The myth is often peddled that Christianity hinders science, to the point where we often hear that it held science back for 1,000 years. I have often wondered how this myth survives. Aside from the fact there is not a shred of evidence, historians of both Christian and secular persuasions are virtually unanimous in their testimony that, whether they like it or not, to quote Stephen Snobelen, "science will forever be in the debt of millenarians and biblical literalists."
This debt is due, in large part, to the philosophical implications of Christianity. Aside from the fact the Church has historically funnelled large amounts of money and resources into scientific advancements, there are certain philosophical assumptions unique to Christianity that allow science to thrive. Some of these assumptions seem obvious, though they are notably absent in many religions.
For example, the universe exists. You would think this would be obvious, but there are many philosophies in which the universe is believed to be, to some degree, illusory. Interestingly, while searching for verification that this is specifically taught by Hinduism, I came across several articles in which physicists allege that the universe is, in reality, a 2D hologram, rather than a 3D reality. Of course, if the universe is not real, it cannot be studied. Therefore, "in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" is a lot more useful to science than the various philosophies that tell us we might not even be here.
But of course, even establishing the reality of the universe tells us nothing about its nature. Other religions do propose that the universe is real, but they would fail miserably to establish a natural world. In Islam, for example, Allah is credited as being the best of deceivers. He deceived Muhammad into thinking the giant army was tiny, so the Muslims would not be afraid to fight, and he deceived the Jews into thinking they had crucified Jesus (which, of course, lead to more people believing Jesus rose from the dead than would ever believe in Islam). As I like to say, if you cannot trust a god's word, you cannot trust that god's world. If Allah exists, everything could be some grand deception.
In other philosophies, the gods are capricious, even being very human in mind. Maybe even body. Gods often have origins stories, maybe even deaths. They war amongst themselves, they have monsters to contend with, they may even have shaky relationships with man. And they are rarely, if ever, considered sovereign. They all have their individual areas to control. Appeasing one god may not guarantee the favour of another. In such a world, nothing would be certain, not even sunrise.
By contrast, Christianity posits a Creator who does not act on a whim. God is a God of truth, and of order, and so the world will not be filled with tricks or illusions, nor will it be chaotic beyond understanding. Furthermore, God's creation helps us to understand Him, serving in effect as a second form of revelation. To quote Snobelen again, "Recent work on early modern science has demonstrated a direct (and positive) relationship between the resurgence of the Hebraic, literal exegesis of the Bible in the Protestant Reformation, and the rise of the empirical method in modern science. I’m not referring to wooden literalism, but the sophisticated literal-historical hermeneutics that Martin Luther and others (including Newton) championed. It was, in part, when this method was transferred to science, when students of nature moved on from studying nature as symbols, allegories and metaphors to observing nature directly in an inductive and empirical way, that modern science was born."
And so we see that, contrary to the myth that Christianity held science back, Christianity effectively created modern science in the first place. It is no coincidence that science was born in Christian-dominated Europe, whereas it was stillborn in other regions. It is no coincidence that the rise of modern science coincided with the Reformation. It is no coincidence that most of the fathers of science were Christians, some orthodox, some heretical. It is no coincidence that, even to this very day, the majority of Nobel Prize winners are Christian, followed by Jews in second place, who absolutely swallow atheists/agnostics in that regard.
So why do atheists perform so well in science today? Well, simply because it works. Science isn't some religious concept with no basis in reality, it is the study of reality. Therefore, we will be able to study that reality regardless of our religious beliefs. As gravity still works for those who don't believe in physics, science still works for those who don't believe in God.
Think of science as being like a goldmine. Christians believed there was such a thing as gold, and that it was valuable to dig up. So we started digging, we found gold, we sold the gold, and the world started wanting gold. "Ok," we said, "here's where to dig, here's how it's done, come on into this mine". So the atheists started to dig, too, and they started finding gold.
But then they started finding pyrite. Or, as it is more commonly known, "fool's gold". This, too, became profitable for them to sell, and so they sold it, whereas Christians generally knew how to tell the difference. They rarely sold pyrite, they criticised those who sold pyrite, and so the atheists started criticising Christians as bad miners. They even had the cheek to point to rare instances of pyrite being sold by Christians as proof.
In this metaphor, pyrite represents bad science. Not necessarily intentional, but bad all the same. Perhaps a mistake. Perhaps an outright fake. Whatever the intent, pyrite represents bad science.
Now, as Christians do not claim to be infallible, the fact that our understanding of the universe matches that of the secular world makes perfect sense. God isn't shouting down scientific facts at us, we're studying His world and evaluating them ourselves, just like atheists. That has the unfortunate drawback of the fact that, just like atheists, we are prone to make mistakes. So you can point to any mistake of the past, it doesn't affect Christianity, and it definitely doesn't affect the fact that Christianity still showed the world where to dig.
Of course, frauds are also a large part of science. And unfortunately, I do mean a large part. This is where another major assumption of Christianity affects science: Ethics. Christianity teaches that lying is a bad thing. Atheism, by contrast, leads to Nihilism. If there's no God to tell us "thou shalt not", who will? Perhaps this is why Evolutionists like Bora Zivkovic believe "...it is OK to use some inaccuracies temporarily if they help you reach the students." Inaccuracies like NOMA (Non-Overlapping Magisterium), which he admits is flat out wrong, yet, in his eyes, justified, because it helps gain the trust of students while brainwashing them into the Evolutionist worldview.
So yes, there are unfortunately some examples of Christians propagating frauds. I admit that, and I denounce that, and all Christians should do the same. The problem is, Christian frauds are not the only frauds we denounce. We also denounce atheistic frauds. And that's where they tend to get a little bit antsy.
Let's be honest: When an atheist says Christianity hinders science, what he really means is Christianity opposes Evolution. Evolution, my friends, is the biggest load of pyrite that has ever been sold from the scientific goldmine. Yes, Christians oppose Evolution (mainly because it was made up to oppose Christianity), but regardless of your religious views, Evolution should be opposed. Evolution is not science. It is pagan mythology re-vamped and given a scientific spin. The fact that Christianity is opposed to this no more proves we are unscientific than the fact that we reject Islam's idea that the sun sets in a pool of muddy water.
The historical fact that Christianity gave rise to modern science means it is no more logical to use science to attack Christianity than to try to disprove the existence of the ocean by producing a fish. You can quite literally thank God for science, not only because He created the natural world, but because He designed us to be able to study it, and His philosophy, appropriately applied, allows us to do just that.
But this is not the only thing we can thank Him for. There have been times throughout history when God rather intentionally broke the laws of nature. The most notable was when the Creator Himself took on human flesh. Born to a virgin, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, lived a perfect human life. During this life, He performed many miracles, up to and including resurrection. His own resurrection. See, Jesus died a brutal death, not for something He had done, but for something we have done. Every single one of us has rebelled against God, meriting only one punishment: Death. So Jesus died instead. He faced the full wrath of God due to us, allowing us to receive the reward due to Him. All it takes is faith. Repent of your sins, confess Jesus as Lord, and believe He rose from the dead. You do that, you will inherit eternal life.