The Greatest Scientist

For the longest time, science and faith existed as opposites. Thinkers and scientists study our physical world to explain what we experience on earth. Faith leaders and believers study the Bible and the miraculous to gain evidence of an all-knowing and loving God. For Gaby, a Doctor of Neurology and a member of New Life Lincoln Park, science has only cemented her faith and deepened her relationship with a Different Jesus than she never knew before.

What was your childhood like and how did that influence your faith?

“I grew up in Venezuela in a Christian environment. At eight years old, I was fascinated by the universe and, influenced by my dad, I started studying astrophysics. As I grew, I started noticing that very few people around me had the kind of scientific knowledge that I had, not only kids my age but also adults – especially my faith teachers. I started questioning the basis of their beliefs and what they had been teaching me. If they didn’t know basic scientific principles, how could I trust what they were talking about? How can they be so sure that there is a God or that the Bible is reliable? By the time I was thirteen, I declared myself an agnostic. I knew there might be something out there, but I wasn’t sure."

During your younger years, how did you view Jesus?

"I viewed Jesus as my best friend, someone to confide in. It was the purest and most innocent relationship. I thought of him as the son of God who had magical powers, but that was it. He was like an imaginary friend with no expectations of me. Much later, I grew to know the Biblical Jesus and not the image I had made up in my mind as a child.

In my teenage years, I began to question the validity of Jesus being the actual son of God. At most, I believed that Jesus was simply a historical figure and a really good person. There was no way that his death meant anything for my salvation."

What was the turning point for you?

"While exploring my faith, I took an apologetics class to mainly learn and listen from faith leaders who studied the Word. This is when I began to grasp who Jesus really is, God’s promises, and the power of the Holy Spirit. I've been curious my entire life, and with every question answered, I have realized how insignificant our human brains are, compared to God’s grandiosity. There is no way that this all happened by chance. Today I’m a Doctor.

Science is a huge part of who I am, and the more I study, the more I am sure that there has to be a God.

I have read for years about scientists fighting the existence of God always getting the same answer, which only arises more questions. But there are also scientists with no religious background who are more open-minded and instead of denying God they acknowledge the possibility of His existence and with this, life starts making a little more sense. The human body and the creation of the universe is all so perfect and so well thought out that there has to be a mind behind it.

For me, science can never contradict God. God is the greatest scientist and science is only our human method of trying to understand God’s creation."

How did moving to Chicago impact your faith journey?

"In Venezuela, I absorbed a lot of information. I began to attend a non-denominational Christian church and witnessed how the people there really knew God and lived out their faith. I knew it was vital for me to find a similar community in Chicago. Since I arrived in 2016 and started attending New Life Lincoln Park, my faith has only grown faster and stronger. I am surrounded by a community and friends who always point me to Christ and demonstrate a life following Jesus."

Who is Jesus to you now?

"Quite simply, he is my savior. I now know what I didn’t as a child. I know Jesus’ expectations of me and the price that was paid for my freedom. The scientific proof coupled with the faith in my soul assures me of that which I had doubted for so long.

For me, science can never contradict God. God is the greatest scientist and science is only our human method of trying to understand God’s creation. Of course, humans, as imperfect as we are, sometimes mess up our methodology and come up with wrong answers, which makes it a little more confusing, but that’s the beauty of it all. I have found the words of Louis Pasteur, the father of microbiology, to be true in my life,

“A bit of science distances one from God, but much science nears one to Him”. – Louis Pasteur