Eternal Approach

Science says nothin’.

That’s right. Science doesn’t say a stinkin’ thing.

People say things. People interpret data. Then they draw their own conclusions.

We each interpret the world around us. We each make a choice about which evidence we observe. Who we listen to. What we watch. Which data we study.

And we also decide which people or institutions to trust.

Because life is a series of choices. Of moral and spiritual choices.

The Grand Illusion

Our society lives with the fantasy that science will lead us to a neutral and immovable reality. Or to an empirical conclusion.

To a view of reality that is absolute and true.

To a place of pure, intellectual truth.

But this is not the case.

The World That Then Was

Someone will open a file drawer in a university or a museum to look at thousands of pieces of rock and bone. And will then create a theory of the original history of those bones. Of how old those bones are. And what the favorite color of some early man was.

It may be a very clever theory. Even very compelling. It may pass the peer review of many eminent scientists. It may become a major article in National Geographic — with awesome photographs to boot.

But in the end, it is just a theory. Based on a host of assumptions about a world that no longer exists. Of a world that operated on processes incredibly different than those we see today.

Which contradicts every sacred doctrine of uniformitarianism that is followed today. Held zealously by the high priesthood of academia.

But the world is not read in that way. It is not like a book or a report that can be so easily understood. 

It may seem that way at times. But one must make a bucket-load of assumptions about the world in order to draw any conclusions. 

We have created a wide range of convenient fictions to explain the world around us. And those models serve us well; to a point. But only to a point.

Yet, so many in our modern culture have implicit faith in science. They believe that science can provide the answer to the most important questions in our lives.

Yet, the true nature of science is more philosophical. Which is why, in universities, you will often find courses on The Philosophy of Science.

Why?

Because the nature of man’s existence, the origin of man, and the origin of the universe are all mysteries that enter into the spiritual realm. Not just the physical.

Faith in Science

And yet, we keep hearing how science is going to save us from the current coronavirus pandemic.

People continually say that we can get out of this fix by following science. That scientific data, the scientific method, and a strict adherence to the scientific process will safely guide us out of this dilemma.

Well, I hope that is the case.

I hope that intelligent medical people will find a vaccine. And that they can help to bring us to a safer place. As they did with the flu and polio and tuberculosis.

But, that may not happen.

We may have to deal with this for a long time before a vaccine is found. Science may not prove to be the god substitute that so many believe it is.

The Limitations of Science

People talk about doctors and scientists as if they were gods. As if they possess some magical or divine ability to keep us alive.

They don’t.

This is not to downplay their skills and knowledge and dedication to do good for others. Not at all.

I am very thankful for the advancement of medical knowledge and for all the hard work that doctors have undertaken to achieve their degrees and skills. All of our lives are more comfortable and manageable due to the skills of doctors and the advancement of medicine.

But we must never forget the limits of knowledge, of science, and of medicine.

The Keys of Life and of Death

This world is full of mysteries that we only pretend to understand.

Man has been able to manage and hold at bay many problems in our civilized culture.

But the keys of life and of death are not controlled by the scientific establishment. No man nor institution holds that power.

Only the Lord Jesus Christ holds the power of life and death.

God has given man everything that he has. Even the knowledge to reduce pain, manage daily health, and heal disease is only by the mercy and benevolence of God.

Yet men refuse to see this. Men fail to see that each of us are only a heartbeat away from eternity.

Nothing can change this fact. Science cannot step in and keep us alive.

As the scriptures say, “none can keep alive his own soul.” (Psalm 22:29)

A Wake-Up Call

Hopefully, this current pandemic will help men see the limitations of science; and, instead, place their confidence in the Lord. Who is the ultimate solution to every mystery.

God allows these periods of disease and disaster for purposes that we may never truly understand on this side of eternity.

He sends these times as a wake-up call to the world.

To remind men that time is short. That “all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.” (I Peter 1:24)

God is moving mankind quickly toward the final days of history.

As He does this, we may see more times like the one we are in now.

Let us give thanks for all the benefits the Lord has given us through medicine and knowledge; but keep these things in perspective as we see the Final Days of this world approaching.

Image by Aleksandr Nik from Pixabay