The famous warning of Dean Inge that “when the church marries the spirit of the age, she finds herself a widow in the next” is particularly relevant when trying to relate one’s faith to science, which is not only always progressing, but often undergoes paradigm shifts that themselves give birth to whole new worldviews. As I gear up to teach a course on religion and science again, I am mindful that by the time the course is over, some givens of physics may have been overturned, some unexplained mysteries may have been explained, and some speculative future technological and ethical issues may be present realities that confront us in the here and now. It is with this in mind that I share the following three articles with you:
Thirteen Things That Do Not Make Sense
Is This Man Cheating On His Wife?
The problem is not in relating faith to the worldview one lives in. One does so whether one admits it or not, and doing it knowingly is far less dangerous. The danger is only when one thinks one has come up with the definitive view of God, the definitive theological arguments, and so on. That, once again, is bordering on the idolatrous. I think it was Nietzsche who pointed out that while the philosopher (substitute any systematic thinker) is impressed with the edifice he constructs, those who come after him are fortunate if they find among the rubble of his system a stone or two that is of lasting use. Humility, as in everything, is the key.
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