Good read to show that there is a place for both science and faith! Science studies the natural world but can make no claim about the supernatural one. The best discipline for making claims about the supernatural is religion / faith.
The God of Monkey Science: People of Faith in a Modern Scientific World by Janet Kellogg Ray
The God of Monkey Science examines the history of science denial and anti-intellectualism in the American Evangelical church beginning with the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 and follows its contribution to modern-day denial of evolution, climate science, vaccines, and masks. Ray holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Texas, a M.Ed. in Gifted Education from Hardin-Simmons University, and a B.S.Ed. in biology from Abilene Christian University and has been teaching biology at the university level for almost 20 years.
Janet Kellogg Ray is an enthusiastic science educator raised in a conservative evangelical church community in Texas. She writes as an insider with decades of experience encountering science denial in her own religious community and the classroom. Understanding the history and ongoing impact of pseudoscience in the church is vital. More churches, pastors, Christian leaders, and lay people need to consider the cost of decades of science denial within the American Evangelical culture. Ray examines the history, causes, and effects of rejecting evidence-based science and implores the Christian community to reconsider their attitude towards science and scientists for the good of their families, their church, their community, and the world. The goal of this book is not to provide Bible verses or scientific evidence to convince lay Christians to change their beliefs about modern science but to show the pattern, history, and cost of science denial in the evangelical church and beyond. I hope this book convinces pastors and church leaders of the risks of science rejection, the importance of science acceptance, and the need for conversations on science in their congregations.
The book is divided into 12 chapters followed by discussion prompts for each chapter that would be useful for a small group study or book club, then several pages of end notes, and finally an index. Ray explains in chapter one that the reception of her first book, Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark , during the COVID-19 pandemic led her to research the connection between evolution denial by white evangelicals and skepticism by the same community towards COVID-19 evidence-based protection and prevention measures such as masks, vaccines, and limited gatherings. In chapter two we learn that “the purpose of this book is to explore evangelical science denial, and the conversation begins with evolution (p21).” She notes the method utilized by William Jennings Bryan during the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925 is still used by evangelicals today. Bryan preached “danger to families, to faith, to freedom (p24).”
Chapter three investigates where people get their information and points out that many evangelicals are convinced by speakers from within their tribe regardless of the quality of evidence for their claims. Chapter four provides an overview and examples of the scientific process and explains how general scientific illiteracy and suspicion of the scientific community led to widespread misunderstanding and rejection of genuine COVID-19 prevention and treatment and even acceptance of ineffective recommendations by unqualified voices. Ray highlights the work of Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, the lead scientist behind the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine, and Dr. Francis Collins the head of the NIH during the pandemic, both of whom are Christians and worked tirelessly to save lives. And yet, “as the vaccines rolled out to the general population in 2021, 45% of white evangelicals said they definitely would not or probably would not get a COVID vaccine (p61).” Evangelicals chanted faith over fear as a mantra to reject lifesaving COVID-19 treatments and preventions, especially masks, vaccines, and limiting group gatherings. In chapter 6, the author looks at the history of evangelical anti-intellectualism from the “plain readings” of scripture to evangelical colleges that isolate from rather than collaborate with multi-disciplinary scholarship. Evangelicals saw non-literalistic interpretations of Genesis 1-11 and an acceptance of evolution as an attack on the Christian faith. “We’ve been conditioned: when in doubt or when something challenges long-held beliefs, the true Christian rejects the intellect and elevates faith (p86).”
Evangelicals as underdogs is a common theme in their movies and messages, including their approach to science where alternatives like Intelligent Design and Young Earth Creationism are perceived as unfairly excluded from public school science curricula. “In the fight against evolution, we have been carefully trained. We’ve been told it’s a war and we are up against Goliath. We’ve been told our morals and our beliefs are under attack (p100).” So, when it came to the pandemic, Evangelicals were more concerned about their rights and freedoms than about protecting the vulnerable and reducing the impact of COVID-19 on people’s health. Disinformation and false claims were commonly used to discredit scientists during COVID-19 but these tactics were not new. “Some of the most egregious denigrations of secular scientists can be found in popular homeschool and Christian private school curricula (p129).” Evangelicals also commonly believe that climate science is an attack on God’s sovereignty and fear the solutions threaten freedom and morality. “Evangelicals balk at long-term creation care that demands acceptance of science—particularly science that butts heads with our theological and theo-political beliefs (p140).” Chapter eleven provides an overview of stem cells, fetal tissue, and fetal cell lines, what they are, and how they are used in medical research including the development and testing of vaccines and many other drugs and treatments. I appreciated the author’s discussion of ethics and the need for wise and knowledgeable Christian voices in these conversations.
“The Barna Group has told us for years that science denial is wrecking the faith of teens and young adults. … Always among the top six is the tense relationship between the church and science (p176).” “White evangelicals are also the religious demographic least likely to consider the health of their community in making a vaccination decision (p176).” Chapter twelve concludes the book urging Christians to adopt the mind of Christ and live as people of faith who love our neighbors in our modern scientific world. I found this book quite insightful, and Ray did an excellent job connecting the history of science denial in white evangelicals over the past 100 years stemming from the Scopes Monkey Trial to the rejection of evolution, climate science, vaccines, masking, and other evidence-based COVID-19 treatment and prevention measures. Because this is the same demographic that largely aligns with patriarchy, Christian Nationalism, and far-right-wing politics, it would be interesting to explore these associations which cannot be explained merely by the science denial initiated by the Scopes Monkey Trial. Even so, this book is urgently needed, easy to read (though discouraging at times), and covers an important subject — the perceived conflict between science and faith — which is one of the top reasons cited by people for leaving the church. I strongly recommend this book. The evangelical church needs to do better in this area and reading this book is a great place to begin.
This content was originally published here.