Monthly musings from the Bishop of Dudley - Rt Rev David Walker

I’VE been away for a few days over this last week, attending a couple of conferences where we've been looking at how science and religion fit together.

Back at the end of Queen Victoria's reign there were a lot of people who thought that an odd thing to do.

Scientists were sure they were finding the truth about life and many saw religious belief as one of the obstacles to their progress.

Many religious leaders worried that scientific discoveries were undermining people's faith.

Even in recent times there have been a handful of angry atheists who keep on peddling that misconception.

Most of the people at the two events I have been attending are both highly qualified scientists and men and women with a deep and strong Christian faith.

For many of them, like me, it's the fact that both faith and science make sense of the world that appeals.

And that both of them help us to make good decisions about how we live our lives.

The more we know about science, the more we are filled with wonder at the glory of the world around us, and the stronger our belief in the God who made it all and who loves each of us.

Back in my days studying maths, I would occasionally meet in college people who tried to tell me science disproved religion.

They were usually students in non scientific subjects.

I was far more likely to meet the scientists on Sunday morning, sitting next to me in church.