Since the Hubble telescope was refurbished by the crew of the Space Shuttle mission STS-125 last May, new and even more astounding photos of deep space have come back to astronomers on earth. Its 19-year orbital life has provided scientists with unprecedented views of the universe, offering clues as to its beginning an estimated 13.7 billions years ago. The photos of distant and unimagined galaxies are mind-boggling to those of us whose typical view of the universe is pretty well limited to the every-day world of commuting to work and watching the news on TV.
In yesterday's edition of "Parade" magazine there was an interview with Dan Brown, author of The DaVinci Code and other books. He noted that though he was raised in the Episcopal Church, as an adolescent he began to encounter the world of science, and astronomy in particular, which raised questions for him about the Bible's accounts of creation. When he sought answers from the parish priest, he was told (unfortunately) that he shouldn't ask such questions. Brown says that from that moment, something closed for him in terms of the spiritual dimension of life. He did go on in the article to say that as he has grown older, he now sees that physics tends to lead to metaphysics, and so the reader has the impression that Brown has come to some sort of faith perspective. But as I read the article, I couldn't help feeling sad that this minister from his youth (no doubt well-meaning) could not have responded more helpfully.
Are there any "un-askable" questions when it comes to matters of faith? I don't think so. It seems to me, that one of the challenges of being a disciple in the 21st century is to be able to help people come to an awareness of the truth of the gospel while taking seriously the learnings of modern science. They are not antithetical, as some appear to believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment