Lessons From Astronomy
by Philip du Nard
As every Christian must necessarily believe, I believe that the universe that we see before us is a special creation of God and its irreducible complexity is evidence of “Intelligent design.” As the Scripture declares, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1. While the world very often scoffs at such a thought, this is by no means a radical teaching among believers.
With the aid of modern day telescopes and observatories, it is possible to see that the stars of heaven which the Scriptures make mention of are arranged in galaxies. However, the Scriptures make no mention of galaxies. Does this mean the Christian should deny their existence and contend that the whole notion of stars being arranged in galaxies is a man made idea? Of course not. There are many things about the natural world that the Scriptures do not mention. It should not seem to be a far-fetched, radical idea to Christians that the galaxies, themselves, are no accident and the stars of heaven being arranged in galaxies is by design.
But, for various reasons, no doubt, Christians have been persuaded to believe that applying the same reasoning to humanity is evil. There is very little reproach from the world from taking this position. While ethnicity is a prominent topic in the Bible, the concept of race as we understand it today seemingly receives little or no attention in the Scriptures. This has led some to take the position that the whole idea of race is a man made “social construct.” Yet we don’t need a telescope to know that distinct branches of humanity that we call “races” which have existed from ancient times are a reality that we are daily confronted with and to the extent that the lines appear blurred, we attribute this to admixture. Yet the thought that the different races, like galaxies, are also no accident and exist by design is considered to be, at best, a quaint backward idea and, at worst, an abhorrent thought leading to extremism. Even creation minded Christians very often look upon the races as a genetic development unguided by God that is of no particular significance. We can’t say precisely how, why, or when God “designed” races but does it not glorify Him to acknowledge that, in His sovereignty over His creation, He had something to do with it? And if we do acknowledge His hand in the existence of different races, might this cause us to view the subject from a whole different perspective from the one that the world insists we have—the same world that now declares that even gender is “fluid”?
There is a general Biblical principle stated in Ecclesiastes 7:13, which reads, “Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?” The thought contained here is that there are some things our infinite God has done that to our finite minds appear crooked. The carnal urge is to try and make those things straight. This usually doesn’t end well.
Applying this to the matter of race, the thinking of some is that because of the evils of “racism,” the very existence of races appears crooked and if God had anything to do with it, it was a mistake that needs to be made straight. That is, if we were all one blended race, that would forever put an end to racism and woe to the individual that stands opposed to this. This is similar to the idea that the best way to put an end to sin is to put an end to sinful humanity. But very often, man made solutions to problems exacerbate the very problems they are intended to correct.
by Philip du Nard
As every Christian must necessarily believe, I believe that the universe that we see before us is a special creation of God and its irreducible complexity is evidence of “Intelligent design.” As the Scripture declares, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1. While the world very often scoffs at such a thought, this is by no means a radical teaching among believers.
With the aid of modern day telescopes and observatories, it is possible to see that the stars of heaven which the Scriptures make mention of are arranged in galaxies. However, the Scriptures make no mention of galaxies. Does this mean the Christian should deny their existence and contend that the whole notion of stars being arranged in galaxies is a man made idea? Of course not. There are many things about the natural world that the Scriptures do not mention. It should not seem to be a far-fetched, radical idea to Christians that the galaxies, themselves, are no accident and the stars of heaven being arranged in galaxies is by design.
But, for various reasons, no doubt, Christians have been persuaded to believe that applying the same reasoning to humanity is evil. There is very little reproach from the world from taking this position. While ethnicity is a prominent topic in the Bible, the concept of race as we understand it today seemingly receives little or no attention in the Scriptures. This has led some to take the position that the whole idea of race is a man made “social construct.” Yet we don’t need a telescope to know that distinct branches of humanity that we call “races” which have existed from ancient times are a reality that we are daily confronted with and to the extent that the lines appear blurred, we attribute this to admixture. Yet the thought that the different races, like galaxies, are also no accident and exist by design is considered to be, at best, a quaint backward idea and, at worst, an abhorrent thought leading to extremism. Even creation minded Christians very often look upon the races as a genetic development unguided by God that is of no particular significance. We can’t say precisely how, why, or when God “designed” races but does it not glorify Him to acknowledge that, in His sovereignty over His creation, He had something to do with it? And if we do acknowledge His hand in the existence of different races, might this cause us to view the subject from a whole different perspective from the one that the world insists we have—the same world that now declares that even gender is “fluid”?
There is a general Biblical principle stated in Ecclesiastes 7:13, which reads, “Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?” The thought contained here is that there are some things our infinite God has done that to our finite minds appear crooked. The carnal urge is to try and make those things straight. This usually doesn’t end well.
Applying this to the matter of race, the thinking of some is that because of the evils of “racism,” the very existence of races appears crooked and if God had anything to do with it, it was a mistake that needs to be made straight. That is, if we were all one blended race, that would forever put an end to racism and woe to the individual that stands opposed to this. This is similar to the idea that the best way to put an end to sin is to put an end to sinful humanity. But very often, man made solutions to problems exacerbate the very problems they are intended to correct.