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Good Morning

Public trust in science and scientists grew during the coronavirus pandemic. That’s according to the Wellcome Trust, which is a major scientific and medical research funder. Their figures also suggest that people feel more confident in their knowledge of science.

I am, of course, as a member of the scientific community delighted to read this, but I also know that public trust in science is hard-won. It depends, among other things, on a relentless and shared pursuit of truth throughout the global scientific community ¬– science simply cannot work without it. It just isn’t possible to check and reproduce every finding. That is why whenever bad practice is discovered – and it does, sadly, and very occasionally happen – it typically results in serious consequences for the perpetrator, as well as strengthened sharing of best practice through organizations such as the UK Research Integrity Office.

A shared commitment to speaking the truth, is one of the reasons that explain why church communities and science seem to make such natural partners (surprising though that may be to some). A UK project that I work with, Equipping Christian Leaders in an Age of Science, for example, repeatedly found churches played a key role in countering false stories about vaccines during the pandemic.

As well they might: the 12th Psalm condemns the perpetration of lies – from those who ‘harbour deception in their hearts’ – and links it to the suffering of the powerless – ‘the poor are plundered and the needy groan,’ it runs. But truth, says the psalmist – describing it as God’s flawless gold-standard, ‘will keep the needy safe.’

Science well illustrates how lies leads to suffering in this way. In 2014 an investigation into fabricated medical data estimated that it cost 800,000 lives. The falsified data led to doctors giving patients the wrong drug.

The vital need for truth at all times, and a continual vigilance to work for it, to demand it, is a core value that science, as well as Christian and other religious faiths, share with all public and private life. As John the apostle wrote of those of followed Jesus’ teachings:

‘Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

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