Francis Collins Salvation at a Frozen Waterfall

Francis Collins is one of the world’s most respected genetic researchers. He currently directs the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. government’s top medical research body. And even though he was an ardent atheist in his youth, he’s now a professed Christian.

Although raised in an Episcopalian family, Collins found his beliefs challenged in college. “I concluded that all of this stuff about religion and faith was a carryover from an earlier, irrational time, and now that science had begun to figure out how things really work, we didn’t need it anymore,” he told PBS in an interview.

But in medical school, Collins worked with patients whose faith sustained them through difficult trials. Unable to reconcile this with what he called his “obnoxious” atheism, he asked a minister for guidance. The pastor gave him a copy of Mere Christianity, the apologetic written by C.S. Lewis. Collins later recalled that on reading the book, “within the first three pages, I realized that my arguments against faith were those of a schoolboy.”

Collins’ real turning point came on a hike and his spotting a frozen waterfall: “I was hiking in the Cascade Mountains on a beautiful fall afternoon. I turned the corner and saw in front of me this frozen waterfall, a couple of hundred feet high. Actually, a waterfall that had three parts to it—also the symbolic three in one. At that moment, I felt my resistance leave me. And it was a great sense of relief. The next morning, in the dewy grass in the shadow of the Cascades, I fell on my knees and accepted this truth—that God is God, that Christ is his son and that I am giving my life to that belief.”

His faith has brought him into conflict with some atheists and some believers, since Collins rejects “intelligent design” and embraces an evolutionary approach. Hope remains, however: just as the onetime “obnoxious atheist” discovered that God does exist, it’s still possible that Collins will recognize that by His very words, God “spoke, and it was done” when it came to the creation of the earth and all living things (Psalm 33:9).

Reflect: It’s sometimes difficult for those with scientific backgrounds to challenge their peers by declaring their faith in God. Do you know anyone who has trouble believing in God? What can you do to help them?