Often at times, when you think of Scientists and religion you don't think of them in the same spectrum. However, history shows us that not all scientists are atheist and not all scientists are theist. And it is the same today.  

Some of the renowned scientists believe in God. Charles Darwin is famous for his work on the theory of evolution. Although later in Charles life he have conflicts in Christianity particularly in regards to "problem of evil". Despite the struggle, in his a letter to John Fordyce, 7th May, 1879 he wrote "I have never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God." And in 1956, Albert Einstein stated "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" published in Ideas and Opinions. New York: Citadel Press, p. 26. 

In this article we will look briefly at 10 famous christian scientists that impact the world and the reasons why they believe God exists. 

1. Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543)

Copernicus was a famous astronomer who lived and worked in Poland. He was the first scientist to propose the first-ever system based on mathematics that planets revolve around the sun. After studying at several universities in Europe, he was made a Canon of the Roman Catholic Church, in the year of 1497. He presented his innovative system for the first time in 1533, in the Vatican gardens in the presence of Pope Clement VII who not only approved the idea but advised the great scientist to publish it as well. Copernicus mentioned God many times in his treatises and did not find his new system contradicting the Bible in any way.

2. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1627)

Bacon was an English philosopher and was the founder of the scientific method of research that is based purely on inductive reasoning and experimentation. In his work De Interpretatione Naturae Prooemium, he stated that among other things his goal was to serve the church. He opined that atheism was caused by a lack of depth in philosophy, while profundity in philosophy turns the mind of men towards religion. Besides, when the chain of natural phenomena was seen as something unified and duly interconnected, it will definitely lead to Deity and Providence.

3. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Kepler was a bright astronomer and mathematician. His early work was on the nature of light, and then he went on to establish a sun-centered planetary system. He was an extremely devout and sincere Lutheran and his treatises astronomy in which he postulated that all heavenly bodies and space symbolized the Trinity. Strangely he was not persecuted for the frank affirmation of his sun-centered system.

4. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

The great Italian astronomer Galileo published his contentious work concerning the solar system, in 1633. This brought him into serious conflict with the Roman Catholic Church. Later, he was put on trial and was banned from teaching his sun-centered planetary system. In spite of these, Galileo explicitly stated that the Bible can never go wrong, and considered his system a mere alternate version of the Holy Bible.

5. Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Descartes, the well known French scientist, philosopher, and mathematician have been hailed as the father of contemporary philosophy. His academic studies left him with a deep dissatisfaction of the philosophy, he had studied until then. He was a devout Roman Catholic, and his deep faith lasted till his dying day. He also tried to establish that the reality of God as irrefutable, for without whose existence mankind would be deceived by their experiences as they cannot trust their logical thinking and five senses. This made God the core of his entire philosophy. He also wanted his philosophy to be accepted as part of regular Roman Catholic teaching. Although Descartes was the main figure in the founding of scientific methodology, God was central to his system as he was extremely pious.

6. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)


Blaise Pascal was a French physicist, mathematician, writer, inventor as well as a theologian. He published a mathematical treatise on projective geometry as also laid the foundation for the theory of probability. He also invented a mechanical calculator and laid down the principles of air pressure and vacuum. A devout Roman Catholic, he had a vision of God in 1654 an event that transformed him from a scientist into a theologian and soon published his theological work, titled Lettres Provinciales. Another such work entitled Penses was essentially a justification of Christianity.

7. Isaac Newton (1642-1727)


Sir Isaac Newton, the noted English scientist is an acknowledged genius and innovator in the fields of mathematics, mechanics, and optics. He considered numbers and mathematics the core of his entire science which included chemistry too. However, few people know that he was deeply religious and considered numbers as the path to the understanding of God's design for human history as envisaged in the Bible. Newton did substantial work in the field of biblical numerology. To him, physics is a system in which God was indispensable to the completeness of space. According to him, the sun, comets, and planets belonged to the most harmonious system which could continue only with the guidance and authority of an omnipotent and intelligent being.

8. Robert Boyle (1791-1867)


Robert Boyle was a founder member of the prestigious Royal Society and his Boyle's Law on gases laid the groundwork on the topic. chemistry. As a pious Protestant, he was extremely interested in the promotion of Christianity overseas, and to this end paid for the translation and publication of the New Testament into Turkish and Irish. According to him, the study of nature was the core of his spiritual duty. He often criticized the atheists of his day.

9. Max Planck (1858-1947)


Planck the famous exponent of the quantum theory, revolutionized man's understanding of both the atomic as well as the sub-atomic fields. In a lecture he delivered in 1937, he professed that God is omnipresent and the sanctity of the incomprehensible Godhead is expressed by the godliness of symbols. He thought that atheists gave undue importance to mere symbols. Planck believed in an omniscient omnipotent God, although not a personal divinity. Along with science, religion waged an untiring war against dogmatism, skepticism, superstition, and unbelief with the battle cry of "toward God."

10. Albert Einstein (1879-1955)


Albert Einstein is the best known and most highly respected scientist of modern times. He has revolutionized our perceptions of time, space, gravity, as also the way matter is converted into energy through his famous formula E=mc2. He never believed in a personal God, but held that the universe was created. In fact, he wanted to find out just how the universe was created by God. Interestingly, he was quite uninterested in any phenomenon but wanted to know God's thoughts, the rest being mere details. His pithy comment on the uncertainty principle was God doesn't play dice. His famous saying "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind," truly reflects his idea of the nature of God.