Days after we are seeing the first incredible images from the James Webb space telescope, giving us deeper views of the Universe like we've never seen it, an astronomer joins me for a discussion on that and the age old debate between science and faith, since he's had decades-long journeys in both. Make sure to Subscribe to "Run The Race" to hear inspiring chats like this one.

(2:50) Dr. Shawn Cruzen - who's been the Executive Director of the Coca-Cola Space Science Center in Columbus GA the last 18 years - first gives us his take on God vs. Science, if they are at odds or can coexist. Remember, the Bible says to test things, just like scientists do. His message for people on both sides: check your interpretations. He dives in the Big Bang Theory and the moment of creation, from the view of skeptical scientists and scripture in the Bible.

He defends (12:30)both science and faith, depending on where he is, as people sometimes ask how he can be a scientist and a Christian.

(16:40) Dr. Cruzen, while in school at UNLV, had the chance to work on projects/data connected to the Hubble telescope, but says the new James Webb space telescope is 10-100 times better, giving us the deepest images ever of the stars and universe! He explains, in laymans terms, why and how we're getting these images of how things looked billions of years ago, the most ancient light.

Speaking of those images, (24:45) Dr. Cruzen gives us expert perspective of 3 that have come from that telescope so far, showing the scientific beauty God created. The first image released - the result of pointing at nothing - reveals tons of science and is about deep field, galaxy cluster, gravitational bending. The 2nd image from James Webb we discuss is a star being born, with an orange looking mountain but really is a nebula or space cloud. And the 3rd one is the death of a star, inside what looks like a big eye ball, showing us detail like it's art you can hang up.

Passionate also about God, (39:40) Dr. Cruzen's faith journey started at a young age too, with a pivotal moment he had in a science class while a pastor's wife was the substitute teacher. Church mission trips overseas also changed his life, including in Haiti, where he told HS students that there will be a 1st Haitian astronaut, showing them science can be a bridge out of extreme poverty.

(46:57) He is excited about science and teaching others atthe Coca-Cola Space Science Center, with former students there now working in the space industry. The biggest questions he gets are about black holes and Pluto being a dwarf planet. How do you pronounce Uranus? And is there other life out there? For that last question, the James Webb telescope might be showing us a sliver of proof, while we could be getting awesome images from that instrument for the next 20 years.

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