Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Only Children are Alive and Kicking

I like science.  I was raised in a family that liked science.  I studied science in college and got a degree in science.  I taught science.  But everything is not scientific.

Science studies things that are observable and reproduceable.  Science does a great job of studying the rotation of earth, or the structure of crystals, or the systems of the body, and can be used to do marvelous things when they are applied correctly, but not everything falls into this category.

I begin to whince when I see a scientific mode of thought applied to things that are utterly unscientific--such as history, or theology.  These are wonderful things to study, but they are most certainly not scientific.  When scientific thinking is applied to history you get such monstrosities as paleo-lithic man or prehistoric studies.  Call these things what they are--stories, art, inventions--but, please don't call them scientific.  There is nothing reasonable about the story of mankind.  If men's behavior made sense, then they would no longer be men!

When scientific thinking is applied to theology you get a glorification of rationalization and proof-texting.  Let religion be anything, but please don't let it be reasonable!  Religion would cease to be if it was transformed into something reasonable!  Why should I sing songs?  Why should I bow the knee when I pray?  Why should I sit still for 45 minutes and listen to a man talk early on a Sunday morning?  Why should I give to those less fortunate?  Why should I hope for something that I've never seen?  None of these questions has a rational answer, yet all of them are central to religion!  If God bowed the knee to our reason and gave up His will to conform to our standards He would no longer be God.  Thankfully, we serve an super-rational God, one that forgives sinners, one that has mercy on the wicked, one that pardons the very real transgressions that we commit.

Inevitably, our theology comes out our fingertips.  What we believe about God will influence the way that we act toward others.  If we believe in an ivory-towered God, one far above us, who enjoys sitting and rationalizing, those are the standards that we will impose upon others.  You may not ascend the high tower until you too can discriminate the intracacies of pre-lapserianism!  (Did I even spell that write)?  We will disdain those who popularize religious traditions and make them accessible to the masses--by the way, who invited them anyhow?  

If we believe in a kind God, who loves the humans that He has created, we will also love humans--every single kind.  How do children fall in love with religion; by reading the Book of Romans (as well as Calvin's commentary on it), or by re-enacting David slaying Goliath?

This insinuation that only the strong should lead gets me thinking that we're falling back to paganism.  Let me end with, yes, one more quote from Chesterton: "And all aversions to ordinary humanity have this general character.  They are not aversions to its feebleness (as is pretended), but to its energy.  The misanthropes pretend that they despise humanity for its weakness.  As a matter of fact, they hate it for its strength." (from Heretics).  Popular religion is a child-like faith, it is alive, growing, and moving.

1 comment:

Lis said...

Providence loved acting out David and Goliath when she was younger (early twos I'd say), though she would act like Goliath while sporting David's name.