Who Should I Be Thanking?

Take a careful look at this sign. Look at the cross. Science appears to be the ‘Savior,’ the cross to which we should look. In contrast, when I get up I the morning, I thank God for freedom I have in Christ. The cross is His. I then have the ability to thank a scientist made in the image of God.

I thank all you scientists out there, you health care workers that risk your lives daily for others. We love you all deeply for the sacrifices you make every day, the ones no one sees. No one but you can fathom the daily crisis and vocational costs of what you do. However, I respectfully refuse to thank science.

What is the Christian response to God’s world we live in? I’d like to remind everyone that the Renaissance and birth of modern science correlated to the Protestant Reformation and the freedom of people, real people, in emergent universities to examine the world. God put in us the ability to search out the minutest details of atoms and DNA, of fermions, quarks, leptons and mRNA. The ethics of how we view our responsibility to God and humanity must precede our manipulation of creation. If man is simply a blob of dough, a sophisticated and evolved creature of an impersonal universe, there are no ethics, no reasons for order. Ultimately, we end up in a cause-less Social Darwinism, where society is controlled by the strong, not the wise and just.

Impersonal ‘Science’ with a capital ‘S’ has no compass but itself, or some collective rationale, swinging with the pendulum of capriciousness of the person winding the clock or holding the political power, or worse, the purse strings of endowment money. However, if we are created by God with reason and for a reason, we must think about how we live. We must aspire to moral greatness as well as scientific greatness. We should carefully consider our way.

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Job 28. It is Job’s discourse about ancient metallurgy and gemology, about sapphires and gold dust. We go to great lengths to search the riches of the earth, but we need to strive for wisdom and understanding that is based on the fear of the Lord, a calculated reticence to act, one that bows to Divine law, intention, and principles of love? There is a decisive need for Christian Anthropology today, right here, right now–a biblical and well-thought-out theology of man. This runs parallel and even precedes science.

We cannot be afraid to discuss and explore the basics of human life. What does it mean to be made in the image of God? How are we to think about life, vaccines, about biomedical ethics, marriage, human sexuality, genetically engineered food, organics, fertility, surrogacy, adoption, embryoadoption, environmentalism, tissue harvesting, capital punishment, justice ethics, birth defects, palliative care, human weakness, persecution, genocide, and God’s love for those in pain and difficulty.

We seem to be defaulting to a capitalized ‘Science’ rather than to the capitalized God who created really smart people. He gave us very clear direction in Christ and opened every nook and cranny in the world to us for exploration. He is the one we should be thanking. David told us in Psalm 19 that if we examine creation like a scientist, we will see his glory. When we look at the scriptures, our life is renewed. Glory and renewal bring grandeur and solutions. Science does not do this. God does. He does it through amazing people.

Psalm 19
¹The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.
²Day after day they pour out speech;
night after night they communicate knowledge.^[a]
³There is no speech; there are no words;
their voice is not heard.
⁴Their message^[b] has gone out to the whole earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun.
⁵It is like a bridegroom coming from his home;
it rejoices like an athlete running a course.
⁶It rises from one end of the heavens
and circles to their other end;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

⁷The instruction of the Lord is perfect,
renewing one’s life;
the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy,
making the inexperienced wise.
⁸The precepts of the Lord are right,
making the heart glad;
the command of the Lord is radiant,
making the eyes light up.
⁹The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are reliable
and altogether righteous.
¹⁰They are more desirable than gold—
than an abundance of pure gold;
and sweeter than honey
dripping from a honeycomb.
¹¹In addition, your servant is warned by them,
and in keeping them there is an abundant reward.
¹²Who perceives his unintentional sins?
Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
¹³Moreover, keep your servant from willful sins;
do not let them rule me.
Then I will be blameless
and cleansed from blatant rebellion.
¹⁴May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.