There is a difference, however. The atheist, or perhaps it would be better to say the secularist (for that would include the many Christians who agree with this outlook), relies on observations of the physical world and experimentation to solve the questions, whereas the theist openly admits, generally, that we have no direct access to the spiritual realm. OldHermit makes this case very strongly.
The theist typically relies on scripture written in antiquity to prove his case, but those of us in the modern era have no way of confirming the claims. The theist cannot, and does not, rely upon experimentation. He relies upon the authority of a holy text, a text about which there is often a great deal of disagreement. A quick glance at the competing conclusions reveals just how uncertain the many claims are, though not surprisingly each desperate group often claims it alone possess the guidance of the holy spirit. In science disagreements there are, but they are followed by examination of the physical evidence, experiments, and more discussions until everyone is in agreement about the observed data. It is not a matter of faith. To take one example, the fossil evidence either shows, or does not show, that Australopithecus was bipedal.
Conservative Christians make claims about the universe, but do they ever make predictions about what the universe will look like through ever more powerful telescopes if those predictions are true? No? This, as you know, is what science does. Predictions have been made of what the early universe must look like if the Big Bang theory is true. October 2018 is the planned launch date for the James Webb space telescope. The surface area of its mirror is six times larger than the Hubble. It will photograph vistas invisible to Hubble and far more distant. It will have instruments to see into clouds were stars and planets are said to be born, and it may photograph any Earth like planets that lie close enough for its mirror to observe; and importantly for our discussion, it will reveal whether or not the scientific predictions are true for the Big Bang.
Science is not reliant on faith. Its predictions are built upon observation. Faith claims, it seems to me, are what one turns to when solid evidence from data is unavailable. You never see those of faith making scientific predictions, unless I am mistaken. Am I mistaken?