Carmen Hové traveled to the University of Cambridge this summer to attend The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion Summer Course.
A friend recently asked, “What’s the most important thing in life?” After some reflection I replied that, for me, it’s the act of seeking. As a biologist, I strive to understand how organisms function. As a person of faith, I believe I’m called to pursue truth in all its forms. As Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” This invitation to question, to engage in active curiosity, is the foundation of my study of biology as well as my relationship with God.
While this seems like a straightforward approach, I’ve found that genuinely searching is a risky business! Sometimes the answers are elusive and, if found, are not what I expected. As a sophomore, I attended a lecture at Seattle Pacific University by Jennifer Wiseman, a NASA astrophysicist. Captivated by the photographs she showed from the Hubble telescope, I felt in awe of such perfection, thinking, “God is great.” However, I soon found that studying God’s creation did not always yield feelings of blissful awe; sometimes it evoked frustration, anger, and sadness. As a senior I found myself looking at the same universe, acutely aware of the chaos that I hadn’t seen before, thinking, “God is really confusing.” I’d found that the natural world is not always inherently perfect, at least not by my definition. This was initially quite a shock, because how could God create something I deemed imperfect?
While I was in England this summer I attended a weeklong conference at the University of Cambridge dedicated to discussing such issues. Scientists, biblical scholars, and philosophers from different parts of the world came to speak on how faith and science relate in their respective disciplines. One of them was my former SPU professor, research mentor, and friend, Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler, who had encouraged me to attend the conference in the first place.
Associate Professor of Biology Cara Wall-Scheffler and Carmen chat over tea while at the University of Cambridge in England. At Seattle Pacific, the pair conduct research together on the physiology of incline walking.
One of my favorite lectures was given by John Walton, a leading Old Testament scholar, in which he discussed the origins account in Genesis 1. Walton emphasized that God calls creation good, not perfect, using the Hebrew word for “good” that implies “functionality.” This suggests that while creation has a God-given function, it is not static nor is it tame. Instead, creation is endowed with infinite possibilities for growth, and even called to participate in God’s creativity. For example, in Genesis 1:24–25, God says, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind. And it was so.” This perspective calls for a deeper understanding of God’s creative process. Jennifer Wiseman, the same woman whose lecture I’d attended two years before, was also at the conference. In her lecture, she elegantly depicted this creative process with new Hubble photographs, showing new stars exploding into being, and old ones dying in bursts of color.
I was encouraged to see people of different faiths, disciplines, and opinions engage in constructive dialogue. This dialogue was further proof that God is not an entity we can box up and shove onto one side of any debate. God transcends such fragile barriers and can be found wherever truth resides.
As I continue studying creation and seeking the Creator, I hope that each time I look at those photographs of stars a thousand light years away I see new beauty. I want the courage and humility to seek the things I do not yet understand.