Great scientists who believed the Bible

By Dr. Henry M. Morris

“I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science.”

- Wernher von Braun

George Washington Carver (1864-1943) was an agricultural chemist considered the world’s top authority on peanuts, sweet potatoes and their products. Born a slave in the southern part of the United States, he worked his way through college in the north. He returned to the south, desiring to devote his life to improving the quality of southern farm lands and the economic prosperity of his people. As a faculty member at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, he turned down a number of much more lucrative offers, as the fame of his genius as an agricultural chemist spread. He developed more than 300 products from the peanut and more than 115 from the sweet potato, which were largely responsible for saving the southern part of the United States from economic disaster.

Carver was also a sincere and humble Christian, never hesitating to confess his faith in the God of the Bible and attributing all his success and ability to God. In 1939, Carver, who was black, was awarded the Roosevelt medal, with the following citation: “To a scientist humbly seeking the guidance of God and a liberator to men of the white race as well as the black.”

Charles Stine (1882-1954) was for many years director of research for the E.I. duPont Company. As an organic chemist with many degrees and honors, he developed many new products and patents for his company. He was a man of top eminence in his field and a believing Christian. He frequently spoke to scientific and university audiences concerning his faith and authored the book, A Chemist and His Bible.

After a stirring exposition of the Gospel and an appeal to accept Jesus, Dr. Stine gave this testimony of the Creator: “The world about us, far more intricate than any watch, filled with checks and balances of a hundred varieties, marvelous beyond even the imagination of the most skilled scientific investigator, this beautiful and intricate creation, bears the signature of its Creator, graven in its work.”

Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) was one of the world’s top space scientists. With a Ph.D. from the University of Berlin in Germany, von Braun was a leading German rocket engineer, developing the famed V-2 rocket during World War II. He migrated to the United States in 1945, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1955. He directed U.S. guided missile development for several years and eventually became director of NASA.

Dr. von Braun was a Christian active in his church. In the foreword to an anthology on creation and design in nature, he gave this testimony: “Manned space flight is an amazing achievement, but it has opened for mankind thus far only a tiny door for viewing the awesome reaches of space. An outlook through this peephole at the vast mysteries of the universe should only confirm our belief in the certainty of its Creator. I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science.”

From Men of Science, Men of God: Great Scientists Who Believed the Bible, by Henry M. Morris, Master Books, ©1982, 1988. Used with permission.

Dr. Henry M. Morris is a respected scientist and author of a number of science textbooks. He is president of the Institute for Creation Research, San Diego, California.

The Humble Peanut

Early in George Washington Carver’s career as an agricultural chemist, he asked the Lord to show him the secrets of the universe. God responded that man’s brain was much too small to comprehend the secrets of the universe, but if Carver would humbly seek Him, He would show him the secrets of one of His smallest creations, the peanut.

So Carver got up at 4:00 a.m. every morning and prayed to his Creator. It was in these early morning meetings that God gave Carver continual breakthroughs in his research. Near the end of his illustrious career, Carver gladly acknowledged that it was not his intellectual capacity that gave him such success, but rather his relationship with his heavenly Father, the Creator of the universe.