The Biblical account of creation was accepted - almost without question - until the seekers of scientific knowledge began digging up fossils and “counting” the age of the natural world. Those in charge of truth were so certain the words recorded in Genesis clearly and definitively described God’s work they fiercely persecuted those who sought to discover the mysteries of the Earth and Stars. The first scientists coming under the wrath of The Catholic Church were those who looked to the stars in their quest to understand creation. The discoveries these astronomers made threatened the very fabric of Church teaching and the approved dogma pertaining to the Earth’s preeminence in God’s creation.
However, Truth is often misunderstood by the mind of man – often by those entrusted with its holy protection. Ignorance is not the sole possession of Sinful Man. Jesus recognized the ability of mankind to confuse the truth. Whenever He spoke - to those who did listen to what He wanted them to understand, so there would be no doubt - Jesus would always preface it by saying, “I tell you the truth”.
Truth is the fine thread that holds God’s creation together. God so wants mankind to discover His truth that He reveals Himself throughout creation. King David recognized this when he wrote,
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: PS 8:3 – 6
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. PS 19:1
He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. PS 147:4
That God reveals Himself through His creation was affirmed by St. Paul when he wrote to the church in Rome:
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20
That which Astronomers discovered in the past, and continue to discover to this day, is that in the heavens the existence of God is undeniably present. Though, to maintain their scientific purity, many use the term “intelligent design” to refer to the origin of the mysteries for which they cannot find a natural cause. The deeper and further they search the more they reach a point at which they cannot explain “how” what they see came about. Through quantum theory they have found the “thread” and can describe the fabric but are unable to explain the “weaver” responsible for what they find.
Scientists have split the Atom revealing its components, both visible and invisible. Astronomers see the furthest reaches of the Universe revealing its substance and form even to its earliest moments, both visible and invisible. In so doing many keep bumping into God while denying his existence and authority.
While some in the astronomical sciences are willing to admit “there seems to be an intelligent designer”, at work in creation, those in the natural sciences refuse to admit they have been duped by fossils – which produce inaccurate descriptions and require wild guesses – thus becoming fools, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’.” (Psalm 14:1)
I must also point a finger at those who promote the concept of Creation Science. Simply said – Creation requires faith while Science requires empirical evidence. Science by its very nature will only accept something as true if the researchers can “do it” over and over again - experiments and theories must produce repeatable results. Creation demands the acceptance of an “unseen” Creator as the source for what exists both invisible and visible. To do so requires Faith.
Unless one has been living in a cave, in a remote isolated location, or lives life like the proverbial Ostrich with its head in the sand, it must be acknowledged that the natural science practitioners have “created” life and its component parts in laboratories all over the world – to include the act of cloning living beings. That mankind is by nature creative goes without saying - this creativity is a gift of God; poetry, music and the visual arts are examples of this creativity finding expression.
The science of Genetics has allowed mankind to explore and master many of the life forces and thus achieve a form of godhood – the results have been both good and bad. But this is no surprise to God as He intended for mankind to posses such abilities though His plan was that the results would always be good and not evil.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." GE 1:26
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. GE 1:27
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created...
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens-- and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground-- the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. GE 2:4 - 7
The Bible clearly states:
Many will go here and there to increase knowledge. Daniel 12:4
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12
We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up,… 1 Corin 8:1
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1: 3 & 4
I recognize the reference to John 14:12 may not be the popular view of its application – that only those who are Christians are allowed to do these “greater things”. It is, however, important for you to recognize Jesus was talking to the Jews and that Jesus said He was God. Also, when this verse is usually used in the Christian realm, the assumption is that Jesus was only referring to healings, casting out demons and so forth; but Jesus said “greater things than these”. In view of the explosion of knowledge during the Renaissance, wherein mankind began seriously searching for Truth using scientific methods, to the quantum leap in miraculous “things” over the last 100 years it is safe to say that mankind is indeed doing greater things – almost godlike things. As in the Garden of Eden mankind has misused this power and knowledge. Yet the wonders that have brought good far outweigh the horrors of those that have brought evil.
I won’t go into the many facets of the advances in medical science in conclusion of this paper. I will however focus on one aspect causing serious controversy, mankind’s use of the secrets of life found in embryonic stem cells. In May 2003 a reporter wrote, in the Washington Post newspaper,
“Scientists… have discovered a long sought ‘master gene’ in embryonic stem cells that’s largely responsible for giving those cells their unique regenerative and therapeutic potential. … The discovery of the gene brings scientists closer to a Holy Grail of biology; the ability to turn ordinary cells into those that possess all the biomedical potency of human embryonic stem cells, eliminating the need to destroy embryos to get them” (all bold emphasis are mine). “But experts said the work… is already shedding light on the capacity of embryonic stem cells to retain their youthful potential to become any kind of cell the body might need, a phenomenon known as ‘pluripotency.” … “All genes are stretches of DNA code that directs cells to make proteins” (note: proteins are the building blocks of life) “This particular gene, the researchers found, belonged to a class of genes whose proteins attach themselves to specific regions of a cell’s DNA strand. In doing so, the proteins turn ‘on’ and ‘off’ other genes in that stretch of DNA, affecting the production of other proteins that affect the activity of other genes. As a result (this) regulator can almost single-handedly control the activity of a whole collection of genes. … “’As we know more and more about pluripotency, it probably will be possible to reprogram cells to make stem cells out of any cell in the body’ said James Thomson, the University of Wisconsin scientist who first isolated human embryonic stem cells in 1998.” (Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press, May 30, 2003 from the Washington Post by reporter: Rick Weiss).
That the reporter chose to use the phrase “Holy Grail of biology” and that the editors of the Washington Post did not remove it from the article is seemingly indicative of the problem mankind faces when trying to explain what science discovers. Despite attempts by many scientists to discount the existence of a creator, when describing their findings, the “Holy” factor keeps popping into the picture. The deeper mankind digs into the mysteries of life the closer he or she comes to a face-to-face with God.
Mankind, through scientific exploration, has looked into the smallest and largest of God’s creative efforts. From the smallest parts of the atom to the “big picture” of astrophysics and astrobiology God is revealing Himself to those who search for Truth. From the unseen to the seen His handiwork shouts, “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” ISA 45:22 and, “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” ISA 46:9. King David said, “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.” PS 43:3. It is God’s intent that men and women of science, through their research, find Him and salvation. Here's a quote from the March 2007 National Geographic, page 95, from Stan Woosley, an Astronomer at The University of California at Santa Cruz, Stars it seems really do go kaboom. Woosley, still in love with pyrotechnics, is delighted. It's like God built the universe just for me" said Woosley. To them I say, “Keep on looking, He is not far from you!”
Scripture quotations from the New International Version (NIV) Bible
