God's Two Books

Francis Bacon, considered by many to be the father of modern science, said that God has given us two books. One is the Bible. What do you think the other one is? Not the Koran or Upanishads! It is the book of Nature, and according to Francis Bacon and many other great scientists back then, such as Johannes Kepler, the task of science is to correctly interpret the book of Nature. Kepler said the purpose of his investigations of Nature was to discover the rational order that has been imposed on it by God. In his discoveries he believed he was “thinking God’s thoughts after him.” He expected to find universal laws in nature because he believed in a divine Lawgiver. Only in 17th century western civilization, where human minds had been prepared by faith in such a Lawgiver, could modern science have been born. The western mind had been conditioned by thoughts such as those of the apostle Paul writing more than 1600 years earlier, saying such things as: “…since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Kepler knew he was only “thinking God’s thoughts after him.” As his understanding of what has been made grew he gave God the glory that he alone deserves. Kepler’s understanding of the book of nature conformed to his understanding of that other book given by the Creator – the Bible. In fact Bacon believed that to be properly educated one must give ones mind to the study of both books. How reasonable! Since God is the author of both and he does not contradict himself, science could not possibly contradict the Bible.
But what has happened as history moved from the 16th century to the 21st? With such a grand beginning how could modern science have fallen into the scientism of today, which says that science has buried God? The decline seems to have been given its greatest impetus around the middle of the 19th century when a book was published called “The Origin of Species.” According to zoologist and “new atheist” Richard Dawkins, the “scientific discoveries” presented in that book “made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist.” If the origin and development of life can be explained solely through natural processes then God is out of a job! Dawkins and the other “new atheists” rejoice in the so-called “freedom” this gives them. According to them, man is free to make up his own rules for living. Whoopee! But scientific developments of the last two or three decades are showing more and more that Darwin misinterpreted the book of Nature. There really is design, and where there is design there must be a Designer. So the “new atheists” are just inebriated and self-deceived. Having swallowed Satan’s lies, they are without excuse. "The fool has said in his heart 'There is no God'.” Ps.14:1.

There is Law

“… The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” Gala 5:22,23. I used to wonder why, after listing these beautiful virtues Paul tacked on that last phrase. Why are you stating the obvious Paul? All cultures do have some system of law and sometimes the systems conflict in part, but there has never been one that outlawed love, joy, peace, etc…then it dawned on me. Paul is saying there really is such a thing as transcendent law – law that is not man-made and is not relative to any particular culture. There is law that is true for all people at all times, in all places. And Jesus Christ manifested that law – those universal virtues, with sinless perfection. How could he do that? Because he is the ultimate Law-giver. Just as the existence of design in nature shows there must be a Designer, the existence of transcendent law shows there must be a Divine Law-giver who has written his law on every heart created in his image.

But that raises another question. Why do these virtues against which there is no law seem to be so scarce – so hard to find. Isaiah gave the answer, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…” Isai 53:6. We have a sin nature, which runs from God and follows other wayward men, but we rationalize our waywardness, piling up lies to try to justify ourselves. Paul writes, “… since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” Roma 1:20. God’s divine nature has been clearly seen, so the one who denies transcendent law and its source is like the drunk who can no longer see clearly. In the case of the atheist it’s lies such as Darwinism that cause his blurry vision. As my pastor, Thomas Coughlin has said, there are no clear-headed atheists. They are all inebriated and self-deceived. “The fool says in his heart ‘There is no God’” Ps 14:1.

There is Design

Last week I argued that, since science has confirmed that "nature" or "the cosmos" had a beginning, which they call "The Big Bang Theory," science in this area is actually more supportive of the Christian doctrine of creation than it is of atheism. This week I will apply similar logic to the question of the origin of life. Recent developments in the science of microbiology show that every living cell manifests "irreducible complexity." That means its many parts have to be in place and working together in order for the cell to function. There never was such a thing as a "simple" cell. This scientific developmant, known as the "Intelligent design" movement, shows there was design right from the start. The Darwinian theory of "natural selection" working on chance variations in a mindless movement from simple to complex is hopelessly flawed. Believers in God have always "seen" design in nature. Scientists have now found a way of making such observation scientific. But just as the "big bang" scientists don't try to identify the "Big Banger," the intelligent design scientists don't try to identify the "Intelligent Designer." That would take them beyond their chosen area of study. What they are showing though, is that those who have faith in God, who is beyond nature, are not blind and unreasonable. Instead, those whose eyes are closed to the possibility of anything beyond nature are the unreasonable ones. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Rom 1:20.