Scientific Ability and God

 As I sit here today with the chickens, mulling over guitar god Eddie Van Halen, and reading various bits of his life, his story is encouraging me to ponder the church's reaction to science and the pandemic. Eddie Van Halen was known for his guitar, but he was a man who always quested for the right tool for a particular song. For him, the point was the music, so he was remarkably humble about what tools he chose. And those tools were diverse and intricate, with a much wider range than just guitars.

Thinking of his tools makes me wonder whether the church as a whole truly appreciates the tools that God has given it during the pandemic. Of course churchgoers appreciate the theological tools, the men and women who provide well thought out papers arguing a particular theological point. Theology is hugely important for us as Christians. It gives us a basis for how we act, a basis for what becomes layered in our hearts.

But what of the science? This is, after all, a viral pandemic, which comes under the realm of the scientific tools. Theology is not thrown out the window of course, but have some churches begun throwing out the god-given tool of science? 

The Bible speaks of a church that is one body with many parts. And it also states that all of those parts are important, integral to the correct functioning of the body. So how is your church using the tool of science in a biological dilemma? Do you have scientists in your congregation? Doctors? Pediatricians? Dentists, orthodontist? Have the elders and teachers of the church approached these members with a view of using the parts of the body that are most relevant during this time period? 

Do you know that in its most basic sense, science is the exploration of the wonder of God's creation? Did you know that part of the study involves changing points of views as our knowledge changes? Certain theological truths do not vary. A few of the non-essential truths can be argued to vary, based on interpretation, but almost every point in science ends up being called a theory, rather than a fact. Certain bits are held to be factual. Because of course we don't expect to be floating around tomorrow, having proved the theory of gravity to be incorrect, but anything new, anything unexplored, should come along with the supposition that views will change regularly for quite a while until the phenomenon is better understood. 

And those of you who are churchgoers and have a scientific background... Are you going to your church leaders to offer your assistance? Because that is our duty as members of the Christian body. Their duty is to seek us out, ours is to meet them there. If your church has sought science for an opinion, who have they sought that from? What is the background of that person? Did they graduate from a well-known accredited university, or did they obtain their degrees elsewhere? Are they well thought of and respected by their peers? Because God expects us to use our minds, and in this situation it seems that we should not only seek scientific expertise, we should in some way understand why that expertise is valuable. A simple degree does not mean that someone is a good scientist, an effective doctor, or that they are knowledgeable enough to have the respect of their peers.

If your church believe that the opinions of their teachers are enough, without seeking secondary opinions from knowledgeable experts, what does your church believe about the body of God and the talents given by God? Are certain parts valuable and others dispensable? Or a scientific ability not a gift from God, but an abhorrent trick of Satan? Because it must be one or the other. So we should be seeking it or denouncing it.

Theological knowledge balanced with scientific expertise seems to me to be very biblical. Do you agree? Or do you disagree? If you agree, is your church actively seeking to base its practices relative to the pandemic upon recommendations from knowledgeable and peer respected scientists, scientists that are specifically trained in fields that are relevant to a pandemic? Because there are scientists who are bona fide and good scientists, but are in a field that is not useful for the coronavirus. 

It seems to me that the church is fighting a mighty big battle right now. I'm not sure the battle is actually the one that many churches believe they are fighting, but it is there nonetheless. I believe that many people believe their church is fighting a battle that consists of suppression of personal rights and persecution of the ability to physically attend church. But I believe there is a much more fundamental, sustained, and nefarious spiritual battle going on, one where people are seeking their will over God's will. It goes right back to the original temptation in the garden. A battle where Satan is easily speaking into the desires of God's people, so that they can justify purposeful ignorance and at the same time turn their minds away from compassion and inward towards their own wishes. That is one humdinger of a statement. But the truth is there are two kingdoms, two directions, and only two. We are fighting with God or against him, and it is very simple, very easy, to be blinded by what we wish was true.

So have I jumped into a theological wormhole? Has the pandemic turned my theology into a slippery path away from heaven? Or do we value the body of Christ, the talents given by him for us to use?