Science and God: Why the Quandary?

Shaking my head this morning! 

267, 596 Coronavirus deaths in the United States and 13,454,330 confirmed cases today and some Christians are still saying, "Don't believe the science!"

Coming from other sources, this would not be such a big deal and to be sure there have been times when scientists have really blown it!  But that's because they are mere humans and not the Originator of Science--God!

Earlier in the pandemic, everyone was trying to figure out what was going on with the virus. Denial and fear became pawns strategically placed on political chess boards.  But now that's all over (at least for most of us!) and vaccines are on the horizon.  You'd think such talk would subside.  Not hardly!

I never really understood the fuss! No one who'd ever really read the bible should doubt the validity of science.  Literally, from the beginning of God's Word (Genesis 2:4-25), we have evidence.  Of course Creationist and Evolutionist have their views (another needless argument).  But God Always Wins in the End!

From nothing, God created everything we know today! Theologians have a fancy word for it--ex nihilo.  Science at its best is only the intellectual study, observation and experimentation of what God has already created!  I learned this early in my childhood Sunday school class and it has been a point of fascination for me ever since. 

 People smarter than myself have spent years discussing whether science and religion are congruent.  If you have a few hours and brain cells to waste, go ahead.  Google the myriad of studies available online.  As for me, the greatest science book I've ever read is the Bible!  Specific bible passages that caught my attention and never fails to leave me in awe are from the book of Job and a couple from the Psalms.  

THE GREATEST SCIENCE BOOK - GOD'S WORD!

Job, like so many today was suffering from grief, loss of income, poor health, and depression through no fault of his own.  This prolonged suffering caused him to enter a crisis of faith.  After  listening to friends who offered no comfort; he began to justify himself before the Lord, complaining and asking questions (Job 33:19-28). 

In Job chapters 38-41, God answers these questions by opening His vast science book.  The Lord  had a few questions of His own.  Job immediately gets a crash course in the following scientific disciplines:

Geology

• (Job 38:4-6, 18)  - Where were you with I laid the foundation of the earth? Who determined its measurements or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone. Have you comprehended the expansion of the earth?

Meteorology

• (Job 38:12, 22-23, 26-29) - Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place? Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail which I have reserved for the time of trouble. to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man...Has the rain a father or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? 

Astronomy

• (Job 38:31-33)  - Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?  Can you you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season or can you guide the Bear with its children?  Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?

Herpetology

• (Job 41:1-34) -  Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. His back is made of rows of shields shut up closely as with a seal. One is so near to another that no air can come between them.  They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated. 

Marine Biology

• (Psalm 104:24-25) - O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.  Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.

Genetics, Cell & Reproductive Biology, Gerontology

• (Psalm 139-13-16) - For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 

BOTH SCIENCE AND GOD ARE KNOWABLE!

You see, there really is no conflict between science and religion or faith!  Science does not rule out the existence of a personal God even though many scientists are atheist or agnostic.

Still,  there are many like George Washington Carver, Louis Pasteur, and Sir. Francis Bacon who unashamedly proclaimed their faith in God.  One day, every atheistic scientist can have the empirical evidence demanded.  They only have to believe in the Ex Nihilo God!  If not, upon death it will be revealed, as written in  God's Great Science Book (I Corinthians 13:12).  Paul tells us that all the knowledge we possess now is only a dim reflection of what the Omniscient God will show us in His time...

For by Him were all things created,

that are in heaven, and that are in earth,

visible and invisible, whether they be

thrones, or dominions, or principalities,

or powers: all things were created

by Him, and for Him: And He

is before all things, and by Him all 

things consist.

(Colossians 1:16-17)

 

THAT MY FRIENDS INCLUDES SCIENCE!

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

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A Tree Tells it All: The Roots of Hope are Laid Bare!

 

"Such is the destiny of all who forget

God; so perishes the hope

of the godless.  What he trusts in

 is fragile, what he relies on is a

 a spider web

He leans on his web, but it gives

way; he clings to it, but 

it does not hold.

He is like a well-watered plant in

the sunshine, spreading its

 shoots over the gardens;

it entwines its roots around a pile

 of rocks and looks for a place

 among the stones."

(Job 8:13-17)

Even though the seasons changed promptly from summer to fall and the anxiety-ridden general election took place as planned, hopes are still diminishing in our country. We've ceased wishing for normalcy.  I think we all know that things will never be normal again!  This is a new reality we are experiencing and ready or not we've just got to faith it through!

I'm not a doom and gloom kind of gal!  Really, I'm not but I must say that year 2020 has made me more of a realist than I thought possible.  This is not a bad thing!  Never before in my life have I leaned more on my faith than I have this year.  I've prayed more.  Studied my bible more.  Searched my heart more. And I've gotten in touch with the foundations of my Christian roots.

I've never doubted  God or my Christian faith, but there were times I wondered whether the bible teachings regarding the Christian's powerful influence in the world could really transcends these turbulent times.  I'm encouraged by the words of Jesus who says we can: You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. (Matthew 5:13)

HAVE CHRISTIANS LOST THEIR SALTINESS?  

Some Christians abandoned the tenets of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10) and the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) to align themselves with a particular political candidate.  Placing their trust not in God but a system, a party, or a well-worn yet disappointing ideology.  Standing by silently refusing to bring accountability in the face of wrong doing.  I've never witnessed such vitriol spewing from the lips of Saints when discovered they were on different sides of a hot issue! Or the escalation of violence and deaths in both urban and suburban communities.  Will the world still listen to our message of a loving Christ?

WHERE IS GOD'S LIGHT OF TRUTH?

Christians have marched alongside hate groups, found comaraderie and a common purpose it seems for no other purpose than to satisfy selfish ambitions.  It is as if 2 Corinthians 6:14 was never written: Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.  For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? or What fellowship can light have with darkness? I wonder when in their Sunday sermons and daily bible devotions they come across these words of Jesus, if their hearts were pricked? You are the Light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5: 14-16)

IN TIMES OF CRISIS HOPE IS STILL ALIVE!

Yes, times are troubling!  Exhaustion and hopelessness common among the people, but this is not the time to lose sight of God's purpose!  Our allegiance is to God and unity with those of like faith should be our goal not a obstacle!

God has laid bare the roots of our national sin: Greed, arrogance, idolatry, ingratitude, and injustice.  No matter how deeply it was buried beneath platitudes of patriotism, nationalism, and a form of evangelicalism that looks less and less like the bible every day! They are now exposed!

He has through the crises we are facing today shown us that it is time to get back to our TRUE CHRISTIAN ROOTS!

"He has showed you, O man, what is good . And what does the Lord require you? To act justly, and to love mercy, to walk humbly before your God." (Micah 6:8)

Presently, the Roots of Hope are showing a bit of wear.  Like the picture above, erosion is evident. Years of disobedience have caused them to become gnarled and dry but rejuvenation is coming. We serve a Resurrection God and He is faithful.  This pitiful tree will find its roots refreshed by the healing waters of God's Word, a tree planted by streams and yielding fruit in even this difficult season.  The Election is over. People are dying. Our children are watching. Let's get about finishing the work Christ left us to do while we still can: 

 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

 (Matthew 28:19-20)

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

If you would like to leave a comment please send an email to: sisters4sisters@att.net OR  scroll to the bottom of my blog page at  http://alittlewiser63.blogspot.com  click on the no comments by the pencil and it will change to a writing space.