Personal Experience

Personal Experience

“Well, do you believe in evolution?” Such was the typical reaction to the revelation that I was a Christian.

Welcome to Caltech, I thought as I took a deep breath.

Just a week into my graduate career in chemical engineering, I began appreciating my colleagues’ incredulity that I was both a serious scientist and an evangelical Christian. A number of them expected evangelicals to be backward simpletons who abhorred science as an abomination.

As an undergrad at UC Berkeley I’d experienced hostility toward my faith, yet the dogma at grad school felt thicker. Hardly a lecture went by without some beautiful, intricate natural system being lauded as “the product of billions of years of Darwinian evolution.”

I realized I needed to be better prepared to discuss science and faith with skeptics. Despite my doubts about evolution’s authority, I had no data to validate my concerns. Furthermore, fitting Genesis with science confused me. Then my mom gave me Origins of Life by Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross.

After reading it, not only did I gain better understanding of the origins of life and creation, but a curiosity awoke inside me. I wanted to know more about all of God’s creation. I studied the Bible and read about astronomy, geology, and evolutionary anthropology in an effort to synthesize a coherent worldview.

As I continued exploring God’s Word and world, I began understanding Scripture in a deeper way and seeing God’s goodness in creation. While my studies started as a mission to reach others through science apologetics, I realize that God uses my intellectual exploration to draw me close to him. Without this spiritual refreshment, I am unable to pour out his love to others.

I am grateful to the RTB team for enabling me to more fully experience God’s love through the revelation of his creation. Knowing and understanding the Truth fills my life with peace and with confidence that Jesus Christ is Lord and Creator. I will declare it wherever he leads me.

Article by Katie Galloway