This upcoming debate looks to be hostile. Maybe not between
Ham and Nye, but definitely between the two sides of the argument they
represent.
In an earlier post I said I have my opinions for what best
explains our origins, but I am much more interested in how the origins of our
philosophical frameworks influence the way we live and how we interact with
others. In this post I want to look at another possible tweak Christians could
make in their worldview that might relieve some of the angst felt when it is
challenged. This tweak, I believe, is no compromise on who we think God is. In
fact, it should help to us to become more aware of God at work.
For many Christian the hair on the back of our necks raises
when confronted by a philosophical framework (often held by materialist
atheists) that denies even the possibility of anything remotely supernatural.
In other words, “This is it. There is no god. What you see is what you get, and
the brave thing to do is man up and admit it.”
One of the big things for Christians at stake here is the
belief in miracles, and the possibility of a God who chooses to intervene in
the course of natural history. After all what is more miraculous than a God who
chooses to create the material world from nothing itself.
But where did our understanding of miracles come from? We
can trace much of the modern perception of miracles back to the Epicureans.
Their version of God was a creator who set the natural world in motion and then
stepped away to let it run its course. God was in a distant place from
creation. Heaven and Earth were two different places. God may however chose
from time to time to step in and intervene, disrupting what way the world
naturally works. This is why most of the time things go as normal, but why
sometimes we witness something that can only be explained by God. It’s a
miracle.
News Flash! That is NOT like the God of the Bible. The God
of the Bible is active throughout all of history. He isn’t occasionally
choosing to show up on the scene, he is always there. He purposes the simple
rising and setting of the sun as well the burning bush that screams for our
attention.
But think how often our modern theology tries to separate
God from being actively involved in his creation. How often do we talk about
Heaven as if it is in some distant place? Jesus says, “May your Kingdom be on
Earth as it is in Heaven.” The Kingdom of Heaven is here! Heaven and Earth are
overlapping realities because God is actively participating in both.
How does this help us better understand miracles?
If we understand natural laws as God’s preferred methods
then there is nothing exceptionally miraculous about miracles. We have however
gotten to witness God choosing to work using methods we are not as familiar
with.
But Aubrey, doesn’t this view take credit away from God for
doing something exceptional? No, quite the opposite. This view seeks to give
God more credit for doing all things exceptional. Instead of giving God praise only when he
does something unexpected we choose to give Him credit for everything. All
things are miraculous. When we begin to look for God at work in everything we
begin to experience what C.S. Lewis called “the baptism of all ordinary
things.”
There are two ways to frame this. Either all things are
miraculous or none of them are. If the first one is wrong then the atheists are
right that the next best choice is to man up and accept that this is it. Either
way we can relax when science makes a claim about how the world operates, and
listen to what science has to say to see if it can help us better understand
God’s operational preferences. It doesn’t however discredit God from being able
to occasionally do something a little differently (which would no more or less
a miracle).
Check out my upcoming book at www.adhogan.com
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