Mankind has an insatiable hunger for discovery. We delight in scientific and technological advances. The microchip has democratized access to information in the last few decades, ushering in a knowledge revolution unseen since Gutenberg’s printing press in the 1430s. Concepts may now be conceived, tested, revised, discarded and implemented in hours and days. Our world now operates at the speed of thought.
This ability to create and deploy so rapidly is a double-edged sword. We collect, assemble, analyze and monetize ideas at such velocity that we run the risk of turning knowledge into a golden calf. In my earlier years, I was rightfully accused of elevating human intellect to a place of worship. Perhaps I’m not alone.
Georgetown University Medical School awarded me a master’s degree in Physiology and Biophysics. Our professors instructed from a no-nonsense, fact-saturated, scientific platform. Adding to the pressure of graduate school, every four weeks or so one of them would begin the class by revising his comments from a previous lecture.
Recent discoveries about the human body had displaced a previous concept and our notes were now outdated. The class was composed of young, scientific minds that had no trouble discarding old ideas in favor of better ones. We realized that research and innovation would bring a constant stream of new medical discoveries. The rigorous training created a deep hunger in me for airtight theories while remaining receptive to fresh ones. But notice the dilemma. When we seek truth solely by human endeavor, the facts are forever under renovation as technology drives new discovery. Therefore, the person who exalts human reasoning is searching for irreducible, absolute truth while simultaneously acting skeptical of its very existence! This is the undeniable flaw in every materialistic, empirical or atheistic argument.
Throughout those years, I know believe that God waited patiently, on the sidelines, in the shadows, for me to exhaust my search. Eventually, someone introduced me to Jesus, who claimed to be the only Way to God and the gatekeeper for obtaining eternal life. He claimed to not only know the truth, but to be the very author and personification of Truth. This was just too much to ignore.
By laying down such an uncompromising assertion, Jesus either needed to be summarily discarded or accepted without reservation. This was a case of all or nothing. I see now that God had built into me this deep hunger for knowledge, and later provoked me to investigate these outrageous claims. I eagerly dived into the Bible so I could expose its ridiculous assertions and anti-scientific flaws, beginning with the declaration that Jesus is the very incarnation of Truth – and that no Truth exists outside of Him.
In fact, the New Testament asserts that Jesus created everything, both seen and unseen, merely by speaking the words. Deeply steeped in evolutionary theory and the Laws of Thermodynamics, I knew for certain that was outlandish. Easily dismissed! Except it wasn’t…..
Let’s fast forward to today…
I now believe, unequivocally, in the historical, spiritual and scientific assertions in God’s Word. The Bible faithfully records mankind’s story from the vantage point of its Creator. Within its pages lies an immense treasure for governments, scholars, families, business leaders and communities. It reveals an unmatched scientific and artistic genius behind the design of the universe.
The God of Genesis is no coward. When describing the origins of the universe, He does not nibble about the edges of pseudo-scientific theory nor provide mushy, misty fairy tales requiring us to suspend our disbelief. Did you know that the Judeo-Christian faith is the only philosophy or belief system that dares to assert an absolute knowledge of the opening moments of the universe? The biblical cosmogony (explanation of origins) lays down a serious challenge to every logically bankrupt evolutionary theory by declaring in its opening passage “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” In that one brief sentence, the Bible makes the “outrageous” claim that time, space and matter came into existence ex nihilo (from nothing).
In the next few verses the Bible describes how Jesus, acting on His Father’s authority, brings forth the incalculably vast, resource-rich universe simply by speaking the words. In Genesis 1:1 we have a record of how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit collaborated to build an entire cosmos. Unlike the vague origins theories found in other religious systems, there is no mention in the Bible of mysterious, primordial swamps rich with organic matter bringing life out of chaos. Instead, we find orderly, incontrovertible assertions of creation from nothing.
Let’s examine the simple, elegant birth of physics as described in Genesis 1:1:
Lacking a single kilowatt of energy, the endless expanse of muddy slush hangs in space for a nanosecond like a giant gelatin mold stuck in freezing, desolate darkness. The basic components of physics and biochemistry sit in silence ready for the cosmos to be ignited. The second verse of Genesis records that the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, stands ready to play His part by energizing all of creation.
The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved (“vibrated” in Hebrew) upon the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:2 KJV
At His Father’s instruction, Jesus thunders, “Let there be light”. In response, the Holy Spirit springs into action, releasing monumental tidal waves of electromagnetic and gravitational energy into the chaotic, unformed mass. Using the heavenly blueprints, the Spirit unites matter into molecules, storing vast quantities of nuclear and chemical energy within their tiny connections, to be discovered and harnessed by mankind during the coming millennia.
After a long expedition digging for life’s deep truths, I eventually accepted the validity of Genesis. The Bible is God’s Word and He protects its integrity. I now believe that the Scriptures provide a comprehensive, coherent, and unimpeachable description of universal origins and human history. When Jesus spoke in Genesis, He established the cosmos through the authority vested in Him by His Father.
The Bible is consistent and thorough. It carries an inherent integrity. It alone serves as the framework through which all decisions should be made, and all human activity should be evaluated. However, it cannot be comprehended apart from faith. That’s the price of admission into the depth of its riches. I had to submit my analytical and reasoning abilities – my entire soul – to the influence of the Holy Spirit to gain access to the rich treasure-trove of God’s unsearchable intelligence and superhuman love. The investment has been worthwhile.
The deeper, significant issue for the highly informed, studiously trained among us is this: either the Bible or our blessed scientific theories will become Filter #1 for all fresh discoveries.
Either the Word of God is true, or it is simply a book of moral guidance, Middle Eastern history and ancient poetry. Does it truly inform us of the ideal structure of family, church and government, or do we seem to be doing just fine in those arenas? Does the Bible provide economic and judicial guidance, or does it simply entertain us with mystical tales of a bygone era? The heart of man longs for a firm frame of reference to evaluate the opportunities and dilemmas we face. Otherwise, we will turn to the holy temple of endless news analysis with its capricious definitions of the cool and contemporary.
Sitting in the high temple of academic research, I spent decades in deep hunger for the truth. The Lord allowed me to pursue it through science, through philosophy, through hedonism and through business theories until finally resting on the bedrock of Scripture. The overarching, philosophical answers I sought so feverishly in my youth were not to be found in scientific discovery, but rather in spiritual revelation. Having originally and arrogantly rejected the notion of ever worshipping anything, I now confess my complete, unreserved belief that Jesus Christ is both the Son of God and the personification of Truth. The Bible is a blueprint of the Kingdom of Heaven and the supreme manual of human engineering.
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