In the laboratory as well as in the cathedral

The September-October 2007 issue of Science & Spirit includes an interesting brief essay by Francis S. Collins, director of the Human Genome Project and author of The Language of God. In the essay, Collins calls for a "theology of celebration," in which people with a wide range of beliefs about God can join in celebrating the wonder of existence. He writes

Despite their claims to hard-nosed objectivity, atheists have gone wildly outside the evidence by declaring God imaginary. They are proposing an impoverished perspective that will not satisfy most of their intended converts. For their part, fundamentalists who demand acceptance of a unilateral interpretation of Genesis are making that a litmus test for true faith, which wise theologians over the centuries have not found necessary.

Could we not step back from the unloving rhetoric of these entrenched positions and seek a new path towards truth? If science is a way of uncovering the details of God's creation, then it may actually be a form of worship. Did not God, in giving us the intelligence to ask and answer questions about nature, expect us to use it? We should be able to learn about God in the laboratory as well as in the cathedral. (66)