Month: May 2021

All Hail King Science?

Among the “hit” praise songs of the 1970s was a rousing, triumphant number titled, All Hail King Jesus. Written by Dave Moody, the song extolled Jesus Christ and lifted him up as the sovereign, eternal King and Lord of all (which of course, he is!). The verse goes like this:

All hail King Jesus!
All hail Emmanuel!
King of Kings,
Lord of Lords,
Bright Morning Star!
And throughout eternity
I’ll sing Your praises.
And forevermore, I will reign with You.*
It’s been a while since I heard it sung in a worship service, but I’m afraid that if the words were updated for the 2020s, the lyrics would go like this:
All hail King Science!
And my physics manual!
You know all things,
Nobel awards,
Reaching the stars!
So throughout my short life here
I’ll sing your praises.
And for all good things, I will turn to you!
Why would I be so cynical as to think (and write) this version of the song? Maybe it’s because our society has come to look upon science as the sole repository of knowledge and arbiter of truth. As the saying goes, “Follow the science!” Unfortunately, although science is a worthy pursuit that has yielded many modern benefits, people have come to believe certain myths about science and its role in life. For example:
Myth #1: Science is neutral and objective. This is a basic fallacy which has allowed educators and government boards to push atheistic teachings and policies in our schools and colleges. The idea is that religion is subjective and divisive while science is objective and unifying. Facts are facts, and if we just follow the science, we will be properly educated. But this idea is false for several reasons:
     1. Science is based on certain presuppositions which are anything but
         neutral, such as an anti-supernatural bias.
     2. There is no neutral science or technology. Take, for example, nuclear
         science and technology. Whether used for good (energy production) or             bad (atomic bombs), it requires disposal of radioactive waste.
     3. Scientists are just people, flawed and sinful like the rest of us. They                   have biases, “blind spots,” and expectations which affect their work,
         and especially, the interpretation of their findings. There are many
         stories about falsified reports, data doctored to fit hypotheses, and
        what we call “dry-labs” (i.e., faked data). One such invention was the
        so-called “brontosaurus” skeleton in New York’s Natural History
        museum, put together from two different fossil locations, and since
        discredited. Or Piltdown Man, a contrived skeleton once declared to be
        the missing link in human “evolution,” but later discovered to be a
        complete fraud.
     4. Money drives research, and too often, the results of that research.
        Lucrative government and foundation grants require favorable data
       outcomes, proving what the grant was given to prove.
     5.  Politicians pick and choose the data that support them and their
       plans, while ignoring or discrediting contrary evidences.
Myth #2: Science is settled. Ironically, though politicians and government spokespeople tout the idea that “the science is settled,” on various issues, scientists know that true science is never settled. Knowledge is always changing as new data come to the fore, and what was “known” at one time is shown to be wrong or needing some correction shortly afterwards. True scientists hold a theory, base on the evidence, until counter evidence accumulates and forces them to change their operating theory (It’s called a “paradigm shift”).
Consider these former gems of “scientific knowledge”:
  • Phrenology, which measured the bumps on a person’s skull to determine that person’s intelligence and character;
  • Racial evolution, which classified the various races based on how far they had evolved from apes (guess which race the proponents of this theory considered themselves!);
  • Alchemy, which sought to turn lead into gold;
  • Blood-letting, done to “let out the bad blood” and balance the body’s humors (remember, we consist of four humors: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood);
  • Nebraska Man, touted as the “missing link” in human evolution, only to be later identified as a pig’s tooth;
  • And speaking of teeth, when did dentists start telling us to brush sideways, instead of up and down? If only I’d known, I would still have all my teeth!
Accepted theories change, which is why scientists speak mostly in terms of probabilities, rather than certainties, and why just about any public health issue has contradictory documents, each signed by “thousands of scientists” who disagree with each other. Not only can you find people in lab coats on TV, hawking various products as “scientifically proven,” wait a couple weeks and you’ll see other lab-coated people telling you the opposite.
The changing nature of scientific inquiry is part of the process of learning about God’s creation; new data requires new understanding. It is never settled. But contrast this with God’s Word, which is settled; Isaiah 40:8 proclaims, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” God’s words and promises are unchanging, because he is unchanging: Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,” and James 1:17 praises God as “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Myth #3: Science can answer all questions about life. While science has expanded our knowledge about the natural world, from microscopic life down to atomic particles on the one hand, to far-flung galaxies and nebulae on the other, there are limits to the questions it can answer. It cannot know the soul, morality, sin, righteousness, or spiritual rebirth. It cannot know the past (though it tries to explain what it cannot observe or measure); nor can it know the future (how many times should the world have ended by now, according to scientists’ dire predictions?). Science cannot tell us what should be. Science cannot know God or our place in his eternal plans. It cannot know what had to be revealed to us by God himself.
Scientists should heed God’s words to Job when that man questioned God’s purposes: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding” (Job 38:4). In fact, the entire chapters 38-41 of Job contain a rebuke of how mankind cannot know the works of God. God challenges Job (and with him, all of us), saying, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2). 
Even where science has gathered knowledge, it cannot teach us wisdom; that comes from God and his Word. As Psalm 111:10 proclaims, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Myth #4: Science has given us all good things. Scientific research and technology have produced may wonderful benefits, especially in the fields of medicine and electronics. I have personally benefited in both areas, as my cataract surgery allows me to read this page clearly, while I listen to my cassette tape player.  (Isn’t technology great? What will they think of next?)
But, this myth is wrong for two reasons:
     1. Science has been a mixed blessing. It has caused great suffering along
        with benefits. Advanced weapons of war, poison gas, bacterial agents,
        and toxic pollution are some of the problems brought by scientific
        advances. But wait, you might say, don’t we have science to thank for
        coming up with vaccines to fight Covid-19? Yes, which is great, but we
        also can thank science for inventing the virus in the first place.
     2. All good things actually come from God. James 1:17 says, “Every good
        gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
        of lights.” Luther taught that to keep the First Commandment and have
        no other gods, we must recognize and attribute all good things to God.
       To look to science as the supplier of all good things is to make a god out
       of it, and worship the creation instead of the Creator (Romans 1:25).
Please don’t get me wrong; I think science is awesome. My favorite subjects are herpetology (I used to keep and raise frogs) and mineralogy (hence my rock collection). A friend gave me a beautiful hard-bound book of space photos taken by the Hubble orbiting telescope. Wow! I can hardly wrap my head around all that has now been seen in the universe! I love how Psalm 8 praises God for this: “When I look at 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, and the son of man that you care for him?”

I see no conflict between my faith and true science because science can only find what God has created: the energy, the matter, the chemical and life processes, the earth, sky and heavens, and so on. As they used to say, scientists “are thinking God’s thoughts after him.” In those days, theology was considered the “queen of the sciences.” Unfortunately, that attitude has disappeared. Now, too many people use science’s discoveries to deny God and the honor he is due. They take the data which research uncovers and squeeze it into preconceived notions about reality. Their research may be very precise and accurate, but their conclusion can be way off, because they deny anything supernatural, and teach that only what can be experienced through our senses and manipulated by our rational minds can be true. Their religion is naturalism, and their answer for everything is evolution.

So, do we sing, “All Hail King Science”? I think not! Let’s put the glory where it belongs, on Jesus, the true King of kings and Lord of lords! All hail King Jesus, now and forever more!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Psalm 8; Colossians 1:15-20; Daniel 12:4; Job 40-41

* (c) 1979 by Glory Alleluia Music

Under the Mask

You’re probably familiar with the common symbol for live theater, namely a set of two masks, one smiling and one frowning, which represent the two traditional kinds of plays: comedy and tragedy.

A certain non-artist I know personally might depict the faces like this:

This symbolism actually goes back a long way to the theaters of the ancient Greeks, where the actors wore large masks to play their characters. It was a good way for the audience to identify the identities and natures of the characters, and allowed one actor to play multiple parts as needed. It worked well in the large amphitheaters of the day – and besides, as an actor, you wouldn’t need make-up!

Since the actors spoke their lines while under their masks, the Greek word for actor became hypokrites, literally, one who speaks or interprets from underneath. From that usage we get the word, “hypocrite,” referring to one who portrays a false image while acting differently. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a hypocrite is “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.” They are speaking from “under the mask” that they wear publicly. In churchy terms, “they don’t practice what they preach.”

This idea of speaking “under the mask” came to mind the other day as I ran several errands, each of which required that I slip on my face mask before entering the various stores. I think it was when I went into my bank and wondered whether the tellers would recognize me – or call the police on the unknown “masked man” coming to their window. Fortunately, I was making a deposit, so I think their guard was down. Making a withdrawal might have sparked a different response . . .

Yes, I thought about how we are all “under the mask” and have been so now for over a year. I thought about how the mask mandates have affected our society beyond the nuisance factor (how many times have I been halfway to a store entrance, only to realize I had forgotten my mask in the car – and had to go back and get it!). To what extent has it distanced us socially and emotionally from each other? From friends, or from people we should have gotten to know? And what about people we do business with – or worship with? And has it been an impetus to crime for some people, as is visible in riots where those who act violently cover their faces to hide their identities?

How differently do we act now from when we wore no masks?

But even in the “olden days” when we only wore face coverings when playing as a baseball catcher, a hockey goalie, or a bank robber, we sometimes wore a different kind of mask: facial expressions and demeanors that hid our true feelings and thoughts from others. We would smile and say we’re fine even though we hurt or were sad. We “kept a stiff upper lip” and did our best not to “let them see you sweat.”* We hid our grief so as not to seem weak, and our tears were those “of a clown when no one’s around.”** And how many times have we smiled at someone when we just didn’t feel like it?

And then there’s the real, hypocritical type of image, when we actively try to deceive others by portraying a false face that we think will win their favor or approval. Some prime examples of this are the politicians who spout the right things to get elected, but then don’t follow through on their promises; televangelists who portray themselves as godly, righteous servants, but behind the scenes are active in financial and sexual scandals; or the young man who promises his date that he “will respect her in the morning.”

The Bible warns us about such frauds when it comes to our faith. “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

But what about the rest of us? How often do we adopt certain looks or postures, or say certain things, that are contrary to what we really mean or intend, just to gain some advantage in a relationship or public persona? For those who are active in social media (bloggers excluded), are your profile photos and posts real? Or are you texting and posting “under the mask” in order to appear more attractive or competent than you feel?

And what about our participation in church? Are we fully honest in what we say and how we act, or are we putting on a show to look more holy and righteous than we really are? Are we like the phony religious leaders whom Jesus criticized in Matthew 23:27, when he said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” Ouch! They paraded around like righteous saints, but Jesus revealed them for the sinners they were.

At least fifteen times, Jesus blasted the religious leaders for their hypocrisy, including in his introduction to the Lord’s Prayer, when he said, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward” (Matthew 6:5). But, he made his most severe pronouncement when he spoke of the coming judgment, when the Lord would take a wicked servant “and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:51).

Hypocrisy does no good with God, because to him, there is no mask. He can see right through our false faces and attitudes into our hearts. There he sees the truth about us, all the sin, all the corruption, all the lies we have so carefully crafted to look good in other people’s eyes. Isaiah speaks of the Messiah when he says, “He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear” (Isaiah 11:3). God is not fooled by our outward show or our “whitewashed tombs”; he is not deceived or mocked (Galatians 6:7). 

In our social interactions, there is a place for physical masks, whether to protect people from communicable diseases or lessen people’s anxieties about catching such illnesses. There is also a place for masking our true thoughts to protect others’ feelings, or to open up opportunities for positive social relationships. But let us be careful to never be hypocrites, using false facial masks to deceive and harm others. And let us never even try to mask ourselves to God, for he knows us fully and loves us anyway, even though he can see “under the mask.”

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Isaiah 11:2-4; Matthew 24:36-51;  

  • *From Gillette Dry Idea deodorant commercial, June 1984.
  • **From Tears of a Clown, 1967 by Smokey Robinson, hit single in 1970.