Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Of course “it” refers to whatever you are trying to explain. I think there is confusion about matters of faith and science on the part of believers and unbelievers alike, and I think it boils down to a matter of perspective. I hope to give a simple explanation.
Beginning with the Thomas Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925, the Christian community has viewed certain theories proposed by scientists as being suspect and rightly so. But the believer has nothing to fear from the factual discoveries of science.
The modern method of scientific inquiry was developed in societies that embraced a Christian worldview. Scientific studies were predicated on the following syllogism: God created the heavens and the earth (id est, the universe), God is a reasonable Creator, therefore, the universe and those things in it can be understood on the basis of reason. Quoting Einstein again, even he defended his research into the unified field theory by saying, “I cannot believe God plays dice with the cosmos.”
The presuppositional view of a created universe operating by divine order was the primary foundation for scientific investigations for such men as Galileo, Pascal, Newton, Faraday and others. If there were no observable order in the universe we could not learn anything about the world we live in. If water did not come to a boil at sea level at the same temperature every time we could say nothing about the boiling temperature of water with certitude.
Even atheist Stephen Hawking recognizes there is inherent order in the universe from his study of physics, and he recognizes that this observed order implies design. But he posits the universe is self-designed rather than accept the idea of an intelligent Designer. An automobile is clearly designed, but it is not self-designed. Hawking’s logic does not match his observations.
Set a partially filled glass in front of a person and he may say it is half filled, another may say it is half empty. Both see the same glass with the same amount of water, but they have two different perspectives. Neither is entirely wrong, nor entirely right. The glass is both half filled and half empty at once. It’s a matter of perspective and there is no logical way to explain the different perspectives than to say its is a personal decision.
One sees the universe as intelligently designed, and another thinks it is merely a cosmic accident. Typically, what one believes about the origin of everything is not predicated on the intellect or logic, it is based on one’s morality. Morality is the deciding factor that determines one’s perspective. As Joshua said, “choose for yourselves today whom you will serve,” Joshua 24:15. Serve God or serve yourself, it’s a mater of perspective.
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