On February 13, SCCS welcomed Dr. Matt McLain as a chapel speaker for the first part of a two-part series, “Origins and Creationism”. Dr. McLain is an Assistant Professor of Biology and Geology at The Master’s University and has recently joined the staff at Santa Clarita Baptist Church as Youth Director. Dr. McLain is passionate about Christians being more informed and aware of scientific knowledge as it is the study of the universe that God created.
“I think it’s important for young Christians to take the time to learn science from a biblical perspective before the secular scientific thinking grafts its way in,” shared Dr. McLain. “Nature is God’s creation that He made to bring Him glory. Science is just our way of observing and understanding what God has made to further bring Him glory and expose His glory to others. If science is taught well, students should be constantly in awe of God’s glory everywhere they look, from the smallest subatomic particles to the largest galaxies.”
During his chapel presentation, Dr. McLain encouraged students to consider choosing a scientific field if that is where their interest lies.
“We desperately need more Christians in science,” continued Dr. McLain. “Science is dominated by an atheistic, naturalistic perspective where God’s glory is falsely attributed to chance, time and nature itself. If I had an opportunity to encourage a student going into this field, I would tell them how persuasive and intelligent the secular model of origins is. There’s an unfortunate caricature of the evolutionary model one finds in Christian circles that says, ‘Evolution is dumb!’ It’s not. Tons of intelligent people work under the model and do good science. The issue isn’t intelligence, it’s faith. What this caricature does is create in young people a false sense of security. Instead of trusting in God’s word, they’re trusting in their reason. If a Christian wants to be a scientist, then he or she needs to be committed to Scripture, to a local church and to prayer. Christians who are scientists, especially in origins-related fields, are on the front lines. As a result, they need to be prepared for what will be launched at them.”
Dr. McLain spoke about how Scripture demands that we as Christians be thinking people. He points out that we are not commanded in Scripture to throw out intellect to be people of faith. He mentioned an example in Acts 17:11 of the Bereans, who are commended for examining the Scriptures to see if they confirmed the things they were taught. He reminded listeners that we are told to meditate day and night on God’s word (Psalm 1:2). God wants us to be people, using wisdom and knowledge as described in the Proverbs.
“I love being able to teach God’s word to people, and the cool thing about teaching it to middle school and high school students is that they’re in a very formative time where they are able to think intelligently, they’re preparing to be adults and they have the opportunity to ask the right questions,” continued Dr. McLain. “It’s such a cool thing to see God work in students’ lives before they move out on their own, so that they can be grounded in His truth and productive in their churches. It’s great to see people learn something new about God’s creation and be amazed or surprised. It’s very rewarding to see the light go on in someone’s head as he or she understands a concept for the first time. I also love the research aspect, too. It’s great that The Master’s University encourages me to do research and to lead students in research. The best aspect, however, is being able to openly declare the wonders of God with my students and discuss how these things relate to their faith and Christian walk.”