Seminary of the 3rd Age - David McKirdy - Deciphering Science/Religion

Albert Einstein said, "Religion without science is blind", whereas Max Planck, the founder of quantum physics, points out “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because ... we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”

Are science and religion necessarily at odds? 

According to philosopher & theologian, Robin Meyers: "The Bible is a record of ancient conversations that took place in an ancient cosmology vastly different from that of the modern world ... We need to get over the idea [promulgated by militant atheist Richard Dawkins in his best-seller 'The God Delusion'] that science and religion are natural enemies when in fact they are natural partners."

And so, the challenge confronting progressive Christians is to discern what if any of the Bible is relevant to us today.

David McKirdy, a life-long church goer, is a graduate of Adelaide Teachers' College, the University of Adelaide, and the ANU.

It was not until he joined SCM in 1964 that the geology and organic chemistry majors of his B.Sc. degree started to pose serious questions for the somewhat conservative theology then underpinning his faith. A fundamental change in his thinking occurred when confronted with the vastness of geological time, and the fact that homo sapiens did not appear on the scene until 5 seconds before midnight. His faith journey has very much been a matter of reconciling science and religion.

As an organic geochemist he worked for 17 years in government and industry. In 1987 he returned to the University of Adelaide to teach and continue his research, until retiring in 2006. He is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences.