Thursday, December 14, 2006
Who Examines Whom?
As usual, when you want the best final word on something, you wait for Joe Carter to chime in. Joe's take on Bart Campolo's recent article is no exception. (Sadly but rightfully, Youth Specialties has pulled the piece - cached version here) Nonetheless, Campolo's piece while extreme, is but a single example of a problem that Joe describes very well.
Though the concept was long ago left behind for most who do science, science was intended to come to know something of the Creator, by coming to understand His creation. Yet, the single most important lesson of science for any serious student is "The more we figure out, the more we know what we don't know." For all the vast knowledge of creation we have gained, there is so much more to know. The answers we get simply raise more questions. We used to think we had found the fundamental things of creation when we found the structure of the atom, but now we know bosons (e.g. protons and neutrons) are made of even smaller things called quarks, and we are not entirely sure they are the fundamental building blocks anyway. And all these things exist in a "quantum world" where distinction between matter and energy breaks down to a point that we do not really understand it, we just manipulate it. We occassionally find animals we thought millenia extinct. No sooner do we decide the planet is cooling, than we think we find it is warming. Science pushes at the boundaries of knowledge, always and only to find that the extent of knowledge is an ever increasing distance from its boundaries. If such is true of creation, what can be said of the Creator?
It is hubris to try and understand God. But it is blessing for Him to reveal Himself to us. Yet even when we receive such blessed revelation, we must take care to know that it is but partial revelation, for the extent of God exceeds not just the boundaries of our knowledge, but the extent of our possible comprehension.
We cannot put God to the test, for we cannot comprehend His limits, if indeed He is limited in any fashion. And yet God tests us daily, testing not the limits of our knowledge, but the purity of our souls - a purity found only when we start by admitting our limitations.
Related Tags: hubris, knowledge, limitations, confession
Hubris and heresy from someone named Campolo probably shouldn't be that surprising. But it is an extreme example of an all too common problem, even among non-heretics: failing to recognize the holiness of God.John Mark Reynolds is fond of pointing out that as Christians we are monarchists. Says Joe:
Contra Campolo, God is indeed completely good, entirely loving, and perfectly forgiving. But He is also holy - pure, wholly perfect, transcendent. Holiness demands that we tremble in God's presence; instead, we rebel. Justice demands that we we pay for our impunity; instead, we are allowed to continue living.
The question that we should be asking is not, as Campolo claims, "God is a cruel bastard. How can we trust him?" but rather, "God is a Holy Sovereign. How can he tolerate my rebellion?"[emphasis mine]I don't want to go all anti-intellectual here, but "hubris" is an excellent word when it comes to us trying to examine God and come to understand Him. Forget the judgement part for a minute, and let's just talk about comprehendability.
Though the concept was long ago left behind for most who do science, science was intended to come to know something of the Creator, by coming to understand His creation. Yet, the single most important lesson of science for any serious student is "The more we figure out, the more we know what we don't know." For all the vast knowledge of creation we have gained, there is so much more to know. The answers we get simply raise more questions. We used to think we had found the fundamental things of creation when we found the structure of the atom, but now we know bosons (e.g. protons and neutrons) are made of even smaller things called quarks, and we are not entirely sure they are the fundamental building blocks anyway. And all these things exist in a "quantum world" where distinction between matter and energy breaks down to a point that we do not really understand it, we just manipulate it. We occassionally find animals we thought millenia extinct. No sooner do we decide the planet is cooling, than we think we find it is warming. Science pushes at the boundaries of knowledge, always and only to find that the extent of knowledge is an ever increasing distance from its boundaries. If such is true of creation, what can be said of the Creator?
It is hubris to try and understand God. But it is blessing for Him to reveal Himself to us. Yet even when we receive such blessed revelation, we must take care to know that it is but partial revelation, for the extent of God exceeds not just the boundaries of our knowledge, but the extent of our possible comprehension.
We cannot put God to the test, for we cannot comprehend His limits, if indeed He is limited in any fashion. And yet God tests us daily, testing not the limits of our knowledge, but the purity of our souls - a purity found only when we start by admitting our limitations.
Related Tags: hubris, knowledge, limitations, confession
