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Measuring Christianity’s Impact on Society through the Scientific Revolution

Of all the advances that benefit our modern world (modern hospitals, universities, science, the end of open slavery, public education, and so forth), the area where I least expected to find serious Jesus followers is science. The Scientific Revolution of the 17th century took place during a time of spiritual revival and the Protestant Reformation. My findings about the role of Jesus’s followers in the Scientific Revolution were completely unexpected. From the diaries of key scientists who ushered us into the modern world, we learn that they were passionate about Jesus. 

If we recall middle school science, we remember that world-famous scientists such as Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, and Blaise Pascal began to unlock the secrets of the universe. During this time, Newton and his peers threw open doors of knowledge that had been closed for thousands of years. They articulated the mysteries of the universe through the language of science unlike any other physicist, astronomer, or mathematician before. So profound were their contributions that every scientist and inventor who followed built upon their work—from the Wright brothers and Thomas Edison to Einstein.

Our modern homes, hospitals, heaters, lights, air-conditioning, and phones are all the end result. The technologies, conveniences, and lifesaving tools that separate us from the Dark Ages did not happen by accident. They were not inevitable; they were the result of a specific season of scientific breakthrough.

Newton, Kepler, and Pascal were so devoted in their beliefs about Jesus and their faith that they each wrote personal prayers and Christian Scripture passages in their journals. Those Primary Evidence documents remain to this day.

Pascal actually kept a poem about Jesus in his coat pocket. From his memorial, we know he had written, “This is eternal life, that they know you, the one true God, and the one that you sent, Jesus Christ.” Pascal, of course, remains among the most important scientific innovators in human history.

The clear Christian faith of the scientific founders contradicts a deeply held false stereotype. Many in our day are told that science and Christianity have always been at odds, and I must admit that the Primary Evidence here surprised me.

After a careful examination of the evidence, it became clear to me that followers of Jesus played an irrefutable role in launching the Scientific Revolution, which in turn unleashed the technology of our modern world. 

Do you view science and faith at odds with one another? Are you surprised to hear how key players in the Scientific Revolution held a personal faith in Jesus?