I Only Know Why
by Larry Wilson
In George R. Hunsberger’s list of the attributes of modernity, the first is, “Only scientific or factual knowledge is real.” I giggle when I think about the arrogance and absurdity of modernity. The great scientist, Albert Einstein, said that the only constant in the universe is the speed of light. Years later Stephen Hawking said that light cannot escape the gravity of a black hole, therefore, Einstein is wrong, and there are no constants in the universe. Science is always changing and evolving. Food science is the most amusing of all; we don’t have any idea what to eat and drink. A few years ago my wife read an article that stated that coffee would destroy one’s health. She began getting up early in the morning to make my coffee which began to taste a little different; she was mixing a little decaf with my regular coffee, and every day she’d add a little more decaf until in about a week I said, “This coffee is terrible and my head is killing me!” I read with great joy last week that coffee has more antioxidants (protection from cancer) than any food in our diet. As I am writing this article, I am finishing my eleventh cup of that wonderful “elixir of good health.” I have heard all my life that vegetable shorting is a healthier choice than lard rendered from animal fat, but just a month ago I read a wonderful article in the New York Times, “High on the Hog” by Corby Kummer, which argued that lard was at least as healthy a food as Crisco! I know that the people who pay the bill for food science often influence the results, but I really don’t want to hear that Starbucks and the Pork Association paid for these scientific findings – I want to enjoy my bacon biscuit and coffee!
I do not want to dismiss science – it does wonderful things. Many of us would have departed this world long ago if it had not been for the wonders of science. I wish to say that it is a useful tool but a poor god. As long as I can remember there have been arguments between the scientific and religious communities. These arguments have sometimes made religious people look foolish when they reduce the Bible, a theology text, to a science book. Science and theology seek to answer different questions about our existence. Science seeks to answer the “how” of our existence and theology seeks to answer “why” we are here. Those who argue that the Bible answers the “how” of creation don’t know much about science. If God were to give us the “how” of creation, the book would be too large for the earth and not a one of us could read it. We live in a galaxy of billions of stars in a universe made up of billions of galaxies. If a person lives on the equator, he is traveling a thousand miles an hour as the world rotates on it axis, and at the same time traveling 18.5 miles per second as the world revolves around the sun. No one, not even Einstein’s theory of relativity, can explain to me how God keeps us from getting thrown off the planet. If you add into the equation the speed at which the sun is moving in the galaxy, and the fact that all objects in space are moving at enormous speeds away from a supposed center, my head begins to ache, and I am glad that God has worked it all out before asking me to comprehend it.
However, I do know why we are here; that is a question the Bible can help me answer. The earth is here because God wills it to be. The Bible says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ So God created humankindin his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1: 26-27 NRSVA) We are created to be like God, to have dominion, to manage the earth.
We are created to have relationship with God and each other. The great commandment in Deuteronomy 6:4–5 reads, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” When Jesus is asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” He quotes this passage and adds, “And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt. 22:39–40 NRSVA)
The Bible reveals a God who is always striving to keep us in proper relationship with Him and with each other. He gives us prophets like Amos who call us to the work of justice; “… let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24 NRSVA) Then finally God gives the world His love in Jesus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16 – 17NRSVA) Jesus says in the judgment scene after the righteous and unrighteous are separated, “Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:34-40 NRSVA) We are here to be loved by God, to love God, and to see Him in the little ones and love Him there.
I don’t know how God set the world in motion and keeps it all going or how everything was put together for life to begin; I am sure scientists do a better job with this than I ever could. I do know if we answer all the “how” questions of the universe and forget why we are here… to love God, be loved by Him, and love others… our answers will have little meaning at all.
