I'm not so sure about some things anymore.
Since starting to study archaeology, I've been thinking a lot about science, faith and truth.
Growing up, I was a scientist to the core (and also come from a family of scientists-- my extended family includes several molecular biologists). I always wanted to be an archaeologist or biologist or vet (all-science related professions). In middle school, I was on my schools "Science Olympiad" team and won several medals in geology, botany, paleontology and astronomy events. Then, in high school after I came to Jesus and started to have Christian friends, I lost my love of it all. The church told me that science was largely wrong and inaccurate, that whatever the Bible said was true and if something contradicted it, it was wrong. Now, through my archaeology class, I'm re-thinking all of that.
One thing though-- through it all, I've stubbornly held onto my belief in an "Old Earth," and find it plausible that the earth is billions of years old.
But what is truth? and whose truth is "right?"
Over the past three or so years, I've progressively been moving away from a belief in "absolute truth;"-- that is, I no longer believe that something is true, simply because it is in the Bible. Nor do I believe that just because it is in the Bible, means it is above scrutiny.
But I haven't necessarily become relativist, either. Rather, I believe truth is universal and unchanging. That it can be tested, scrutinized, and time and time again, it will be proven true.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ and the grandiose claims Paul makes about it are true. Not simply because they are in the Bible, but because a person can walk out onto those claims, and test them. They are not an abstract, philosophical proposition, either. Rather, they are a tangible, concrete reality available to anyone who wants it. They are made manifest in their lives.
Recently, I've also thought a lot about faith. It seems that at the end of the day, all one is left with, is in what will they place their faith? Any good scientist acknowledges that science can never conclusively prove something true. They just can't. And no scientific theory is a hard, fast, cold truth ("absolute truth, if you will). It is only an explanation for something that thus far has not been disproved. The scientific method is about disproving hypotheses-- that's all it can aptly do. Since very little can be empirically proven, a scientist is left with, really, is faith in the process.
So it goes with God. He will never be empirically proven, but through the eyes of faith, his existence is "proven" to us. As I read and consider the Bible, it seems above all else, he desires faith. Faith in his existence and revelation in Jesus, faith in his character and promises. I dare to believe that someone who honestly desires him but doesn't always act in accordance with his commands is found more highly than someone who acts in accordance with his commands, because "it is the right thing to do." The differentiation is subtle, but is the difference between true religion/spirituality and hollow religiosity.
And so, I have faith. Through faith, I believe that science isn't as off the mark as many Christians would have one think; though faith I also believe the accounts in the Bible are true (not because it is simply "the Bible"), but because I feel the touch of God when I read it and know it is true. And the most scandalous thing of all: I have faith that the two are not irreconcilable.
Since starting to study archaeology, I've been thinking a lot about science, faith and truth.
Growing up, I was a scientist to the core (and also come from a family of scientists-- my extended family includes several molecular biologists). I always wanted to be an archaeologist or biologist or vet (all-science related professions). In middle school, I was on my schools "Science Olympiad" team and won several medals in geology, botany, paleontology and astronomy events. Then, in high school after I came to Jesus and started to have Christian friends, I lost my love of it all. The church told me that science was largely wrong and inaccurate, that whatever the Bible said was true and if something contradicted it, it was wrong. Now, through my archaeology class, I'm re-thinking all of that.
One thing though-- through it all, I've stubbornly held onto my belief in an "Old Earth," and find it plausible that the earth is billions of years old.
But what is truth? and whose truth is "right?"
Over the past three or so years, I've progressively been moving away from a belief in "absolute truth;"-- that is, I no longer believe that something is true, simply because it is in the Bible. Nor do I believe that just because it is in the Bible, means it is above scrutiny.
But I haven't necessarily become relativist, either. Rather, I believe truth is universal and unchanging. That it can be tested, scrutinized, and time and time again, it will be proven true.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ and the grandiose claims Paul makes about it are true. Not simply because they are in the Bible, but because a person can walk out onto those claims, and test them. They are not an abstract, philosophical proposition, either. Rather, they are a tangible, concrete reality available to anyone who wants it. They are made manifest in their lives.
Recently, I've also thought a lot about faith. It seems that at the end of the day, all one is left with, is in what will they place their faith? Any good scientist acknowledges that science can never conclusively prove something true. They just can't. And no scientific theory is a hard, fast, cold truth ("absolute truth, if you will). It is only an explanation for something that thus far has not been disproved. The scientific method is about disproving hypotheses-- that's all it can aptly do. Since very little can be empirically proven, a scientist is left with, really, is faith in the process.
So it goes with God. He will never be empirically proven, but through the eyes of faith, his existence is "proven" to us. As I read and consider the Bible, it seems above all else, he desires faith. Faith in his existence and revelation in Jesus, faith in his character and promises. I dare to believe that someone who honestly desires him but doesn't always act in accordance with his commands is found more highly than someone who acts in accordance with his commands, because "it is the right thing to do." The differentiation is subtle, but is the difference between true religion/spirituality and hollow religiosity.
And so, I have faith. Through faith, I believe that science isn't as off the mark as many Christians would have one think; though faith I also believe the accounts in the Bible are true (not because it is simply "the Bible"), but because I feel the touch of God when I read it and know it is true. And the most scandalous thing of all: I have faith that the two are not irreconcilable.
