Easter 2013
31/03/13 04:02
There are various forms of the “science vs. religion” debate that I have heard over the years. Many of the discussions are far from intelligent with those engaged in the conversations seeing their opponents as evil, or ignorant or worse. The dichotomy seems to me to be false from the beginning. From my perspective I see nothing in science that threatens faith. Our forebears didn’t write Genesis as a scientific textbook. In the story of our religion, science is a relatively new voice in the conversation and it grew directly out of the dramatic changes that were set in motion by a discussion within the institutional church: the reformation. Scientific method is a direct outgrowth of the institutional church. But that bit of historical trivia is rarely interesting to those who want to see the world as sharply divided into two distinct camps. Some religious fundamentalists see the discoveries of science as somehow threatening to religious belief. There have been some creationists who claim that the discoveries of science about the length of time and the great distances of space are somehow wrong because they read Biblical creation stories as giving specific amounts of time. Their error in interpretation seems to me to be a matter of misinformed bible study, not a reason to disagree with scientists, but to them the numerology of the Bible is very important and they can be extremely dogmatic in their interpretations.
One of the things that often crops up in such discussions is talk of miracles and the suspension of the laws of physics. After I while I often bore of these arguments as well simply because I think that the so-called laws of physics are not laws at all, but rather explanations of the patterns in the natural world. Competent scientists are thrilled to find exceptions to rules and they conduct aggressive research to explain the new patterns they have discovered. Particle theory explains some of the ways in which energy works. Wave theory also serves to explain part of the observable world. Neither defies the “laws” of the other. They represent different frameworks for partial understanding.
From my point of view, religion doesn’t offer a set of immutable rules, but rather a deeply meaningful perspective to explain the world. Miracles often are not exceptions to the rules Spontaneous remission of cancer for example is well documented by science and by religion. One uses the word miracle. The other continues to look for an understanding of the phenomenon. Neither provides a completely satisfying answer to the question of why this occurs to one person and not to another.
Today, however, we celebrate an event that is absolutely unique in the universe. To my knowledge, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead occurred only once. There is no precedent and have been no subsequent resurrections that are identical. And because the event took place roughly 1500 years before scientific method, it seems unlikely that we have all of the evidence of exactly what occurred. It is even more unlikely that the events can be replicated, even if we were to undertake the bloody and cruel execution method of crucifixion. I am completely comfortable with seeing Jesus’ resurrection as unique, but I can see no problems with the search for other ways of explaining the events. I don’t have much passion for explaining it, however. I am comfortable with there being some things in God’s universe that I can’t explain.
I don’t believe that any “laws” of biology or physics have been violated. I see an event that doesn’t fit into the patterns we have observed. And it makes sense to me why it doesn’t fit into the patterns we know.
But it does make a big difference to me in the everyday living of my life. I’ve been around long enough to walk with grief every day. There are those who were once part of my life who have died. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, in-laws, a brother and a sister are no longer living, but they continue to be a part of my life. And the sense of loss is a constant companion in my life. And there have been others also. As a pastor I have officiated at the funerals to too many people who have become my friends. I have eulogized people who were good and faithful and beloved.
All of this experience, however, doesn’t explain death to me. There is far more about the mystery of death than the little that I know and understand. I have no problems with biological explanations about the ending of heartbeat and the cessation of breathing, the slowing and stopping of brain function. I understand about the conservation of matter that means that the elements that make up human bodies are broken down, and re-used by the processes of this world by other organisms. But I don’t understand death. It is a mystery. In fact I would say it is a holy mystery.
What I do know is that when someone dies, it is not the end. Without starting a debate with an atheist, we could both agree that memory remains. And that influence can last beyond the span of a single life. There are those who lived and died hundreds, even thousands of years ago, whose words are instructional for us and whose lives impact the ways we live our lives.
And there is more. For now, I am comfortable to lie with the mystery. I don’t need to know, but I am confident that we have much more yet to learn. Just as some of the mistaken assertions of primitive world-views now seem a bit silly to us, what we now consider to be the pinnacle of educated understanding and rational thought will one day seem immature and incomplete.
Today it enough for me to say that the worst that this world can offer: the abuse of power by religious and governmental authorities, the use of torture and cruel and unusual punishment, the methods of killing someone in a slow and painful manner, the techniques of crowd control and mass manipulation – these are not the final words on the status of human life. These things cannot kill love. Love is stronger than death. It is simple and clear and true.
Love wins.
One of the things that often crops up in such discussions is talk of miracles and the suspension of the laws of physics. After I while I often bore of these arguments as well simply because I think that the so-called laws of physics are not laws at all, but rather explanations of the patterns in the natural world. Competent scientists are thrilled to find exceptions to rules and they conduct aggressive research to explain the new patterns they have discovered. Particle theory explains some of the ways in which energy works. Wave theory also serves to explain part of the observable world. Neither defies the “laws” of the other. They represent different frameworks for partial understanding.
From my point of view, religion doesn’t offer a set of immutable rules, but rather a deeply meaningful perspective to explain the world. Miracles often are not exceptions to the rules Spontaneous remission of cancer for example is well documented by science and by religion. One uses the word miracle. The other continues to look for an understanding of the phenomenon. Neither provides a completely satisfying answer to the question of why this occurs to one person and not to another.
Today, however, we celebrate an event that is absolutely unique in the universe. To my knowledge, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead occurred only once. There is no precedent and have been no subsequent resurrections that are identical. And because the event took place roughly 1500 years before scientific method, it seems unlikely that we have all of the evidence of exactly what occurred. It is even more unlikely that the events can be replicated, even if we were to undertake the bloody and cruel execution method of crucifixion. I am completely comfortable with seeing Jesus’ resurrection as unique, but I can see no problems with the search for other ways of explaining the events. I don’t have much passion for explaining it, however. I am comfortable with there being some things in God’s universe that I can’t explain.
I don’t believe that any “laws” of biology or physics have been violated. I see an event that doesn’t fit into the patterns we have observed. And it makes sense to me why it doesn’t fit into the patterns we know.
But it does make a big difference to me in the everyday living of my life. I’ve been around long enough to walk with grief every day. There are those who were once part of my life who have died. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, in-laws, a brother and a sister are no longer living, but they continue to be a part of my life. And the sense of loss is a constant companion in my life. And there have been others also. As a pastor I have officiated at the funerals to too many people who have become my friends. I have eulogized people who were good and faithful and beloved.
All of this experience, however, doesn’t explain death to me. There is far more about the mystery of death than the little that I know and understand. I have no problems with biological explanations about the ending of heartbeat and the cessation of breathing, the slowing and stopping of brain function. I understand about the conservation of matter that means that the elements that make up human bodies are broken down, and re-used by the processes of this world by other organisms. But I don’t understand death. It is a mystery. In fact I would say it is a holy mystery.
What I do know is that when someone dies, it is not the end. Without starting a debate with an atheist, we could both agree that memory remains. And that influence can last beyond the span of a single life. There are those who lived and died hundreds, even thousands of years ago, whose words are instructional for us and whose lives impact the ways we live our lives.
And there is more. For now, I am comfortable to lie with the mystery. I don’t need to know, but I am confident that we have much more yet to learn. Just as some of the mistaken assertions of primitive world-views now seem a bit silly to us, what we now consider to be the pinnacle of educated understanding and rational thought will one day seem immature and incomplete.
Today it enough for me to say that the worst that this world can offer: the abuse of power by religious and governmental authorities, the use of torture and cruel and unusual punishment, the methods of killing someone in a slow and painful manner, the techniques of crowd control and mass manipulation – these are not the final words on the status of human life. These things cannot kill love. Love is stronger than death. It is simple and clear and true.
Love wins.