Lakeside
United Methodist Church
The Endless Search for the Origins of Life One of my colleagues just spent four weeks preaching about science and religion. One observer told me he was perplexed at the end of each message. At one of the services, the preacher said he believed in “ghosts”. The observer said that was it, now he was really confused. I admire my friend for preaching about such a “heavy” topic. However, it is something that I would prefer to write about for the time being. Perhaps, a sermon may come later. I began to write about this subject in 1993, but haven’t touched it for the last 16 years. Anyhow, the following is my attempt to re-visit my old notes and address the fundamental question about the origins of life. An area of research that has always fascinated me is the quest to discover the origins of humanity and the universe. I firmly believe in the Christian doctrine of creation rooted in the Genesis stories. I feel the Biblical creation stories are statements about God and in particular God’s relationship with the world. These accounts answer the fundamental question of “why” God created the universe. Although the world in which we live seems to be chaotic on the surface, (i.e. wars, economic woes, natural disasters, etc), it is ordered and reliable, because it is God’s world. God saw all that He had made and it was very good (Genesis1:31). Yet, I feel it takes a high degree of faith in God to confirm the goodness of creation, especially when the world seems so mysterious and threatening and painful. I think that creation is still going on. God’s not finished creating the universe. Scientists say that the universe is expanding and for something as vast as the universe to be growing in size suggests to me that God is not static but alive and working. The Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is active; “unless a man is born of water and the Spirit” John 3:5, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit” Acts 2:4, “You are controlled by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you” Romans 8:9. There are several passages which speak of the activity of the Spirit. Hence, God is actively involved in the expanding universe. God’s creating work is a process. I don’t think it is ever wise to conclude that God’s time for creating new life has expired. A lot of questions come up when the quest for our origins develop into theories. The theory of evolution which puts into question the unique character and dignity of humanity is troublesome. I do not think we evolved directly from apes. Yet, I do think there was a process of gradual development for our Homo sapiens species. Artifacts found seem to suggest conclusively a process of growth and development for Homo sapiens. The fact that Homo sapiens evolved through many million years does not detract from our present uniqueness. Again, the biblical stories do not necessarily address the question of “how” the universe was created, but “why” it was created. Science tells us how; faith tells us why. Scientists are discovering new things all the time and that‘s what God intends for them to do. Their role just like yours and mine is to improve life upon earth. But when some scientists say pompously, there is no God, she or he has stepped out from science and has entered the arena of faith. In fact, I can say to you that there is nothing science can discover that ought to shake our faith. Science deals with how; faith deals with why. When the writer of genesis wrote about the creation of the world and said that it occurred in six days, and God rested on the seventh, he wasn’t giving a historical chronology. If you want to know how long it took ask a scientist. The writer of Genesis was writing about spiritual truths. One was, of course, that God created everything that is. “God spoke and there was light.” The second is the importance of Sabbath. God worked six days and rested on the seventh and so ought God’s people. If we try to make the Bible into something it is not, we make the faith look foolish. Back in the 1600s most people believed, quite naturally, that the sun revolved around the earth. The sun rises and the sun sets, so naturally it must revolve around the earth. Then came a man named Galileo who said it was not so. Well, religious people were furious! After all Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10 and Chronicles 16:30 all include text stating that “the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.” In the same tradition, Psalm 104:5 says, “the Lord set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.” Further, Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that “the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.” Galileo claimed that it was never his intent to dispute the Bible. In fact, he said this was not contrary to those Scripture passages. He took Augustine’s position on Scripture: that we should not take every passage literally, particularly when the Scripture in question is a book of poetry and songs, not a book of instructions or history. Don’t compare apples and oranges. There is historical truth and there is spiritual truth. There are parts of the Bible that are poetry, parts that are parable. These are intertwined with historical narrative. It’s difficult even for scholars to separate the two. Science tells how; faith tells why. I feel our God is a creative genius beyond comparison. The possibilities of God are always endless. One of my Professors in college once told me, “Ken, the Big-Bang theory was triggered by some force.” I have faith that the powerful force was God. The question of “how” the universe was formed and the origins of humanity will only be something for humans to speculate about. And because we are curious creatures speculation is an important process. The key question of “why” is answered in the Bible. Why God created is because God wants to have a relationship with creation. In particular, God desires an intimate relationship with humanity, but not to the exclusion of every other living organism. God loves the whole world; everything God created was called good. Maybe the best way to summarize everything I just wrote can be found in the words of the old hymn:”This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; His hand the wonders wrought” Blessings, Pastor Ken 
