The Moderator highlights how science and faith can work together.

I HAVE never made any secret of my liking for Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.

I must admit to having sometimes felt an affinity with Sir Joseph Porter in HMS Pinafore. No, not because of his line:

“I always voted at my party’s call and never thought of thinking for myself at all”

Rather it is because the character, allegedly based on the original WH Smith, rose to be ‘Ruler of the Queen’s Navee’ without ever having gone to sea. He came to mind when, almost 20 years ago, I was, for a couple of years, Scotland’s Science Minister - even although I gave up physics and chemistry after my second year at Annan Academy. I explained to audiences that the standard physics textbook was ‘Physics Is Fun’ and I found it anything but that!

However, even before my ministerial responsibilities included Scotland’s science sector, I had formed an interest in exploring scientific issues. This appetite was whetted by meeting some outstanding people in our universities, who were at the cutting edge of scientific research.

In more recent years, I have been stimulated by the issue of science and religion. Indeed, I had been reading Professor Alister McGrath’s book, Inventing the Universe, when I was approached about letting my name go forward for possible nomination as Moderator.

McGrath makes the point that whilst some people would like to argue that issues around science and faith have gone away, because science provides all the answers, the reality is that these matters are now talked about and examined more than ever. He poses the questions: ‘What if science and faith might enrich each other?’ and ‘What if they can together give us a deep and satisfying understanding of life?’

It is an illuminating and thoughtprovoking read, which prompts you to think and examine this issue further. It was therefore a delight and something of a surprise, when a previous Moderator, the Very Rev Dr Angus Morrison, got in touch, after my nomination as Moderator-

Designate had been announced, and asked if I would be willing to take an interest in Grasping The Nettle (GTN - https://www.graspingthenettle.org/).

Surprised, because I had to admit that I was wholly unaware of GTN; but delighted when Angus explained that it was a movement with broad ecumenical engagement, established by Scottish Church leaders to encourage dialogue within the church and with wider society about belief in God and its relation to wider scientific issues. I have been privileged to attend Steering Group meetings, now chaired by my immediate predecessor, Martin Fair, and have learned much more about the GTN’s activities

I have also discovered that not only was I previously unaware of GTN’s existence, but there are also many in the Kirk who have yet to discover this oasis of challenging discussions and insight. For example, in recent months, Prof Jason Leitch has talked about Science, God, the Virus and Me; and last year, the Rev Prof David Fergusson’s addresses on A Theology of Creation and Who Was Adam certainly served to stimulate further reading, exploration and understanding.

“My exploration of science and faith has increased my knowledge of science and enriched my experience of faith.

These activities are far from arid academic lectures. My exploration of science and faith has increased my knowledge of science and enriched my experience of faith.

Even if school physics lessons didn’t enthrall, I still remember the sense of awe instilled by Psalm 8: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?”

Learning more about the vastness of the cosmos, doesn’t diminish my faith.

Rather that sense of awe is heightened by knowing that in its vastness, each and every one of us matters and is loved by God. ¤

Lord Jim Wallace of Tankerness is Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2021/2022.