Dec. 21, 2012 Countdown - Day 40: Francis Collins "Language of GOD"

Francis Collins: Language of GOD (compiled by Tihomir Dimitrov)

FRANCIS COLLINS (born 1950), [Director of the National Institutes of Health (2009-Present)]

1. In the introduction of his book The Language of God (2006) Francis Collins wrote:

“For me the experience of sequencing the human genome, and uncovering this most remarkable of all texts, was both a stunning scientific achievement and an occasion of worship.

Many will be puzzled by these sentiments, assuming that a rigorous scientist could not also be a serious believer in a transcendent God. This book aims to dispel that notion, by arguing that belief in God can be an entirely rational choice, and that the principles of faith are, in fact, complementary with the principles of science.” (Francis S. Collins, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, New York, Free Press, 2006).

2. “Science’s domain is to explore nature. God’s domain is in the spiritual world, a realm not possible to explore with the tools and language of science. It must be examined with the heart, the mind, and the soul – and the mind must find a way to embrace both realms.” (Collins 2006).

3. “I have no reason to see a discordance between what I know as a scientist who spends all day studying the genome of humans and what I believe as somebody who pays a lot of attention to what the Bible has taught me about God and about Jesus Christ. Those are entirely compatible views. Science is the way – a powerful way, indeed – to study the natural world. Science is not particularly effective – in fact, it’s rather ineffective – in making commentary about the supernatural world. Both worlds, for me, are quite real and quite important. They are investigated in different ways. They coexist. They illuminate each other.” (Collins 2000).

4. To the question, “Are you a mainline Protestant? An Evangelical Protestant? What are you?” Dr. Collins replied:

“I guess I’d call myself a serious Christian. That is someone who believes in the reality of Christ's death and resurrection, and who tries to integrate that into daily life and not just relegate it to something you talk about on Sunday morning.” (Collins 2000).

5. “Science is the only reliable way to understand the natural world, and its tools when properly utilized can generate profound insights into material existence. But science is powerless to answer questions such as ‘Why did the universe come into being?’, ‘What is the meaning of human existence?’, ‘What happens after we die?’. One of the strongest motivations of humankind is to seek answers to profound questions, and we need to bring all the power of both the scientific and spiritual perspectives to bear on understanding what is both seen and unseen.” (Collins 2006).