The Lord be with you
In the most recent issue of Concordia Journal (Summer 2017|volume 43|Number 3) is a well written article by Charles P. Arand titled “The Scientist as a Theologian of the Cross.” In it Arand tackles an issue that bedevils many, especially those of a younger generation than myself: The intersect between the “knowledge” received from God about God and the “knowledge” received from creation about creation. I know, you are thinking, “What?” How does studying weather patterns relate to knowing God. The actual answer to that question is, they really don’t relate. What we know about God is revealed to us, especially in the person and work of Jesus. What we know about nature is revealed to us by careful observation of nature. To put that another way, the tools used for learning about the world are different from the tools used to know about God. One makes a mistake in thinking when one used the tools for one discipline in the other discipline.
Now this doesn’t mean that there is no overlap, but one must exercise caution. Sure, the idea of the “Big Bang,” which is to say in an instant there was all this “energy” appearing while before that instant there was nothing at all, seems to harmonize with what the Bible says in Genesis 1:1 (In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth …), but science is an ever changing thing. We do not hang our faith on how science understands things this year. After all, there may be a major paradigm shift next year. Our faith is in Jesus, God in the flesh, who came for us men and for our salvation.
There have always been faithful Christian scientists. They do, indeed, grapple with the question of the intersection between faith and science. It seems to me that Arand, using the “theology of the cross,” provides an excellent model. For anyone considering the sciences as a career, this is well worth the read. It is also worth reading by those who are troubled by the inflated claims of some atheists who make claims for science that are simply beyond the scope of scientific inquiry.
This link, The Scientist as a Theologian of the Cross, will take you to the current issue of Concordia Journal. The article I’m speaking of is the first one.
Blessings in Christ
Pastor John Rickert