Page 123 - The Qur'an Leads the Way to Science

Scientists of Faith

proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and
powerful Being. This Being governs all things... as Lord over all, and
on account of His dominion. He is wont to be called Lord God,
Universal Ruler. 78
It is a known fact that Kepler's scientific achievements sprang from his
religious faith. Arno Penzias, 1978 winner of the Nobel Prize in physics,
and co-discoverer of cosmic background radiation, had this to say about
Kepler:

That really goes back to the triumph, not of Copernicus, but really the
triumph of Kepler. That's because, after all, the notion of epicycles and
so forth goes back to days when scientists were swapping opinions. All
this went along until we had a true believer and this was Kepler. …He
really believed in God the Lawgiver. …And he said there's got to be
something simpler and more powerful. Now he was lucky or maybe
there was something deeper, but Kepler's faith was rewarded with his
laws of nature. And so from that day on, it's been an awful struggle, but
over long centuries, we find that very simple laws of nature actually do
apply. And so that expectation is still with scientists. And it comes
essentially from Kepler, and Kepler got it out of his belief… 79

In this part of the book, we will cover the scientists of faith, from the
past to the present, who founded and developed modern science, as well
as their contributions to science. All the scientists included in this part
believed that the cosmos and all forms of life were created by God. Francis
Bacon's words portray the regard of a scientist of faith for all created
beings:
For as all works do shew forth the power and skill of the workman,…
so it is of the works of God; which do shew the omnipotency and
wisdom of the maker. 80
In His verses, God states that one of the ways to acquire the ability to
think about creation, to fear God, to recognize creation as due to Him, and
to grasp His omnipotence and omniscience is "having knowledge":
The metaphor of those who take protectors besides God is that of a
spider which builds itself a house; but no house is flimsier than a
spider's house, if they only knew. God knows what you call upon
besides Himself. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. Such metaphors –
We devise them for mankind; but only those with knowledge

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