Stop! Before you shrug and hit the delete button, give me a
minute. Growing numbers of Americans, especially those under the age of 30 are reaching
the conclusion that they must choose between robust faith or science as guiding
principles for their lives. One cannot
believe in the God of the Bible and hold onto the discoveries that explain our
natural world at the same time, they say. The study of origins of our world is a classic
battleground. Science presents ample
evidence for an earth that is billions of years old. Bible literalists insist the earth is just a
few thousand years old. Where does the
truth lie? Some say that it is unimportant. Yet, it is. Are geologists who tell us that the earth is
4.5 billion years old presenting the evidence clearly? Does a reverent reading of Genesis 1 really
demand that we believe that the world sprang into existence in 7 literal days
about 6,000 years ago? Truth often dies
on the altar of bias, pre-supposition, and fear.
I am not afraid of science, nor am I afraid to love God and
His revelation of Himself in the Scripture.
Both inform my life, each in different ways. Truth is never an enemy of faith. Theology and science have complementary roles
in helping us to understand the world that God gave us. We are poorer if we refuse
to see the limitations of either study. There are things in life which are of
the Spirit that cannot be analyzed in the laboratory. Likewise, our lives are
much improved by the sciences that bring us cures for diseases, for example. What
thinking person would want to retreat into the superstitious fear of the
medieval age, when ignorance wore the mask of faith? And we must ask if we really want to reduce
the world to formulas and take away the meaning of our existence that is found
in the things of God?
I am not arguing that the Bible is just poetry; a beautiful way to make a cruel world
bearable. If we diminish God by turning
Him into a sentiment to be dragged out as a means of comforting ourselves or
strengthening our social ties we do worse, in my opinion, than denying His
existence outright. But, if we turn
living faith into dogma, closing our minds to the unfolding of knowledge, we
rob God, the Holy Spirit, of His ability to speak to us through the world He
has made. I am made humble by the
amazing world that both the astronomer and the micro-biologist show to me. I join the song that says, "When I consider your heavens, the work
of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is
man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?"
(Psalm 8:3-4, NIV) Faith alone cannot show me what these wonders proclaim!
The mystery of the Incarnation is equally humbling. Why would the God from Whose hand came the
far-flung galaxies and the intricacies of my DNA choose to make Himself a baby,
born to a young woman by miraculous means, so that He could walk among us?
Science cannot explain this. How can an evil person kneel in repentance and
stand up a new creation in Christ, a hateful man turned to one who loves?
Science cannot peer into the story of the Cross and explain the revelation of
transforming love found there. The
Resurrection challenges us to think beyond the cycle of birth, life, and death
that we experience in this natural world.
Jesus Christ opens a window into eternal life that is received by faith,
not by sight.
May we never allow faith to become an excuse for ignorance,
nor should we become so arrogant in our knowledge that we refuse the mysteries
of faith. We cannot please God without faith. If we refuse Him, we will slip
deeper into sin. "O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Psalm 8:9, NIV)
_______________
How Great Thou Art
O Lord my God
When I in awesome
wonder
Consider all the
worlds
Thy hands have made.
I see the stars,
I hear the rolling
thunder,
Thy pow'r thru'out
The universe displayed.
Then sings my soul,
My Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art!
How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul,
My Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art!
How great Thou art!
And when I think
That God His Son not
sparing,
Sent Him to die,
I scarce can take it
in,
That on the cross,
My burden gladly
bearing,
He bled and died
To take away my sin.
Then sings my soul,
My Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art!
How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul,
My Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art!
How great Thou art!
When Christ shall come,
With shout of
acclamation.
And take me home
What joy shall fill my
heart.
Then I shall bow
In humble adoration
And there proclaim;
My God how great Thou
art!
Stuart Wesley Keene Hine
© 1949. 1953 Stuart Hine Trust. Administration: U.S.A. All
rights by EMI CMG, except print rights administered by Hope Publishing. North,
Central And South America by Manna Music. Rest of world - Kingsway
Communications.
CCLI License # 810055
No comments:
Post a Comment