Wednesday, December 22, 2010

science

Fore-ward: I am no rocket scientist. I do not have much in the way of scientific credentials save for a grueling stint in AP Chemistry classes, but this is what I know of and believe about science without knowing everything.

Some Christians fear science. If you want my honest opinion on the matter, some Christians fear science because they fear that one day irrefutable proof will be provided that completely, 100%, beyond argument disproves the existence of God. In short, I believe their faith is limited and, deep down, they do not trust their own beliefs and have doubt about them.

Doubt is OK, in my books. Science is humble in that it knows what it knows, but it also knows what it does not know. There are doubts in the scientific community about this and about that, so experiments ensue until a bonafide answer beyond all reasonable doubt can be established. I respect and applaud the scientific community greatly for their constant search for the truth and their willingness to hold off on belief until proven otherwise. Science has shown us that it has been something that can be proven, there can be a determinable outcome and a defined outcome. It has been proven as being meant to understand.

Faith is different, obviously. Faith requires one to make a choice and choose a conclusion without being presented with all the facts upfront. Faith is believing in a pre-concluded outcome transpiring before the outcome is either realized or shown to be folly. Our assurances that our faith is well-placed come from a place that is honest within us, from a part of our brain that we regard with trust, generally because of a behavioral consistency that builds up an immunity to doubt. On an aside, this is why those who have had their trust broken time and time again struggle with shallow faith. If you are used to constantly being let down by people or circumstances you thought you could trust, then faith is going to be a very high mountain to try and climb.

I digress, though, and get back to the subject at hand: faith and science are quite different and often regarded as oil and water, or apples and oranges. They are simply polar opposites and, while they can exist in congruence with one another, they are labeled as not being able to play ball in the same park. Wrong.

Imagine if you will that God decided to show up one day and wanted to share just a little fact with, something much less grand than some might expect at the arrival of God. Let us suppose for one moment that God said "I made the sky, but I did not make it blue. I made it lovely and expansive, something to be marveled at and to be enjoyed. 'Blue' is what you made it by your human definition and classification." We ourselves have been responsible for setting the scientific standards. In our quest and discovery of the scientific world we gain an understanding how it all works, what it is comprised of, where it belongs (in terms of classification), and how to react to it, but we have no say in its creation. All we have ever created are organisms or structures that are made out of something that already existed, something created apart from human effort.

This is where I draw the line in science being the eventual answer to the creation of the universe. There was existence prior to human existence, and we can never grasp what that might be. It will forever remain unproven because it exists outside of our time, our understanding, our comprehension. We can break everything down to its most basic and simple atomic level, but where did that atom come from? Where did the simplest form of life come from? Everything cannot be created from something. Something has to exist on its own, a creation in itself. Saying that such things "BANG" just one day appeared seems about the most plausible thing apart from Creation that makes sense to me because it is so utterly ludicrous. The scientific would will tell you they have no answer, they have no comprehension, no understanding of what actually put us here.

I saw an atheist today tell me that logical thought and scientific reasoning have brought him to the conclusion that there is no God. I have said all I have said to say that I see this as illogical. No man has proven the origin of man or the universe, so by definition, there is no logical conclusion, faith is once again called upon and required right there in the smack dab middle of the scientific world. 

We as a people are prone to rebellion, driven to it at times it seems. To beat rebellion our parents spend our entire childhood teaching and training us to behave, be polite, mind our manners, be selfless. These things do not come naturally, they have to be learned due to our rebellious nature. If you ask me, I do not believe we were meant to understand it all. In the Garden a bigger choice than to eat the apple or not eat the apple was made. God told Adam and Eve they could enjoy all that He had given them, enjoy His creation, and live in abundance, peace, and perfect health. He also said that Adam and Eve could imbue themselves with the knowledge of good and evil, the understanding behind what was meant to be enjoyed. Acting within the bounds of human propensity to rebel but to also gain understanding and knowledge, the apple was plucked.

I think for every Christian that is scared we might one day figure it all out and find out God is not real is an Atheist who is scared that we might not actually ever know everything, that we as humankind are limited and Someone greater exists. To acknowledge that means giving over a great deal of power and subservience that is contrary to our will, some of us more than others. But, that .... that is the science of man. And this ... this is the science of my faith.

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