Hugh Williamson (1735-1819). He was a signer of the Constitution of the United States, a member of the Continental Congress, a member of the U.S. Congress, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a land speculator and scientist. Hugh Williamson joined Dr. Benjamin Franklin in many of his electrical experiments. He studied for the ministry as a young man. Williamson visited and prayed for the sick in his community. When his father died, he pursued the study of divinity and became a preacher.

“In 1759 he went to Connecticut, where he pursued his theological studies and was licensed to preach. After returning from Connecticut, he was admitted to membership in the Presbytery of Philadelphia … [and] preached nearly two years.”

A chronic weakness in his chest would not permit him to continue a career in public speaking. He entered medical school, working as a professor in mathematics to finance his education. After graduating from college, he practiced in Philadelphia. After traveling to Europe, he became surgeon general and distinguished himself in medical service during the American Revolution. He became wealthy through land speculation and investments after his service in Congress. Williamson wrote extensively for medical and literary societies. He wrote a powerful book in 1811 that refuted the claims of “higher criticism” of Scripture. His book Observations of the Climate in Different Parts of America, provided scientific explanations for the credibility of the Holy Scriptures in regard to Noah’s flood and the events of Moses’ exodus.

Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947). He was a renowned British philosopher and mathematician. His works include: Principia Mathematica (1910-1913); Principles of Natural Knowledge (1910). To my knowledge, Alfred North Whitehead was not a Christian; but affirmed that Christianity was the mother of Modern Science which began with the Scientific Revolution in Europe. In Science and the Modern World (1925), chapter 12, Alfred North Whitehead wrote:

“The religious vision, and its history of persistent expansion, is our one ground for optimism. Apart from it, human life is a flash of occasional enjoyments lighting up a mass of pain and misery, a bagatelle of transient experience.”

John Tyndall (1820-1893). He was a British physicist and philosopher who became the director of the Royal Institute. The areas of his scientific study included: glacier flow, transmission and radiation of heat, the Tyndal effect which demonstrates how light is scattered by microscopic particles such as dust and colloids in suspension. In Fragments of Science, vol. II, “Professor Virchow and Evolution,” Tyndall declared:

“Religious feeling is as much a verity as any other part of human consciousness; and against it, on the subjective side, the waves of science beat in vain.”

Lord Rayleigh John Strutt (1842-1919). He was a leading scientist at Cambridge, 1879-84; a member of the Royal Institution, 1887-1905; and the chancellor of Cambridge, 1908-1919. Strutt was the discoverer of argon, 1895, and other rare gases. He pioneered the studies of electromagnetic wave motion, optics, sonics, gas dynamics, and perfected similitude and dimensional analysis as scientific tools. Strutt was a pioneer in developing molecular acoustics, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1904.

In the introduction to his published papers; Lord Rayleigh John Strutt declared:

“The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.”

Sir James Young Simpson (1811-1870). He pioneered modern anesthesiology through the discovery of “Chloroform” in 1847. He said that he was inspired by the “deep sleep” that Adam was put into by God. He was considered a chief founder of the medical field of gynecology. Simpson was the Professor of Obstetric Medicine at Edinburgh University. He invented the Simpson forceps, introduced iron wire sutures, and acupressure. Simpsons’ writings on medical history, fetal pathology, and hermaphroditism are highly regarded. He declared his greatest discovery:

“That I have a Savior!”

He wrote a gospel tract which concluded with the following words:

“But again I looked and saw Jesus, my substitute, scourged in my stead and dying on the cross for me. I looked and cried and was forgiven. And it seems to be my duty to tell you of that Savior, to see if you will not also look and live. 'He was wounded for our transgressions…and with His stripes we are healed'” (Isaiah 53:5,6)

Sir James Young Simpson declared:

“The unregenerate, unbelieving soul is compared to a corpse; it is 'dead in sins.'” Of all of you who are now living by faith in Christ it may be truthfully said to-day, as it was said eighteen centuries ago of the Ephesians converts to whom the Apostle Paul wrote, 'You hath He quickened, who were dead.'"

“As many of you as are unbelievers are, in the strong language of Scripture, 'dead.'” You are dead in the eye of Divine justice; for as the condemned criminal is as a 'dead man,' when his crimes have brought on him the legal doom of death, you re likewise 'dead,' because 'he that believeth not is condemned already.'"

“Furthermore, you are also spiritually dead on account of being cut off by your sins from communion with the living God. For as a corpse moves not, stirs not, feels not, and can not be aroused, so are you dead to all love of God, and to everything pertaining to the wondrous Gospel of Jesus Christ. Of the dread and crushing burden of their own sins your souls are not all conscious; for the dead feel not.”

“But in the infinitude of His love to our fallen race, God offers to each of us individually a free and full pardon, and life now and forever, if we only believe on Jesus Christ, His Son, who He sent to suffer in our stead – to die that we might live – if we rely and rest entirely on Him as the all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins – as our substitute and security.”

Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864). He was an honored physicist, chemist and geologist. In 1818, he founded and edited the American Journal of Science and Arts. Silliman was an original member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1863. He published his research on the potential uses of crude oil in Silliman Report, 1855, which made significant contributions and influence in establishing the American oil industry. The mineral Sillimanite (a form of aluminum silicate, Al2SiO5 is named for him.

Silliman was profoundly influenced by President Timothy Dwight of Yale. Professor Silliman wrote of the atmosphere on the Yale campus during the tenure of President Dwight.

“It would delight your heart to see how the trophies of the cross are multiplied in this institution. Yale College is a little temple: prayer and praise seem to be the delight of the greater part of the students.”

Silliman made the statements which follow:

“The relation of geology, as well as astronomy, to the Bible, when both are well understood, is that of perfect harmony. The Bible nowhere limits the age of the globe, while its chronology assigns a recent origin to the human race; and geology not only confirms that the Genesis presents a true statement of the progress of the terrestrial arrangements, and of the introduction of living beings in the order in which their fossil remains are found entombed in the strata.”

“The Word and the works of God cannot conflict, and the more they are studied the more perfect will their harmony appear.”

Silliman concluded his course of college lectures on June 13, 1885.

“Thus, O Almighty God, hast Thou led me on in mercy almost to the close of a long life…For myself, in the evening of my life, may I be every day ready to die, trusting in Thy mercy through the Redeemer of men; and if power and opportunity to be useful are still continued to me, may I have a disposition, as well as ability, to honor Thee, and to benefit my fellow men.”

“For my salvation I depend entirely upon the Redeemer. In the sight of God I have no merits of my own, and feel deeply that if I am saved it will be of grace and not of works. I have none to offer that are worthy of Thine acceptance. And now, my Heavenly Father, I implore Thy blessing upon my dear children and their children, and upon the faithful and devoted companion whom Thou hast in mercy given me.”

“I implore it, also, for the precious youth who are about to go into the world. Bless them all in time and eternity through Christ our Lord and Redeemer.”

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895). He was the French scientist who developed the process of “pasteurization” for milk. He developed the vaccine for anthrax and chicken cholera in 1881 and the rabies vaccine in 1885. Pasteur was a chemist and physicist who revolutionized the medical field by establishing the germ theory of disease, organic basis and regulation of fermentation, and bacteriology. Pasteur’s research laid the foundation for the control of Tuberclosis, cholera, diphtheria, tetanus, and several other diseases. He was appointed dean of the faculty of sciences at Lille University in 1854. In 1888, the Pasteur Institute was founded to treat rabies and advanced biological research.

Pasteur made the following comments when describing anaerobic bacteria:

“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator. Into his tiniest creatures, God has placed extraordinary properties that turn them into agents of destruction of dead matter.”

He was questioned in his mature years about his faith and replied:

“The more I know, the more does my faith approach that of a Breton peasant. Could I but know all, I would have the faith of a Breton peasant woman.”


He was one of the first European scientists who rejected the theory of spontaneous generation and evolution, Pasteur insisted that life only arises from life.

“Microscopic beings must come into the world from parents similar to themselves…There is something in the depths of our souls which tell us that the world may be more than a mere combination of events.”

Louis Pasteur once declared in his lectures,

“Science brings man nearer to God.”