GOD, THE COSMOS, THE DINOSAURS AND EVERYTHING

Russ and I have been watching the new Cosmos series and really enjoying it. I’m learning a lot about science—all that stuff they tried to teach you back in grade school and junior high, but the classroom teacher didn’t have all these cool graphics at their disposal, so it was way too easy to lose interest. Well, it also probably has something to do with me now being older and wiser, and taking in this information because I want to, not because I have to. I was in my thirties before I learned to enjoy math, and now I’m in my fifties and learning to enjoy science.

Schooling is wasted on the young.

And what am I learning? That the Universe is an awesome place. That’s what I’m getting from all this. But I’m also getting something I’m sure the creators of Cosmos never intended. I know that the creators of the Cosmos series, particularly Carl Sagan and Neil Degrasse Tyson, are scientists, and do not consider themselves “spiritual” men. No, not at all: they are all about the science.

They see science as something real that exists in the real world, an explanation for the real world. But, unfortunately, the makers of Cosmos would have you believe that because science is so awesome, it explains away the existence of God.

I take a different view.

Science exists. Of course it exists. It’s the way we explain the world. But it doesn’t exist instead of God. It exists alongside God. Or more precisely, science is God’s way of letting us understand what He is doing.

Now, I am no scientist, and I can’t offer any scientific proof for what I’m saying, other than it’s my experience, and it’s common sense. To me, a lot of what I’m learning on Cosmos makes a lot of sense. I have no problem with it.

But, what I do have a problem with, is this definition for Atheism—which is also, to some extent, what the creators of Cosmos are proposing:

The belief that there was nothing & nothing happened to nothing & then nothing magically exploded for no reason creating everything & then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason which then turned into dinosaurs.

Sure, that’s somewhat flippant, but at its core, it’s basically a sound definition. Some scientists, and some atheists, want you to believe that everything evolved out of nothing.

But everything didn’t evolve out of nothing. Nothing can come from “nothing.” There has to be a spark of life somewhere way back at the beginning. And that spark is God.

Again: nothing does not come from nothing.

Somewhere, there has to be something.

If I’m understanding this correctly, scientists agree that electrical force holds atoms together, but have no idea what holds the nucleus of an atom together. Unless something has changed since the last time I watched Cosmos, scientists are still looking for the answer to the question, “What force or forces are holding a nucleus together?”

It’s not very scientific of me, but I have the answer:

Colossians 1:16-17:
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

God is the force that holds the universe together. In HIM, all things hold together.

I know that’s not going to be good enough for the scientists. But it’s good enough for me.

And one more thing before I go. Evolution vs. Creationism. Why does it have to be either/or? Why can’t it be both? Why can’t evolution be a TOOL that God uses to accomplish His work in our world? God doesn’t always do things miraculously and instantaneously. Nature is at God’s command. Why do some people have such a hard time believing that God might USE time and nature and science and evolution to accomplish His work? I don’t have a hard time believing that somehow, to some extent, BOTH can be true.

This is not science. This is not religion. This is just me, trying to make sense of it all.