Science has sometimes been said to be opposed to faith, and inconsistent with it. But all science, in fact, rests on a basis of faith, for it assumes the permanence and uniformity of natural laws - a thing which can never be demonstrated.

Tryon Edwards (1809–1894) was an American Congregational minister and compiler of moral and religious aphorisms, writing in a 19th‑century climate where rapid advances in geology, biology, and biblical criticism often sharpened the perceived conflict between “science” and “faith.” In that setting, many Protestant writers argued that scientific inquiry itself depends on unprovable presuppositions—especially the stability and regularity of nature—so that “faith” is not unique to religion. This remark reflects that apologetic tradition: it reframes the debate by claiming that science, like theology, begins with foundational assumptions that cannot be proven by the very methods built upon them.

Edwards is not denying the power of scientific method; he is pointing to its philosophical starting points. To do experiments or infer laws, scientists must trust that nature behaves consistently—that the same causes under the same conditions will produce the same effects. That “uniformity of nature” cannot be established without circularity, because any attempt to prove it relies on past observations and inductive reasoning that already presuppose uniformity. The quote therefore challenges a simplistic opposition between science and faith: it suggests that both domains involve commitments beyond strict demonstration, and that the real question is which basic assumptions are most reasonable and fruitful.