“Christian Scientists” here means people whose field of interest is in what we call the “natural sciences,” the study of the world around us by what can been seen and measured. Sometimes this is called “empirical evidence.”
There has always been a division between the people who look to the world around us to understand the world and those who understand by faith.
The Christian scientists here have found value in both. They are the “Famous Stars” in the title because they are recognized by the world as making a great contributions to science and our lives.
More importantly, they stand out for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and their love for Him that motivated their work for this world and His Kingdom.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was a MATHEMATICAL GENIUS who created a model of the solar system with the sun at the center, not the earth, as was the prevailing view.
He was a canon in the Catholic church and saw NO CONFLICT BETWEEN HIS VIEW AND THE BIBLE’S.
Copernicus believed that God designed and created the universe. He further believed that God’s design was mathematical with the everywhere appearing symmetry of nature supporting this belief.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was an imperial astronomer who formulated the laws of planetary motion. He believed that GOD HAD CREATED THE UNIVERSE according to an intelligible plan:
The laws of nature were within the grasp of the human mind and God wanted man to recognize them by creating him after his own image so that he could share in his own thoughts.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1624) was an ASTRONOMER, PHYSICIST, AND CHRISTIAN. He got into trouble with the Church for agreeing with Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the solar system.
He held that heliocentrism was not contrary to biblical texts, and that the Bible was an authority on faith and morals, not science.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a brilliant mathematician, physicist, and theologian. He invented the early mechanical calculating machine. He is famous for his Pensée’s and PASCAL’S WAGER:
If God existed, and the person believed in God, he would be rewarded (with HAPPINESS forever); if the person did not believe, he would be punished (with what is called eternal damnation).
If God did not exist it would make no difference. For this reason, it would be better to believe in God, Pascal said.
Robert Boyle (1627-1691) was a chemist who overturned Aristotle’s view of 4 elements, (earth, water, air, and fire) with the modern idea of elements as substances that cannot be further divided by chemical methods.
His atomic theory was at first ridiculed by the alchemists, but then gradually gained ground and marked the beginning of the modern era of chemistry.
A devout Anglican, Boyle believed that the universe was well-ordered and illustrated God’s design. Further, he believed that it was part of HIS CHRISTIAN SERVICE to work and seek God’s purpose in science and nature.
Antony van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was a microbiologist who built over 400 microscopes and rebutted the theory of spontaneous generation.
He was the father of MICROBIOLOGY and a firm believer in the God of Creation.
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was the GREATEST SCIENTIST/MATHEMATICIAN ever, famous for his work in the laws of motion and universal gravitation.
He spent more time on theology than on science; indeed, he wrote about 1.3 million words on biblical subjects.
Newton’s understanding of God came primarily FROM THE BIBLE, which he studied for days and weeks at a time.
Carl Linnaeus 1707-1778) the great Swedish botanist, was raised in a Christian home and BELIEVED THE BIBLE COMPLETELY, including the GENESIS ACCOUNT OF CREATION.
“The Earth’s creation is the glory of God, as seen from the works of Nature by Man alone.
The study of nature would reveal the Divine Order of God’s creation, and it was the naturalist’s task to construct a ‘natural classification’ that would reveal this Order in the universe.”
Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) was a Swiss mathematician who introduced many of the advanced symbols and functions used in higher mathematics today,
including the use of the Greek symbol π Pi to represent Archimedes’ constant.
A pious Christian, Euler was convinced of the BIBLE’S DIVINE INSPIRATION. One of his major apologetic works is the Defence of the Revelation Against the Objections of Freethinkers.
Antoine Lavoisier (1743 – 1794) was an important French chemist who discovered the role of oxygen and hydrogen in combustion.
He wrote the first extensive list of elements and helped create the metric system.
He BELIEVED IN THE BIBLE and was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) made his scientific contributions to electricity and chemistry. He came from a devout Christian family and was himself a LAY-ELDER IN HIS CHURCH.
Charles Babbage 1791 – 1871 is considered the father of the computer and invented the first mechanical computer in 1837.
He was a defender of miracles and wrote a defense of them to counter agnostic David Hume.
Raised in a devout Protestant home HE WROTE THIS:
The works of the Creator, ever present to our senses, give a living and perpetual testimony of his power and goodness far surpassing any evidence transmitted through human testimony.
The testimony of man becomes fainter at every stage of transmission, whilst each new inquiry into the works of the Almighty gives to us more exalted views of his wisdom, his goodness, and his power.
James Prescott Joule (1818-1889) was the founder of Thermodynamics after his experiments proved the principle of energy conservation.
He strongly believed in the GOD OF THE BIBLE and joined other members of the Royal Society in opposing Darwinism.
Florence Nightingale (1820 – 1910) was the pioneer of professional nursing and believed she was CALLED BY GOD TO THIS WORK.
Her introduction of sanitary reforms added 20 years to life expectancy between 1871 and 1935;
“God called me in the morning and asked me would I do good for him alone without reputation.”
Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-1884) was the Father of Genetics so-called after his experiments on pea plants enabled him to describe the laws of inheritance we know as Mendel’s Laws.
To him, we owe the concepts of ‘recessive’ and ‘dominant’ genes. He did much of his work in a monastery where he later became an abbot.
He was an Augustinian monk and a lifelong Roman Catholic.
William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907) codified the first two laws of thermodynamics and deduced the absolute zero of temperature is -273.15 °C. On the Kelvin scale, absolute zero is found at 0 Kelvin.
He invented the signaling equipment used in the first transatlantic telegraph via an undersea cable.
An elder of the Free Church of Scotland, Thomson remained a devout believer in Christianity throughout his life; attendance at chapel was part of his daily routine.
He saw his CHRISTIAN FAITH as supporting and informing his scientific work.
Joseph Lister (1827-1912) introduced Antisepsis Procedures that saved millions of lives.
The father of modern surgery, Lister was a committed Christian who affirmed the FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) was a Scottish mathematician who developed the 4 equations for the “second great unification in physics,” the first being by Isaac Newton.
Einstein described Maxwell’s work as the “most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton.”
A born-again Christian, Maxwell OPPOSED EVOLUTION believing
“it was impossible to reconcile it with the scientific evidence that instead pointed to design in nature and ultimately to the Creator.”
Sir John Ambrose Fleming (1849 – 1945) was an electrical engineer and physicist who invented the vacuum tube and developed the radio transmitter.
He was a strong Believer, once preaching on Jesus’ Resurrection and leading other scientists to establish the EVOLUTION PROTEST MOVEMENT.
George Washington Carver (1864 – 1943) was an agricultural scientist famous for his work on alternate crop rotation to avoid soil depletion.
He developed over 100 recipes for peanuts and became world-famous as the first prominent Black scientist of the 20th century.
Carver believed he could have FAITH BOTH IN GOD AND SCIENCE and integrated them into his life.
He testified on many occasions that his faith in JESUS was the only mechanism by which he could effectively pursue and perform the art of science.
Arthur Compton (1892 – 1962) was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1927 for his discoveries on light (particles & waves) and his role in the Manhattan project that developed the atomic bomb.
An elder in the Presbyterian church, COMPTON SET JESUS AS THE CENTER OF HIS FAITH IN GOD’S ETERNAL PLAN. He once commented that he could see Jesus’ spirit at work in the world as an aspect of God alive in men and women.
Charles Townes (1915 – 2015} was an American physicist who discovered the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, invented the laser and maser, and shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1964.
A deeply religious man and member of the Church of Christ, Townes believed:
that the beauty of nature is “obviously God-made,” and that God created the universe for humans to emerge and flourish.
He prayed every day and felt that RELIGION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SCIENCE because it addresses the most important long-range question: the meaning and purpose of our lives.
Henry Madison Morris (1918 -2006) was the father of MODERN CREATION SCIENCE. Morris helped create the modern school of thought based on a belief in biblical inerrancy and a literal interpretation of Genesis.
It is a system Morris called “Scientific Creationism” that opposes the mainstream scientific community regarding the history of the earth and the universe.
Morris found an audience among preachers and home school teachers all over America, where 46% of the public holds some form of creationist belief.
Final thoughts on Christian Scientists
What a wonderful testimony these lives give to God’s goodness and power. I am thankful for those who have stood up for Jesus in faith when doubt and materialism have attacked Him and His Word.
Without faith, we cannot see Him and His almighty power which He has given us in His Word, the Bible.
Many things seem impossible to believe from a natural standpoint. When Jesus was confronted by a group of scholars who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, He told them they were wrong and asked them this:
Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? – Jesus in Matthew 12:24
That power is almighty and includes all power in heaven and on the earth. It is displayed in the Bible and is central to the truth. The nature of science is that it is always changing and unsettled. God's truth in the scriptures and personified in His Son is unchanging.
Science often changes and has to backtrack on its theories, but the Word of God endures forever. We are not fools for believing, that title is to those who say there is no God. The wonderful truth of the Christian faith is not only is there a God, but He became a man for our sakes and died on the cross to bring us to everlasting life. Hallelujah!
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