This I Know

What is the fundamental difference between science and faith?

In Psalm 56: 9 David states, "When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me."

This I know. That statement is used only three times in scripture, but in each place it refers to a positive evidence based knowledge.

The first place is 1 Kings 17: 24, when the Widow of Zarephath rejoices that God has raised her son.
'Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth." '

Her son was dead. Then he was alive, by the power of God working through His prophet. It wasn't theory; it was fact.

Then again, in Ps 41:11, David again cries out to the Lord for deliverance, and cites a sure knowledge that He will provide it. Further, he states that God will set him before His face.

Science, in it's basic form is a seeking for knowledge. It presupposes that the seeker does not currently have that knowledge or truth. By definition, science is never satisfied. It must seek.

Faith, on the other hand, is not based on hypothetical searchings, but empiric facts. The writer of Hebrews states that it is evidence, factual. As the saying goes, a hundred theories are trumped by one fact.

People are in error when they refer to faith in such a way as to instill doubt.
"You must have faith!" is a despairing cry. But it shouldn't be so.

There's nothing wrong with using science to discover truth. Indeed, the father of modern science, Isaac Newton, claimed science as "Thinking God's thoughts after Him."

But in a contest between realities proposed by science or faith, faith is the clear winner.

This I know.