions in life; it guides me in critical situations and I see it confirmed in many deep insights into the beauty of the functioning of the living world.”
—- WERNER ARBER (Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Genetics at Berkeley and Basel; former President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences; 1978 Nobel Prize laureate) - “By looking at the order in the world, we can infer purpose and from purpose we begin to get some knowledge of the Creator, the Planner of all this. This is, then, how I look at God. I look at God through the works of God’s hands and from those works imply intentions. From these intentions, I receive an impression of the Almighty.”
—- ARNO ALLAN PENZIAS (Eminent Professor of Cosmic Waves, Radiation and Astronomy at New York; Vice President for Research at AT&T Bell Labs; 1978 Nobel Prize laureate) -
“This sense of wonder leads most scientists to a Superior Being—der Alte, the Old One, as Einstein affectionately called the Deity—a Superior Intelligence, the Lord of all Creation and Natural Law.”
—- MOHAMMAD ABDUS SALAM (Distinguished Professor of Particle and Theoretical Physics at Lahore, London, and Cambridge; 1979 Nobel Prize laureate)
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“The context of religion is a great background for doing science. I find a need for God in the universe and in my own life. In the words of Psalm 19, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork’. Thus scientific research is a worshipful act, in that it reveals more of the wonders of God’s creation.”
—- ARTHUR LEONARD SCHAWLOW (Eminent Professor of Optics, Spectroscopy and Superconductivity at Stanford; 1981 Nobel Prize laureate)
- “Is the Church inimical to science? Growing up as a Catholic and a scientist — I don’t see it. One truth is revealed truth, the other is scientific truth. If you really believe that creation is good, there can be no harm in studying science. The more we learn about creation — the way it emerged — it just adds to the glory of God. Personally, I’ve never seen a conflict.”
—- JOSEPH EDWARD MURRAY (Distinguished Professor of Surgery at Harvard; Pioneer in Organ Transplant; 1990 Nobel Prize laureate) - “A scientific discovery is a religious discovery. There is no conflict between science and religion. Our knowledge of God is made larger with every discovery we make.”
—- JOSEPH HOOTON TAYLOR Jr. (McDonnell Professor of Physics at Princeton; 1993 Nobel Prize laureate) - “God has given us an incredibly fascinating world to live in and explore.”
—- WILLIAM DANIEL PHILLIPS (Distinguished Physics Professor at Maryland; 1997 Nobel Prize laureate) - “Certainly science, especially physics and chemistry, is a very important part of my identity. But I also consider myself a religious person, and in two senses: one, based on my liberal Jewish upbringing which I have passed on to my children; the other, a kind of nondenominational deism which springs from my awe of the world of our experiences and is heightened by my identity as a scientist. It also includes a conviction that science alone is an insufficient guide to life, leaving many deep questions unanswered and needs unfulfilled.”
—- WALTER KOHN (Distinguished Professor of Physics and Physical Chemistry at San Diego and Santa Barbara; 1998 Nobel Prize laureate) - “All of us have a God in us, and that God is the Spirit that unites all life: everything that is on this planet.”
—- WANGARI MAATHAI (Distinguished Professor of Veterinary Anatomy at Nairobi; Pioneer in Ecological Conservation and Environmental Sustainability; 2004 Nobel Prize laureate) - “Of course, I believe in God. I grew up as a strict Catholic, and I think that I benefited from that.”
—- PETER ANDREAS GRUENBERG (Eminent Professor of Magnetism and Applied Physics at Cologne and Sendai; 2007 Nobel Prize laureate) - “Those who study the stars have God for a teacher.”
—- TYGE OTTESEN ‘TYCHO’ BRAHE (One of the greatest astronomers; and mentor to Johannes Kepler) - “That men should live honestly, quietly, and comfortably together, it is needful that they should live under a sense of God’s will; and in awe of the divine power, hoping to please God, and fearing to offend Him, by their behaviour respectively.”
—- ISAAC BARROW (The 1st Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge; and mentor to Isaac Newton) - “Miracles may be, for anything we know to the contrary, phenomena of a higher order of God’s laws, superior to, and, under certain conditions, controlling the inferior order known to us as the ordinary laws of nature.”
—- CHARLES BABBAGE (The 11th Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge; Pioneer in Computer Science; and Lifelong advocate of God’s existence) - “I believe the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene in breaking the laws.”
—- STEPHEN HAWKING (The 17th Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, whose atheistic antics ceased after he went and received Godly blessings from Pope Benedict XVI) - “God originated the universe. By faith and by appreciation of scientific necessity, God must exist.”
—- PERCY CYRIL CLAUDE GARNHAM (Distinguished Professor of Protozoology and Parasitology at LSHTM London) - “Scientific investigations, pushed on and on, will reveal new ways in which God works, and bring us deeper revelations of the wholly unknown.”
—- MARIA MITCHELL (U.S.A.’s first female Astronomer; Discoverer of the C/1847 T1 comet) - “Our God is a miracle-working God! He still steps in to heal, to answer prayer, to perform His purposes.”
—- JOHN NAPIER (One of the leading mathematicians of the late 16th century and early 17th century; Discoverer of Logarithms) - “I am a believer in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity.”
—- JOSEPH LISTER (Pioneer in Asepsis and Antiseptic Surgery) - “We know that nature is described by the best of all possible mathematics because God created it.”
—- ALEXANDER MARKOVICH POLYAKOV (Distinguished Professor of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics at Moscow and Princeton) - “I believe in the existence of God. His existence is apparent to me in everything around me, especially in my work as a scientist.”
—- STEVEN L. BERNASEK (Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Princeton, and Science Divisional Director at Yale-NUS) - “There are those among us who would have us say that the mysteries of the brain are completely solved and little needs to be added to its knowledge. It is as if these fortunate persons had been present when this magnificent organ was created.”
—- NICOLAS STENO (Catholic Bishop who in his previous scientific career, pioneered works in Anatomy, Geology, and Paleontology) - “I am satisfied with the existence of an unknowable source of divine order and purpose, and do not find this in conflict with being a practicing Christian.”
—- VERA KISTIAKOWSKY (Eminent Professor of Nuclear Chemistry and Astrophysics; the first woman to hold Professorial Chair of Physics at M.I.T.) - “I find it quite improbable that such order came out of chaos. There has to be some organizing principle. God to me is a mystery but is the explanation for the miracle of existence, why there is something instead of nothing.”
—- ALLAN REX SANDAGE (One of 20th century’s most influential Cosmologists, who abandoned atheism and converted to Christianity after many years of researching the origins of our universe) - “The mysterious ways of God are beyond us; and as well, beyond the deepest mysteries in science.”
—- ALEXANDER OBIEFOKA ENUKORA ANIMALU (Eminent Professor of Super Conductivity and Solid State Physics at Rolla, Philadelphia, and Nsukka) - “I believe that there is a God and that God brings structure to the universe at all levels from elementary particles to human being to superclusters of galaxies.”
—- JOHN ERIK FORNAESS (Eminent Professor of Mathematics at Princeton and Michigan) -
“God is not a God of the edges, with a vested interest in beginnings. God is the God of the whole show.”
—- JOHN CHARLTON POLKINGHORNE (Anglican priest; and Eminent Professor of Mathematical Physics at Edinburgh and Cambridge)
- “God has given us more than fourteen billion cells and connections in our brain. Why would God give us such a complex organ system unless He expects us to use it?”
—- BENJAMIN SOLOMON CARSON Sr. (Distinguished Professor of Surgery and Oncology at Johns Hopkins; Pioneer in Neurosurgery; and the youngest American to attain the rank of Chief Pediatric Neurosurgeon) - “The equations of physics have in them incredible simplicity, elegance, and beauty. That in itself is sufficient to prove to me that there must be a God who is responsible for these laws, and responsible for the universe.”
—- PAUL CHARLES WILLIAM DAVIES (Distinguished Professor of Quantum Field Theory, Cosmology, and Astrobiology at London and Cambridge) - “I build molecules for a living. I can’t begin to tell you how difficult that job is. I stand in awe of God because of what He has done through His creation. My faith has been increased through my research. Only a rookie who knows nothing about science would say science takes away from faith. If you really study science, it will bring you closer to God.”
—- JAMES MITCHELL TOUR (Eminent Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Nanotechnology at USC Columbia and Rice Houston) - “I believe in God. Atheism is a fairy story for people afraid of the light.”
—- JOHN CARSON LENNOX (Eminent Professor of Mathematics at Wales and Oxford) - “The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome. God can be found in the cathedral or in the laboratory.”
—- FRANCIS SELLERS COLLINS (Eminent Geneticist; Director of USA’s National Institutes of Health; and former atheist) - “To all of us who hold the Christian belief that God is truth, anything that is true is a fact about God, and mathematics is a branch of theology.”
—- HILDA PHOEBE HUDSON (One of 20th century’s leading female mathematicians; and the first woman to address the International Congress of Mathematicians) - “Truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it. Let it loose, and it will defend itself.”
—- SAINT AUGUSTINE (Bishop of Hippo Regius: the modern city of Annaba in Algeria; he ranks among the all-time greatest theologians and philosophers)