RELIGION AND SCIENCE, 2-10-08
Sermon for Evolution Sunday, 2-10-08
Scripture: Genesis 1:1-13; 24-31; Genesis 2:4b-9; John 1:1-5
Adam was moping around in the Garden of Eden. He was terribly lonesome. God says, “What’s wrong, Adam?” Adam responds, “I’m lonely. There’s no one to talk to.”
So God says, “I will give you a companion, Adam. I will give you a woman. She will cook for you. She will wash your clothes. She will always agree with every decision you make. She will bear your children and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them. She will not nag. She will always admit she’s wrong in every argument. She will never have a headache. And she will always freely give love and compassion.”
Adam queries, “God, what will a woman like that cost?” God replies, “It’ll cost you an arm and a leg.” Adam says, “What can I get for a rib?” And the rest is history.
I think its fitting to start off this Evolution Sunday sermon with a little lightness as it can be a very heavy event with people in this congregation not seeing eye to eye with me or with each other. As always, this church and I, as your pastor, encourage each of you to seek the truth and be respectful of those who disagree with you.
Last year for the first time I joined with many other congregations to take a look at this somewhat controversial subject. Michael Zimmerman in 2004 started this project by writing a Clergy Letter in support of teaching evolution. At this point over 11000 clergy have signed this letter which starts by saying, “Within the community of Christian believers there are areas of dispute and disagreement, including the proper way to interpret Holy Scripture. While virtually all Christians take the Bible seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook. Many of the beloved stories found in the Bible – the Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark – convey timeless truths about God, human beings, and the proper relationship between Creator and creation…” Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts.” It ends by asking that “science remain science and that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, forms of truth.” This year there are over 786 congregations in each state and nine different countries that are focusing on this topic this weekend.
As most of you know that although I take the Bible very seriously I do not take it literally. One of the big differences between liberal and progressive Christians and the evangelical Christians is the way they read the Bible. Where as evangelicals for the most part believe the Bible is to be read literally, accepting every word as the divinely inspired word of God, for me and most of the ministers in the mainline churches, we regard the Bible as God’s Holy Word found in a combination of history, myth, parable, metaphor, and inspiration. It’s not the place I look for scientific explanations but where I look for help in understanding faith and covenant and learning how to live by following Jesus, both his example and his teachings. On Jan. 29, the Rev. John H. Thomas, the head of our denomination released a groundbreaking theological statement, "A New Voice Arising: A Pastoral Letter on Faith Engaging Science and Technology,". He wants to make clear the UCC's belief that science and religion are not mutually exclusive, as well as to extend an unequivocal welcome to persons who devote their lives to scientific inquiry. When I read the Bible I feel filled with gratitude, humility, reverence and love. So much of the Bible is such beautiful literature, and even the parts of the Bible I don’t accept literally I often am inspired by and see as containing great truths. It’s like that Native American creation story where the story teller at the end says, “I know all of this is true and some of it may have actually happened like this.”
Some of you may have noticed in reading Genesis that there are two creation stories. In the Genesis 1 story, human beings are created last and then God rested. In Genesis 2 account, people are created very near the beginning: “In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up…then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” (Gen 2:4b-7) By the way the Genesis 1 verses have the male and female being created at the same time by God; in Genesis 2, the woman is made from the man’s rib.
I have no problem agreeing with modern science that the universe came about from the “Big Bang” about 14 billion years ago. Ever since then it has been expanding. “From that singular event, space, time and various forms of matter and energy have emerged. Billions of galaxies each made up of billions of stars and countless numbers of planets have come into existence.”[1]
“Biological evolution means living things change over time. A great variety of organisms has come into existence over the last four billion years from one or a few original life forms. All living things descend from pre-existing life forms, and are related and interconnected. Evolution happens because of natural selection; some features of organisms lead to higher survival rates in their environments than others. Charles Darwin first brought together these ideas, and ever since scientists have refined and added to them.”[2] By the way Darwin’s 200th birthday will be celebrated on February 12, 2009. On that same date his important book On the Origin of the Species will celebrate 150 years of publication.
Now do these scientific views eliminate God? No, not in my way of thinking! I think of God as the force behind the Big Bang, the source of life itself. Anglican priest and biologist Arthur Peacocke says, “God acts as creator in, with and under the processes of chance and natural selection.”
In my preparation for this sermon, I read a book by Francis S. Collins, entitled The Language of God. Collins, one of the world’s leading scientists, was the head of the Human Genome Project, the scientists that mapped the DNA of our species, the hereditary code of life. In this book, Collins traces his journey from atheism to becoming a believer in his mid 20’s. With the help of the writings of C.S. Lewis and the Moral Law—the awareness of right and wrong—he concluded that this God was not just someone who started the universe in motion but that it was a theist God, a supreme being that desires relationship with human beings and has created in humanity that “special glimpse of himself.” He concludes that “if God exists then He must be outside the natural world and therefore the tools of science are not the right ones to learn about Him. The ultimate decision would be based on faith, not proof.”
Collins describes Theistic Evolution which he says is the dominant position of serious biologists who are also serious believers: Christians as well as Jews, Hindus, Muslims
Based on six premises
1) Universe came into being out of nothingness, approximately 14 billion years ago.
2) Despite massive improbabilities, the properties of the universe appear to have been precisely tuned for life.
3) While the precise mechanism of the origin of life on earth remains unknown, once life arose, the process of evolution and natural selection permitted the development of biological diversity and complexity over very long periods of time.
4) Once evolution got under way, no special supernatural intervention was required.
5) Humans are part of this process, sharing a common ancestor with the great apes.
6) But humans are also unique in ways that defy evolutionary explanation and point to our spiritual nature. This includes the existence of the Moral Law (the knowledge of Right and wrong) and the search for God that characterizes all human cultures throughout history.
If these premises are accepted an intellectually satisfying, and logically consistent synthesis emerges: God, who is not limited in space or time, created the universe and established natural laws that govern it, even choosing the elegant mechanism of evolution to create microbes, plants, and animals of all sorts. Plus, most amazing, this same mechanism was chosen to give rise to human beings, special creatures, made in God’s image with intelligence, morality, free will, and a desire to be in fellowship with God.[3]
Collins suggests renaming Theistic Evolution as Bios through Logos or biologos. Bios is the Greek word for life and logos is the Greek word for “word” To many believers the Word is synonymous with God and for Christians--Christ as used in the opening chapter of John. I quote from v. 1,2: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” BioLogos therefore, expresses the belief that God is the source of all life as well as that life expresses the will of God. This term “allows science and faith to fortify each other like two unshakable pillars, holding up a building called Truth.” (p.210)
As Collins says the God of the Bible is also the God of the genome, worshipped in both the cathedral and the laboratory. God’s creation is majestic, awesome, intricate, and beautiful—and it cannot be at war with itself. Only we imperfect humans can start such battles and only we can end them. (211) “Science is not threatened by God; it is enhanced. God is most certainly not threatened by science; God made it all possible.” (233)
So my sisters and brothers, I’m not much of an expert on evolution or science in general. I probably could not stand up very well in a debate with Creationists or scientists; however, I have deep belief that there is not a conflict between religion and science. I believe that God wants us to open our minds to truths in both worlds. Let us go forth, unafraid to seek new insights. I pray that God will help us to be wise in God’s ways with enough inner faith to study and learn truths from the world of science, sustained by the beautiful ancient stories in the Bible, affirming God’s love for all that God has made and the very goodness of life itself. Amen and amen.
[1] Gerald Stinson, 2006 online sermon.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Collins, p.200-201
Scripture: Genesis 1:1-13; 24-31; Genesis 2:4b-9; John 1:1-5
Adam was moping around in the Garden of Eden. He was terribly lonesome. God says, “What’s wrong, Adam?” Adam responds, “I’m lonely. There’s no one to talk to.”
So God says, “I will give you a companion, Adam. I will give you a woman. She will cook for you. She will wash your clothes. She will always agree with every decision you make. She will bear your children and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them. She will not nag. She will always admit she’s wrong in every argument. She will never have a headache. And she will always freely give love and compassion.”
Adam queries, “God, what will a woman like that cost?” God replies, “It’ll cost you an arm and a leg.” Adam says, “What can I get for a rib?” And the rest is history.
I think its fitting to start off this Evolution Sunday sermon with a little lightness as it can be a very heavy event with people in this congregation not seeing eye to eye with me or with each other. As always, this church and I, as your pastor, encourage each of you to seek the truth and be respectful of those who disagree with you.
Last year for the first time I joined with many other congregations to take a look at this somewhat controversial subject. Michael Zimmerman in 2004 started this project by writing a Clergy Letter in support of teaching evolution. At this point over 11000 clergy have signed this letter which starts by saying, “Within the community of Christian believers there are areas of dispute and disagreement, including the proper way to interpret Holy Scripture. While virtually all Christians take the Bible seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook. Many of the beloved stories found in the Bible – the Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark – convey timeless truths about God, human beings, and the proper relationship between Creator and creation…” Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts.” It ends by asking that “science remain science and that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, forms of truth.” This year there are over 786 congregations in each state and nine different countries that are focusing on this topic this weekend.
As most of you know that although I take the Bible very seriously I do not take it literally. One of the big differences between liberal and progressive Christians and the evangelical Christians is the way they read the Bible. Where as evangelicals for the most part believe the Bible is to be read literally, accepting every word as the divinely inspired word of God, for me and most of the ministers in the mainline churches, we regard the Bible as God’s Holy Word found in a combination of history, myth, parable, metaphor, and inspiration. It’s not the place I look for scientific explanations but where I look for help in understanding faith and covenant and learning how to live by following Jesus, both his example and his teachings. On Jan. 29, the Rev. John H. Thomas, the head of our denomination released a groundbreaking theological statement, "A New Voice Arising: A Pastoral Letter on Faith Engaging Science and Technology,". He wants to make clear the UCC's belief that science and religion are not mutually exclusive, as well as to extend an unequivocal welcome to persons who devote their lives to scientific inquiry. When I read the Bible I feel filled with gratitude, humility, reverence and love. So much of the Bible is such beautiful literature, and even the parts of the Bible I don’t accept literally I often am inspired by and see as containing great truths. It’s like that Native American creation story where the story teller at the end says, “I know all of this is true and some of it may have actually happened like this.”
Some of you may have noticed in reading Genesis that there are two creation stories. In the Genesis 1 story, human beings are created last and then God rested. In Genesis 2 account, people are created very near the beginning: “In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up…then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” (Gen 2:4b-7) By the way the Genesis 1 verses have the male and female being created at the same time by God; in Genesis 2, the woman is made from the man’s rib.
I have no problem agreeing with modern science that the universe came about from the “Big Bang” about 14 billion years ago. Ever since then it has been expanding. “From that singular event, space, time and various forms of matter and energy have emerged. Billions of galaxies each made up of billions of stars and countless numbers of planets have come into existence.”[1]
“Biological evolution means living things change over time. A great variety of organisms has come into existence over the last four billion years from one or a few original life forms. All living things descend from pre-existing life forms, and are related and interconnected. Evolution happens because of natural selection; some features of organisms lead to higher survival rates in their environments than others. Charles Darwin first brought together these ideas, and ever since scientists have refined and added to them.”[2] By the way Darwin’s 200th birthday will be celebrated on February 12, 2009. On that same date his important book On the Origin of the Species will celebrate 150 years of publication.
Now do these scientific views eliminate God? No, not in my way of thinking! I think of God as the force behind the Big Bang, the source of life itself. Anglican priest and biologist Arthur Peacocke says, “God acts as creator in, with and under the processes of chance and natural selection.”
In my preparation for this sermon, I read a book by Francis S. Collins, entitled The Language of God. Collins, one of the world’s leading scientists, was the head of the Human Genome Project, the scientists that mapped the DNA of our species, the hereditary code of life. In this book, Collins traces his journey from atheism to becoming a believer in his mid 20’s. With the help of the writings of C.S. Lewis and the Moral Law—the awareness of right and wrong—he concluded that this God was not just someone who started the universe in motion but that it was a theist God, a supreme being that desires relationship with human beings and has created in humanity that “special glimpse of himself.” He concludes that “if God exists then He must be outside the natural world and therefore the tools of science are not the right ones to learn about Him. The ultimate decision would be based on faith, not proof.”
Collins describes Theistic Evolution which he says is the dominant position of serious biologists who are also serious believers: Christians as well as Jews, Hindus, Muslims
Based on six premises
1) Universe came into being out of nothingness, approximately 14 billion years ago.
2) Despite massive improbabilities, the properties of the universe appear to have been precisely tuned for life.
3) While the precise mechanism of the origin of life on earth remains unknown, once life arose, the process of evolution and natural selection permitted the development of biological diversity and complexity over very long periods of time.
4) Once evolution got under way, no special supernatural intervention was required.
5) Humans are part of this process, sharing a common ancestor with the great apes.
6) But humans are also unique in ways that defy evolutionary explanation and point to our spiritual nature. This includes the existence of the Moral Law (the knowledge of Right and wrong) and the search for God that characterizes all human cultures throughout history.
If these premises are accepted an intellectually satisfying, and logically consistent synthesis emerges: God, who is not limited in space or time, created the universe and established natural laws that govern it, even choosing the elegant mechanism of evolution to create microbes, plants, and animals of all sorts. Plus, most amazing, this same mechanism was chosen to give rise to human beings, special creatures, made in God’s image with intelligence, morality, free will, and a desire to be in fellowship with God.[3]
Collins suggests renaming Theistic Evolution as Bios through Logos or biologos. Bios is the Greek word for life and logos is the Greek word for “word” To many believers the Word is synonymous with God and for Christians--Christ as used in the opening chapter of John. I quote from v. 1,2: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” BioLogos therefore, expresses the belief that God is the source of all life as well as that life expresses the will of God. This term “allows science and faith to fortify each other like two unshakable pillars, holding up a building called Truth.” (p.210)
As Collins says the God of the Bible is also the God of the genome, worshipped in both the cathedral and the laboratory. God’s creation is majestic, awesome, intricate, and beautiful—and it cannot be at war with itself. Only we imperfect humans can start such battles and only we can end them. (211) “Science is not threatened by God; it is enhanced. God is most certainly not threatened by science; God made it all possible.” (233)
So my sisters and brothers, I’m not much of an expert on evolution or science in general. I probably could not stand up very well in a debate with Creationists or scientists; however, I have deep belief that there is not a conflict between religion and science. I believe that God wants us to open our minds to truths in both worlds. Let us go forth, unafraid to seek new insights. I pray that God will help us to be wise in God’s ways with enough inner faith to study and learn truths from the world of science, sustained by the beautiful ancient stories in the Bible, affirming God’s love for all that God has made and the very goodness of life itself. Amen and amen.
[1] Gerald Stinson, 2006 online sermon.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Collins, p.200-201
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 11:57 AM
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