All my life I have been enthralled with the natural world. I spent my childhood summers in the backwoods of Upper Peninsula Michigan, hiking and exploring, building forts and looking under rocks. My grandfather taught me how to canoe and instilled in me a love of exploration as we adventured down uncharted creeks, watching bucks crash through water and bald eagles thunder overhead. It is in nature, witnessing the grandeur of creation, that I feel closest to God.

The study of science tapped into this awe of nature. I can still remember my sixth grade science teacher, John Leonard, defining science as the mystery of God’s creation. This, combined with the mysteries encompassed by the other disciplines, evokes a deep sense of wonder. And sometimes that wonder is so powerful! I find myself taken back to the summer nights lying out on the country roads, staring through a crystal clear sky at the Milky Way as my cross-country coach, Bill Delvaux, pointed out the constellations. So many stars! Such a beautiful dance of the cosmos!

I left for college excited to delve into the mysteries of science. There I found new opportunities for wonder through seeing the hidden order of chaos theory, exploring the biology of human behavior, experiencing the beauty and fragility of the coral reefs, and finally learning how chemistry really works in my senior year. But I also found it easy to get lost in the details. Science is a lot of work, and a lot of frustration at failed attempts. One does not have to look far to find disillusioned graduate students and professors on ego-trips.

Through these years, I also wrestled with the intersection of science and faith. I was fascinated with the evidence of God in his creation but remained wary of trying to prove him conclusively. I was particularly confused on the question of evolution. I had grown up ascribing to a fairly literal interpretation of Genesis, though I had no problem with God working over long time spans. As a chemistry major in my early years, I was able to avoid the issue fairly well, but when I switched to biology it came to the forefront.

I can remember reading Michael Behe’s book, Darwin’s Black Box. While Behe, a Christian, does not fully accept Darwin’s mechanism of gradual change by selective adaptation, he does believe that all species descended from a common ancestral species. This was the first time I had encountered a believer who would accept the idea of common descent. As I studied biology, I came to see evolutionary theory as having increasing scientific validity, but I remained wary. I was receiving mixed signals from friends and mentors—some said it was fine to accept evolutionary theory (at least to a degree); others argued that it totally undermined the authority of scripture.

I left college unsettled over this issue, and my pastor recommended that I read The Language of God by Dr. Francis Collins. Collins, one-time director of the Human Genome Project, is an evangelical Christian who believes in evolution. I first read through his book, and then, in an unexpected turn of events, I spent the last year being mentored by Collins himself. Francis Collins has greatly shaped my view of science. He has done years of challenging lab work, but he has held on to the wonder of discovery and excitement for new insights. And he sees science and faith working together in beautiful harmony to reveal to us the truth about our Creator.

I put together this website for myself as much as anybody, to remind myself why I care about science (why science is “cool”), and to remind myself of the wonder and the worship to which we are called. So let us turn now to the witness of scripture, and let us heed its call to worship our Creator.

Next Page: The Wash of Scripture