Well, I watched it all. Once again the learn-ed and masters of the esoteric have managed entirely to miss the point.
If I wish to examine the Creation in terms of sciences, then there is a plethora of learning upon which I may draw. I can follow studies into geology, biology, botany, astronomy, particle physics, chemistry, and , for all I know, vulcanology, oceanography and the finer points of squid reproduction. All this and more will leave me better informed, though probably no wiser, and if I do well, I may even get some more letters after my name. Whoopdedoo.
But, all of these sciences get us precisely nowhere if our search is for the finer human characteristics. Science culminates with the presence on earth of a humanoid structure, concerned more or less solely with its own survival and reproduction, and obeying the rules of biology, physiology and the anatomical imperative.
Would we want to live on a planet where these creatures roamed?
It is when we search for those things beyond the physical fact of our existence, that science has nothing to offer. To be more than a basic (though wonderfully complex) biological specimen, we need stuff that does not exist in the laboratories, lecture halls, learned texts and Google. We need our conscience, our sympathy and empathy. We need our sense of right and wrong as it applies to the society we need to have. We need love, loyalty, humour, to know when to be dependable and when to accept dependence.
To find our way through this we need a version of the Creation which starts us off on this fantastic journey. And that is where Genesis and the scriptures succeed so magnificently. It is not necessary to know how a earthquake happens if we are searching for a reason not to steal. We do not find compassion in the ozone layer, or a guilty conscience in thermodynamics. The scribes of Genesis have set out for us the path. We understand by that that we will fail. But alongside that failure we are introduced to every facet of human existence, given the option to consciously sin – or not to sin. We see that the Scriptures are a mass of contradictions – all qualities are laid out together with their opposites. The scriptures, which to those of faith, are the Word of God give us the choices from which we must choose. A microscope will not help. There is nothing in science which will explain why a parent will die to save a child, give money to people in foreign lands, be a lifeboatman, or a Samaritan, or a missionary in deadly places.
I suppose what I am saying is that there are two creations. There is one that finds some value in ‘identifying’ a theoretical sub-particle. There is another which moves us forward from a basic organic system, into a whole human being – Creation witha capital ‘C’.
Well, I watched it all. Once again the learn-ed and masters of the esoteric have managed entirely to miss the point.
If I wish to examine the Creation in terms of sciences, then there is a plethora of learning upon which I may draw. I can follow studies into geology, biology, botany, astronomy, particle physics, chemistry, and , for all I know, vulcanology, oceanography and the finer points of squid reproduction. All this and more will leave me better informed, though probably no wiser, and if I do well, I may even get some more letters after my name. Whoopdedoo.
But, all of these sciences get us precisely nowhere if our search is for the finer human characteristics. Science culminates with the presence on earth of a humanoid structure, concerned more or less solely with its own survival and reproduction, and obeying the rules of biology, physiology and the anatomical imperative.
Would we want to live on a planet where these creatures roamed?
It is when we search for those things beyond the physical fact of our existence, that science has nothing to offer. To be more than a basic (though wonderfully complex) biological specimen, we need stuff that does not exist in the laboratories, lecture halls, learned texts and Google. We need our conscience, our sympathy and empathy. We need our sense of right and wrong as it applies to the society we need to have. We need love, loyalty, humour, to know when to be dependable and when to accept dependence.
To find our way through this we need a version of the Creation which starts us off on this fantastic journey. And that is where Genesis and the scriptures succeed so magnificently. It is not necessary to know how a earthquake happens if we are searching for a reason not to steal. We do not find compassion in the ozone layer, or a guilty conscience in thermodynamics. The scribes of Genesis have set out for us the path. We understand by that that we will fail. But alongside that failure we are introduced to every facet of human existence, given the option to consciously sin – or not to sin. We see that the Scriptures are a mass of contradictions – all qualities are laid out together with their opposites. The scriptures, which to those of faith, are the Word of God give us the choices from which we must choose. A microscope will not help. There is nothing in science which will explain why a parent will die to save a child, give money to people in foreign lands, be a lifeboatman, or a Samaritan, or a missionary in deadly places.
I suppose what I am saying is that there are two creations. There is one that finds some value in ‘identifying’ a theoretical sub-particle. There is another which moves us forward from a basic organic system, into a whole human being – Creation witha capital ‘C’.
Chris Baker – Durham UK