Please elaborate on this statement. Much of what I have read from diverse scientific sources .. (snip) ...tend to have their faith strengthened as they get more into the details.
First, it is very important to distinguish between belief in God and belief in Jesus or the Bible. One does not require the other, in any way.
As for scientific study strengthening a belief in God, naturally I can't speak for all scientists but, there are some scientific discoveries that are startling enough to steer one that way.
For example: there are certain universal values in physics (for instance: the strength of the forces that hold atomic nuclei together) which seem to be tuned with suspicious precision to create a universe like the one we see today. If the strong and weak nuclear forces were even fractionally larger or smaller, the universe might have instantly collapsed, or become just a diffuse cloud of radiation, without any planets or stars, let alone animals or plants. Some have suggested that this seemingly careful tuning suggests divine intervention.
Another example: the Earth itself. As planets go, our world is pretty exceptional. We have a great deal of liquid water. Our distance from the sun is far enough to avoid boiling it all away, near enough to prevent it all freezing. We have a thick ionosphere and a very strong magnetic field, which together serve to keep the radiation from the sun and from space at a tolerable level. And the list goes on and on. It can begin to sound like our world is a custom-designed incubator for our fragile bodies.
And then, there is quantum physics. At the scale of the very small, there are certain reactions that,
literally, cannot be predicted. This is not to say that we just can't predict them
yet, but rather we have proven, experimentally and mathematically, that it is actually
not possible, under
any circumstances, to predict them with any accuracy. Some people, on hearing this, will nod and smile; at last, science has found a dark corner of the universe that reason can never illuminate. Here, if nowhere else, divine intervention may exist.
The universe is vast, complex, and awesome. Our human perspective disposes us to infer a mighty, ingenious designer who made it all. Personally, I don't entirely rule it out.
But this is entirely different from saying that science endorses the Bible. Not long ago, we had a stirring debate on a thread here (which I have no desire to repeat in any detail) about evolution vs. creation. It was a rousing and stimulating discussion, and if you are interested, it can be read here:
http://www.macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43209
I maintained there (and still believe) that there is no scientific evidence to support the biblical account of creationism -- at least, none which would have any hope of withstanding the sort of peer-review critique that Evolution has weathered. The creationist stance was ably championed by MDLarson, and I encourage you to read and enjoy.
Science dictates that for an idea to be accepted as true, it must survive every challenge, and it must be separately and independently discoverable, without referring to earlier results. For instance: if today we attempted a set of experiments to measure the speed of light, assuming our experiments were well-designed, we would get the same result (186,000 miles per second) whether or not we previously had looked up the generally accepted value. In other words, the result is repeatable in an independent investigation.
However, if we set aside
all prior religious teachings and writings, and set about investigating the question of "What does God want of us?", whatever you might find, the universe would
not offer up an account of the life of Jesus. No psalms would be found etched upon the electrons, no hymns would be heard in the cosmic background radiation, and no face of Jesus would be seen among the stars (at least, not without the aid of LSD).
So in a nutshell: there are some things about science which might, subtly, suggest a
creator. But this does NOT amount to an endorsement of a specific religion.
