The relationship between science and religion was the subject of a conference on the theme «The Big-Bang And Creation: A Christian Look At The Origin Of The Universe,” in Yaounde on Saturday November 7, 2015. Organised by the Cameroon Bible Students’ Fellowship (GBEEC), the conference was part of the implementation of the “Science and Religion in Francophone Africa” 2014-2017 project.

The main speaker at the conference, Dr. Sylvain Brechet of “Ecole Polytechnique Féderal de Lausanne”, Switzerland, told the students that modern science shows that the universe actually has a beginning. Moreover, the universe is very finely tuned for our concern and is understandable; that is, it can be formulated mathematically. He said these three aspects make it absolutely reasonable to believe that there must be a God behind the whole universe.

The “Science and Religion in Francophone Africa 2014-2017” project is an initiative of Protestant Universities of Holland (PTHU), supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF). Based in Yaounde, the project covers three countries in Francophone Africa such as Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The objective is to train Christian students on the relationship between science and faith. In other words, the project is a platform for exchange among French-speaking students in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The ceremony was equally an opportunity for university lecturers and students to give testimonies on how they reconcile their lives of faith and science. Testimonials were equally awarded to the 33 students and 10 university lecturers who participated in a three-day seminar on science and religion organised in prelude to the conference.