Science and religion. In today’s world, it is almost as if we are being forced to pick. Will you ground your reality in science? Or will you ground your life in religion? To pick religion is seen by many as rejecting the authority of science, the facts and figures and observed experience that result from empirical investigation, in favor of a world view based on superstition and magical thinking that cannot be scientifically substantiated. This construct, science or religion, is characteristic of the contemporary world. It was not a consideration for the ancients, for those who wrote the Bible. So I do not claim to say that the writers of the psalms intentionally resolved this issue. But, they do shed light on it.
In Psalm 19, the writer extols the order and purpose of the sun and the heavenly bodies. So nature is God’s self-disclosure. It shows us God. Thus, in principle, there should be no conflict between nature (science) and God.
In verse 9 we are told,
the instruction of the Lord is lucid,
making the eyes light up.
[The Jewish Study Bible, Tanakh Translation]
This implies that God is responsible for human intellectual achievement. God’s intent is for humans to use their conscious intellectual abilities to investigate the world so that our eyes light up with awe and wonder and delight. God’s teachings are lucid, that is rational, reasonable, clear, consistent, subject to scrutiny, examination, and analysis. God’s order is evident in the natural world and science reveals that order and the incredible intricacies of life.
We have been endowed with extensive intellectual abilities so that we apply them to gaining more knowledge of the natural world, behavior, and all fields of knowledge. As human knowledge has progressed and expanded, older understandings have been superseded. When we think about religious ideas that come from ancient times, we must take into account the level of intellectual development of the people of the time. Then we can understand the wisdom and insights that are being shared with us through the ages. We then interface that wisdom with our reality. We don’t superimpose ancient reality on today’s world. To discount, overlook, ignore, or worse, to contradict, the findings of science through the ages is to undermine the intellectual ability we have been divinely given to use to expand our knowledge and understanding. It is to squander God’s gift that makes the eyes light up.
Ultimately there is no incompatibility between religion and science unless the religion is false because the pursuit of science is part of God’s intention for humanity. We were given our brains with the expectation that we use them.
Prayer
The natural world and all of creation is a magnificent school of science and spirit. May we celebrate the extensive achievements of the human intellect. May we always seek to learn and grow in mind, body, and spirit. We also recognize that our human knowledge is limited and incomplete. Our reality always includes mystery. May love be our guide as we make our way into the days ahead and the discoveries that await us. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 