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CHRISTIAN INFLUENCES IN THE SCIENCES

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Many of the sciences derive directly from the work of a Christian or were greatly influenced at their inception by a Christian. INTRODUCTION
It may seem an outrageous claim that Christians were seminal to much of what dominates modern scientific thinking, but it is true. There is hardly a science or scientific idea which cannot trace its inception as a viable theory to some Christian. The list below verifies this claim. A few minutes with a good encyclopedia and a few biographies will corroborate this information. The names of the Christians who influenced each science or idea are starred. Often the Christian made CLAIMS, and PREDICTIONS or developed an idea which had IMPLICATIONS for the young science. To draw attention to these claims, predictions and implications, I have capitalized the terms in the text which follows.
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ANESTHESIOLOGY. *Crawford Long,* one of the three Americans who discovered anesthesia became a Christian. *James Young Simpson,* who championed its use in Britain was also a professing Christian, an ardent New Presbyterian.
Asked by a reporter what was his greatest discovery, he replied, "When I learned Jesus Christ had died for my sins."
ANTISEPTIC SURGERY. First championed by the Quaker doctor *Joseph Lister* against tremendous opposition, antiseptic surgery was based directly on the theories of *Louis Pasteur.* Antiseptic surgery sought to kill germs, primarily by the use of carbolic acid.
Even in his own lifetime, Lister's innovative idea was giving way to aseptic surgery, surgery which tries to keep germs away from the wound in the first place. Joseph Lister was reared a devout Quaker and migrated to the Church of England. He reminded his pupils that they had to be prepared to give an account to God for their treatment of "the earthly tabernacle" of the soul (ie: the human body). And what of Pasteur? Although not a churchgoer, he was a Franciscan Tertiary and detested atheists and atheism. He proved the impossibility of the spontaneous generation of life.
ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. *David Brewster*, who gave optics several of its laws, was a devout Christian, and a leader in the formation of the British Association for the Advancement of the Sciences. It was Brewster who wrote "It cannot be presumption to be SURE [of our forgiveness] because it is Christ's work, not ours; on the contrary, it is presumption to doubt his word and work."
*James Dwight Dana* was converted in a revival and lived an impeccable life thereafter. He was a leader in the American Association for the Advancement of Science as was *Josiah Willard Gibbs,* a man of quiet Christianity who showed it in conscientious work and steady churchgoing.