May 17, 2008

searching for the truth
Faith and Science...do they clash?
(part 1)

The more we learn and discover through science...
does it take away from the miracles of the Lord?
This, and other similar questions, seem to point to
a rivalry between science and religion...
things seen vs things unseen...
things we have figured out vs things we don't understand.

Let us consider...

1. We will never know all of God's ways.

We cannot begin to understand
even the smallest portion of why
He does things the way He does
or how He has, and continues to do, His "miracles".

Man has a tendency to classify anything
he doesn't understand as a miracle
as if we are so superior that if we can't understand it,
it must really be something.
Once we learn a tiny, little bit more,
all of a sudden we are so much wiser
and the "miracles" seem so much more
"explainably" commonplace.

The saying, "a little knowledge hath made him mad" comes to mind.
How arrogant and self-serving we humans are.
Early man didn't know much of what we know today,
hence, "miracles" then abounded.

2. God's ways are not our ways.

"'...you cannot see my face,
for no one may see me and live.'
Then the LORD said,
'There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.
When my glory passes by,
I will put you in a cleft in the rock
and cover you with my hand
until I have passed by.
Then I will remove my hand
and you will see my back;
but my face must not be seen.'"
- Exodus 33:20-23 NIV

One of the implications here is that we may see
what God has done (where He has been)
but we cannot see Him as He is.
Even seeing what He has done
we can rarely understand how He has done it.

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,'
declares the LORD.
'As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower
and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose
for which I sent it.'"
- Isaiah 55:8-11 NIV

So even if a rivalry does exist
between science and religion,
be assured that your faith
(even if based only on "miracles")
will still be intact till the end of time.