While you might think that atheism is on the rise (and you’d be right), the 6 atheist scientists who now believe in God are proof that religion is still playing a major role today. You might think (and again you’d be right) that there is little to no intermingling between science and religion. After all, one is based on outright facts while the other is based on faith. If we could prove the existence of God and Heaven and Hell, it would not be called religion, but would be known as “science.”
Now, I don’t understand why people try to convince themselves as well as their brethren that religion is based on science and vice versa. If a discovery is made, they will somehow use wordings from a book written over a thousand years ago and try to convince everyone that the verse was mentioning that specific scientific discovery. But I don’t understand why a link has to be created at all. After all, if you are part of a religion, you believe in a God whose existence cannot be proven, rely on miracles which you attribute to him on the word of a person who lived thousands of years before you did. In other words, faith is the basis of religion and what makes it unique is the fact that you believe in it without evidence. Then why do you want to prove that your holy book has mentioned some obscure scientific discovery?
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On the same note, many people who, instead of accepting whatever they have been told, turn to seek answers and question what they have learned. They want proper, factual answers to their questions and these are the people who generally become scientists. And as you delve more and more into the world of science, you believe more in fact and your faith decreases. Hence, you would think that there is a greater chance of a religious person becoming an atheist after getting involved in science than an atheist scientist turning to religion.
However, maybe God does have a sense of humor, as some of the most prominent scientists in history, who were stark atheists throughout their lives, actually started to believe in God later on, despite having dedicated all their life to science. Some converted after experiences with people who were dying and reevaluated their entire belief system while others believed that their work showed that a higher intelligence had to be involved in order for the world to operate as it did. Critics have, of course, denounced these conversions, with many stating that the existence of misery, depression, poverty, death and war are all evidence that a God does not exist or if He does, He is not as merciful as the religions make Him out to be, with some of these critics including the 18 Most Famous Atheists in the World. However, they have been unable to convince the 6 atheist scientists who now believe in God, which include:
6. Francis Collins
One of the most revered physician-geneticists in the world, mainly because of his discovery of disease genes in addition to being the leader of the popular Human Genome Project, Francis stunned the world when he became a Christian after his interactions with patients who were dying.
5. Alister McGrath
We are continuing our list of atheist scientists who now believe in God with McGrath who is not just a Christian now, he is actually a priest. Before his conversion he was a staunch atheist and science was his only passion, but as he started to grow up, especially in his undergrad years, he realized the importance of religion and started to accept the teachings of Christianity. After accepting religion, he even taught historical theology at Oxford University. He has since become critical of Richard Dawkins and has even debated him several times.
4. David Russel Humphreys
Number 4 on our list of 6 atheist scientists who now believe in God is Russel Humphreys, who has a Ph.D. in physics and has come up with a new theory regarding the universe’s origin. After finding God, he stated that it was God who made the planets with spinning automatic nuclei, thus explaining their orientation.
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3. Emil Silvestru
The third place on our list of atheist scientists who now believe in God goes to Emil Silvestru that earned a PhD in geology in Romania, after which he published over 40 books on the subject. He also believed that scientific facts interfered with his beliefs and adjusted both facts and belief to make them compatible with each other.
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2. Sarah Salviander
While she grew up in an atheist household and focused all her energy on studies, Sarah Salviander, who is a research scientist in astrophysics and astronomy, realized that the universe was trying to communicate to her that God existed, and after some time doubting the message, she accepted it as God in her life.
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1. Antony Flew
Topping the list of 6 atheist scientists who now believe in God, Antony Flew, a famous philosopher, is perhaps the most popular convert in the world. His criticism of religion came in days when religion was not questioned by anyone, and the sanity of people who spoke against religion was questioned. However, he claims that his research made it impossible for him to believe that the world and the universe could operate in this manner without the existence of God.
