Can we see beyond the faith and science impasse?

James K. A. Smith has an interesting article in Christianity Today, “What Galileo’s Telescope Can’t See.” Read it here. Our present historical moment is marked by significant turbulence around the issue of creation/origins (specifically), and the relationship of science and faith (generally).

In the midst of what Charles Taylor refers to as “cross-pressures” we can be tempted toward either/or responses that can quickly lose any sense of nuance or deliberation.

One such response is conjuring the image of Galileo with all the popular baggage this entails. Smith argues that we do well to avoid applying the Galileo analogy to our current moment claiming that it is detrimental to productive inquiry.

Ours, we are told, is a “Galilean” moment: a critical time in history when new findings in the natural sciences threaten to topple fundamental Christian beliefs, just as Galileo’s proposed heliocentrism rocked the ecclesiastical establishment of his day. This…