Devotional 2-19-10

Thoughts on our creator

As a believer who has a background in the biological sciences, I am dismayed and mystified by some, so called, scientists who declare that God is disproved by science – they believe that, if man evolved from lower animals, if creation came about with a big bang, if we have quantum physics, etc, etc, then we don’t need God!

Conversely, believers who insist that the ancient teachings in the Bible are to be taken literally, reject many scientific discoveries as sacrilegious or blasphemous.

Personally, I have wondered about these apparent conflicts since junior high school. As an adult, I have finally melded my religion and my scientific education into a faith that takes both into account. It goes something like this:

Science cannot prove or disprove the existence of God. Religion can tell us about God, but cannot actually prove God’s existence. In the final analysis, our knowledge that God is must come from within ourselves – by our own experience and feelings.

For me, God is a given, a constant. Therefore, whatever a scientist undertakes is simply another examination or exploration into God’s creation. God created the earth, the universe, the atom and the proton. Whatever exists was created by God. So, if we are delving into DNA and the human genome or studying the planets, stars or black holes, it matters not – all things are God’s works. Should we perceive patterns in the fossils of ancient creatures or in the actions of heavenly bodies then there may be clues into God’s elegant system of creation.

On the other hand, should the findings of modern science be perceived as clashing with some of our treasured writings of old, then try asking yourself something along this line: If God had spoken to His people about evolution, quarks, bacteria, black holes or DNA, could those people of 2000 BC have absorbed any of that knowledge? Were they ready?

Or, conversely, was it better for God to let His people develop on their own? Let then go, like a child on his first bike ride, to achieve by their own efforts, to learn from their mistakes with, maybe a little guidance along the way?

After all, we as a people, as a population, as a species, do appear to be progressing. True, our progress is uneven, stumbling, bumbling going from crisis to crisis. But, if we stand back and look at ourselves, can’t we say that after each crisis, God’s people rise a little higher? I believe we can.

Charlie Lewis