SPARTA – Are the fields of science and theology compatible or are they diametrically in opposition to each other? That’s a question with which many wrestle. Jeffrey Maskrod is immersed in science with his training and occupation. And he believes much of the two disciplines can be reconciled and complement each other.
Maskrod is a scientist, working for the 3-M Corporation in Springfield. His role as a quality engineer is to lead a group to analyze materials used in the aerospace and automotive industries to assure that industry standards are followed and customer needs are met. So his background in chemistry comes into play and he understands the science behind much of the created world.
Jeffrey Maskrod
Maskrod grew up in the home of a Baptist minister. He said he used to toss questions from his science classes to his father and try to reconcile them with Bible teaching. He mentioned the theory of evolution, for example, and how some people believe it to be in opposition to the biblical view of creationism.
Receiving a Christian education at Southwest Baptist University, where he earned a B.S. degree in chemistry, helped, of course. Then he earned a master’s degree in natural and applied sciences at Missouri State University in Springfield. He maintains a strong faith and leads his family as they serve at River Bluff Fellowship in Ozark. There he teaches classes in apologetics on Monday evenings.
Recently, Maskrod joined the Missouri Baptist Apologetics Network. He’s open to sharing at MBC churches as requested on topics such as “Science and Scripture,” “The Accuracy of Scripture,” and “Miracles and Apparent Coincidences.”
For his Monday-evening groups, he uses curriculum from the apologetics group Stand to Reason. In late January, he’s scheduled to teach on “The Role of Doubt in the Life of a Believer” at The Standing Bear Apologetics Conference at First Baptist Church, Springfield.
Asked how he can reconcile science with theology, he said when he and his dad used to talk, he would mention evolutionary theory, or pre-historic cavemen, or dinosaurs. They would discuss how to reconcile scientific discoveries with theology, especially the story of Genesis 1-11. When he made it to college, he learned the science and found it consistent with biblical creationism. But he also learned how to think and ask the right questions.
“My education shaped my view of how science and theology are harmonious,” he said. “They do fit together.” He acknowledged some things are just not reconcilable in everyone’s minds. “Some people see a lot of apparent contradictions, but when we dig into them, they tend to fall apart.”
Maskrod spoke of “single cell ancestry” as a traditional teaching of evolutionary theory. But scientists now say it doesn’t completely hold up to scrutiny. The scientific method is to analyze all aspects of evidence and come up with theories that may be proven or disproven over time.
Maskrod said, “It’s healthy to question our beliefs that we have been taught so God can work with us in our faith.” He mentioned a miracle in the Bible where the man asking Jesus to heal his daughter said, “If you can….” Of course Jesus could heal his daughter, but that man had to come to that place in his own faith journey.
“So it’s okay to ask questions and to investigate,” Maskrod says. He believes theology holds up nicely to scientific inquiry. And he welcomes the challenge.