WITH so much debate on television and radio about science and religious belief some readers will be interested to learn of the following curious facts.
Immediately after Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon in 1969 and his 'One small step for man, a giant step for mankind' speech, his colleague Buzz Aldrin celebrated Holy Communion in the landing craft.
Buzz, after whom the toy 'Buzz Lightyear' is named, asked mission control for silence.
Then to mark his historic moment he took Holy Communion, which had been prepared for him in advance by his home church. Quite literally the first bread consumed and the first wine drunk there were the elements of Holy Communion.
This symbolic act was deliberate. The astronaut was sending the world the message that Christian belief and science are in harmony together.
Many people in Britain imagine that science and religious belief are incompatible,
Here Buzz Aldrin was at the cutting edge of science. But in reality, across the world, millions of scientists believe in God and are churchgoers. Science merely tells us how God makes things work, the Bible on the other hand tells us why we are here.
Even NASA has its own chaplain, with so many of those involved in space research being regular churchgoers.
Indeed, no fewer than 20 per cent of the congregation of one local church works in some way for NASA.
These people see scientific discoveries as proof the universe has been designed by a supreme intelligence.
Science shows that the nucleus of every cell in the human body contains as much data as that there is conflict between the two.
In reality, many scientists believe in God precisely because of their scientific studies, and see true science as the friend of religious belief. With this fact rarely mentioned it is no wonder the UK is one of the few places in the world where churchgoing is declining while churches in many other countries are filled to capacity.
More curious details on this subject can be viewed on www.churchsurvey.co.uk
JONATHON WILLANS
The Vicarage
