Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?: An MIT Professor Answers Questions on God and Science

by Ian Hutchinson

Plasma physicist Ian Hutchinson has been asked hundreds of questions about faith and science:
What is faith and what is science? Are they compatible?
Are there realities science cannot explain?
Are miracles ruled out by science?
Is God's existence a scientific question?
Is the Bible consistent with the modern scientific understanding of the universe?
How did the universe begin?
How could a good God permit so much suffering in the world?
Are there scientific reasons to believe in God?

In this comprehensive volume, Hutchinson answers a full range of inquiries with sound scientific insights and measured Christian perspective. Without minimizing challenging questions, he explores how science and Christianity are mutually supportive and intellectually consistent. Both God and science truthfully address our curiosity and destiny. Find answers to your deepest questions.

Genres: Science, Philosophy, Christianity, Theology, Religion, Christian

288 pages, Paperback

Published September 11, 2018

About the author

Ian Hutchinson is a plasma physicist and professor of nuclear science and engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was born in England, educated at Cambridge University, and received his doctorate from Australian National University. His research group explores the confinement of plasmas hotter than the sun's center, aimed at producing practical energy from nuclear fusion reactions, the energy source of the stars. A frequent Veritas Forum presenter, Ian has written and spoken widely on the relationship between science and Christianity. He is the author of over two hundred research articles, and his books include Principles of Plasma Diagnostics and Monopolizing Knowledge.

Reviews

[Charles Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior not 5 months ago. It has been an exhilarating, challenging and richly rewarding 5 months as I have developed and deepened my faith. As a long time religious skeptic and believer in the force of reason, my current beliefs are as surprising to me as they are to those who know me. Yet my longtime interest in the “why” and “how” of things remain which is why I have read the New Testament several times and devoured other books and writers on religious and faith based topics.
Professor Hutchinson’s appearance at my church one Sunday brought these strands into focus and led me to his book.
If you have ever ponder d the big questions of meaning, good and evil, faith and yes miracles then this book is a must read. Hutchinson is a passionate and insanely knowledgeable guide through the hard questions and simple truths surrounding faith and Christ. I will read it again soon and mark it up because there so very many important points and explanations that I could not fully absorb in a first reading. This book is for any thinking and thoughtful person, Christian or not. Atheist or not, it will engage the reader on every page with thoughtful and informed explanations of Christian faith intellectually joined with the writer’s scientific foundations. In his world, as he explains in each chapter, there is no contradiction between his deep faith and his science. In fact they complement each other and make each other stronger.
This is a must read .

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A collection of responses to questions about God and science asked by students at Veritas Forums on university campuses throughout the country.

There is a popular conception that science and religion are at war and that anyone who is engaged in scientific research rejects the idea of a God. If that is the case, Ian Hutchinson apparently didn’t get the memo. That’s all the more extraordinary because Hutchison is a plasma physicist doing research and teaching at MIT. He has published over two hundred peer-reviewed articles and at least two books in his field. And he didn’t grow up Christian, as he shares in this book. He came to faith in college after a careful search.

Hutchinson has been willing to go public with his faith, speaking at a number of university campuses through the Veritas Forum. One of the features of these speaking engagements are audience questions from students in attendance. Over the years, he has collected these questions, many of which concern how scientists can possibly embrace the Christian faith. In this work, after sharing his own journey to faith and subsequent life, he organizes these into thirteen chapters. In this case, listing the table of contents may be the best way to summarize the issues he covers:

Preface
1. A Spiritual Journey
2. Are There Realities Science Cannot Explain?
3. What Is Faith?
4. Do Scientists Have Faith?
5. Does Reason Support Christian Belief?
6. What Is Scientism?
7. Is There Really Spiritual Knowledge?
8. Creation and Cosmology
9. Do Miracles Happen?
10. The Bible and Science
11. Of All the World’s Religions, Why Christianity?
12. Why Does God Seem Hidden?
13. Is There Good and Evil?
14. Personal Consequences: So What?

As you can see, the title of the work is just one of these chapters. How he approaches this is a good reflection of the approach of the whole book. He starts with a definition of a miracle: a miracle is an extraordinary act of God. He observes that because of its extraordinary character, the existence of miracles cannot be proven or disproven because science requires reproducibility. This is actually modest because he admits that miracles involve interpretation. All science can do is speak to the likelihood of such an event. He also argues that the inviolability of nature’s laws is not a doctrine of science. Natural explanations of events needn’t be the only explanations. Quantum reality actually suggests a universe that is not a closed system of natural laws. He discounts many miracle legends and focuses on the miracles of the incarnation and resurrection as central to Christianity. Along the way, he addresses natural explanations as well as the possibility of miracles in other religions, arguing that these are most worth considering when consistent with the whole worldview of that religion.

Several things are striking: there is respect for the questions, the responses both explore the logic, as well as possible misconceptions, of the question and then offers reasoned responses with significant documentation. Throughout, there is high regard for the work of scientists and the results of science and the conviction that there is nothing in science that calls into question the existence of God or the truth of the central claims of Christianity. Actually, the question that is the most challenging for Hutchinson is not a scientific one but rather the existence of evil and the questions it raises of the goodness of God. He does offer thoughtful responses to this as well, and observes that evil is also a problem for the atheist.

Because of the question-based format, this does feel a bit like a question and answer session. That may be useful as a reference for someone who has similar questions or friends who do. It also reflects the tone I’ve witnessed when I’ve heard Hutchinson speak: articulate, forthright but not arrogant, gracious and yet well-reasoned. One interlocutor told me that he had checked out Hutchinson ahead of time and agreed to engage with him, convinced that they would have a real conversation, not a set up. And that’s what one finds here.

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book accomplishes exactly what Hutchinson set out to do: explain the author's professional, carefully thought-out opinion on how Christianity and science function so that they are friends instead of foes.

I am not a scientist, let alone one of the calibur Hutchinson is, so I'll admit to you that certain sections of the book required a few re-reads for me, and in some short parts I just had to tell myself, "I don't understand this, but I think I get his main point here, so that's okay."

Initially I picked up this book at the recommendation of my pastor, so it could help me understand and be more equipped when I have discussions with atheist friends and family members. I feel that this book really did help me parse through some difficult arguments in a more logical/scientific way than I might typically, and I also think the author typically treated atheists and their positions with respect in his book even while disagreeing with specific positions in respectful but firm ways, which is important to me.

I made my way through this book over a few years, partially due to being busy and partially due to taking so long to process it all. I wanted to be able to understand everything I read well enough to use the points in discussions with atheists in my own life, and honestly, I think I should've focused more on just reading and enjoying the fact that this scientist believes deeply in the power of the Gospel and the "power" of well-done science. It has some wonderful points worth bringing up to others, and some popular objections with reasonable, Christian and scientific responses, but I think I made a dense book denser by my approach to it. I recommend using it more like he recommends in the introduction and skipping around as needed, where you almost use the book as a reference.

I didn't necessarily agree with every one of Hutchinson's views, but that wasn't really the point of me reading it OR of him writing it, so I don't actually think that's a detractor. Realize if you pick this up and hold extremely traditional Christian views (young earth creationism, notably) that you may disagree with him a great deal. But please hear him out. He makes a very good argument and very good points. He's a fallible human like all of us, but he knows his stuff, so it's worth hearing him out and realizing he likely knows the scientific side of things much, MUCH better than you do.

The only frustrating thing I ran into in this book personally was that occasionally it seemed that the answer section following a question didn't answer the exact question. I don't know if this was an oversight, or if I misunderstood the answer sometimes since it was a very dense read. I don't think he was shying away from hard questions by any means, but it's worth noting that the answers are brainier and less clear than, "Why does X?" "The reason X is because..."

Over all, I would recommend this book, and I already have. I even recommended it to an atheist friend of mine, which I typically don't do, as I have found that, too often, Christian books don't treat atheists or their positions with enough respect for that to be reasonable. I didn't believe that was the case with this book.

[Lucas G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever heard from someone that there is tension between science and Christianity, this book is well worth picking up. Hutchinson, a physicist and a Christian, responds to over 200 questions that he's been asked about faith and science throughout his career. The question and answer format means there is some repetition and chapters tend to stand alone, so there is no need to read the book in order. Instead, it'd be pretty easy to read the chapters in order of interest. The most impressive aspect about this book is the depth of knowledge Hutchinson displays in response to philosophical and theological questions, in addition to the scientific questions, all while keeping good answers concise and accessible.

For a more complete discussion, see my review at Apologetics 315:
https://apologetics315.com/2019/02/bo...

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of skimmed this book, which the author actually recommends in the beginning. This is a book for those who are trained in the sciences. I found it to be somewhat compelling, but probably over my head. It is admirable to see a scientist who is actually serious about his faith, however, and interesting to see his thought processes about how faith and science fit together. If you spend much time thinking about the origins of life, quarks, black holes, and the like, this book is for you.

[Rocky Woolery · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't necessarily care for the question ans answer format that the author chose to use, I found that it tended to distract me from what he had to say. It also seemed to me to cause some redundancy, but that might just have been an incorrect perception on my part. Overall I didn't see anything in this book that was unexpected, and not shared in other works that I would choose to read first if given the opportunity.

[Beth Hawks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this book is a bit misleading as that question is only addressed in chapters 9 and 10. This is basically an apologetics book written by a plasma scientist. That's not a bad thing; it's just not the book I expected. Having read quite a bit of apologetics in the past, I only thoroughly read the questions where I thought a scientist would have an interesting take. I skimmed the rest.

[Steven Gripp · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. His inquiries were more fascinating than his responses. He does a fine job at exploring the nature of infusing the two, but it’s still not a risk taker like what scientists or religious folk want to see.

[Brenda Seefeldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is broken into the questions that we all have with his answers in laymen's terms. Find the question you've been wrestling with and then read a well-thought out response. This will give you something to think about.

[Regena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like it as much as I thought I would....