RE: Grappling with the big questions

Year 11 students got to grips with an age-old debate – the relationship between faith and science – at a Durham University workshop in Ripon Cathedral. ANASTASIA BELL reports

THE workshop focused on three main questions: 'Who are we?'; 'What is our place in the universe?'; and 'Where are we going?', all of which would be the main themes across the day.

The introductory speaker, Matt, then used magic as an analogy to show that one thing, idea, or event is interpreted differently from different perspectives. He went on to say how this related to the crossover between faith and science, two seemingly polarised schools of thought that he used to explain some of the more complex concepts in life.

He concluded this talk with a quote from Georges Lemaître, a Catholic priest and the first to consider 'The Big Bang', where he said: “It appeared there were two paths to truth and I decided to follow them both,” showing the importance of both faith and science.

There were three interactive workshops. The first was about God and the Big Bang and focused on the cosmology side of things, aiming to answer the question 'What is our place in the universe?'. through delving into ideas about the creation of the universe and the first cause argument, we were left with three questions that neither faith nor science alone can fully answer: 'How could something come from nothing?'; 'How do we live in such a balanced universe?'; and 'What is life?'. Plenty of opinions were discussed many of which led to random chance which we almost unanimously agreed was an unsatisfactory conclusion which thus led us to look at the human need for purpose.

The second workshop centred on 'Why are we curious?' and investigated the parts of humanity that science cannot explain. The speaker, Michael, gave us all large pieces of paper with questions to answer including 'How do we measure the value of life?' and 'Are there limits to curiosity?' which we discussed in depth and looked at from many different viewpoints. It also asked the question of whether ethics should be considered in the development of new technology which is an interesting discussion to have in an age of AI development and the technology we used to put a man on the moon, now being used to harm people, both examples he mentioned.

The third workshop asked how science can be put into action and to answer where we are going. Primarily it asked, even when all the facts are on the table people often choose not to act, so what else motivates people to be better? This was especially linked to climate change, with discussions on the concept of stewardship and humanity's responsibility to the planet. When asked how she could feel content just doing her little bit for the planet the speaker, Sarah, quoted Desmond Tutu, who was an archbishop in both Cape Town and Johannesburg, where he said: “Do your little bit of good where you are”.

The day closed with a question-and-answer session where students were able to ask questions such as: 'Why is there such a clash between faith and science?'; and 'What is it that we ought to achieve in our lives?'. This final session was able to complete the day leaving the student with not only an altered way of seeing the relationship between faith and science but with a genuine Christian perspective we could better understand the reasoning behind this and its importance as we move forward to the next generation of people.

*The interactive God and the Big Bang workshops were run by St John’s College, Durham, to provide students with the opportunity to discover, discuss, and debate the compatibility of science and faith (linked into key topics on their course: from Christian beliefs about creation to ideas about the origin of the universe and contrasting attitudes towards the use and abuse of environment.) The graphic summary (pictured) of the day’s discussions will be on display within the North transept of the cathedral for a short period.