J11 Muchas Gracias, Moses, Mi Amigo!

Not the Exodus Moses. I meant the medieval one. (1)

Psalms 33:6: "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth."

and Hebrews 1:3: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory...sustaining all things by His powerful word."

Basil: (2) "Where are those who set at naught the Spirit? Where are those who separate it from the creative power? Where are those who dissever it from union with the Father and Son?... As then the Creator, the Word, firmly established the heavens, so the Spirit, which is from God, which proceeds from the Father... brings with it all the powers in Him... Since, then, the Savior is the Word of the Lord and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit from His mouth, both joined with Him in the creation of the heavens and the powers in them... for nothing is made holy except by the presence of the Spirit." [Homilies on the Psalms 15.4]

Reflection: One of my favorite quotes is a paraphrase from Moses Maimonides, a 13th Century Spanish rabbi: "If you believe the bible and science disagree, you either do not know enough bible, or do not know enough science."

Thomas Aquinas thought the same (3)

Science does not lie, but scientists do. And eventually they are discovered. Einstein is famous for many wonderful statements, like "God does not play dice with the universe." By this he meant that the physics of the cosmos are not random, but governed by precise relationships. Yet when he published his break-through theories in 1917, he fudged the numbers. His work showed that, contrary to his firm convictions and centuries of scientific consensus, the universe was not in fact eternally unchanging, but had a moment of beginning. A time "t-zero." But Einstein "knew" that could not be true, so he changed his equations to make them prove the universe was static (unchanging). After a Belgian priest/physicist named Lemaitre corrected him, later confirmed by Hubble, Einstein confessed his error, calling it the biggest mistake of his life.

Bible scholars get it wrong, too. In 1650 James Ussher (head of the Irish Church), asserted that the earth was created in 4004 B.C. He derived this figure from study of the bible, but his scholarship was faulty. To this day, he has many followers among "young earth" creationists. This age is not only unsupported by good biblical scholarship -- it is absurd in the face of physical evidence. And it is thrown in the faces of Creationists to discredit them, whether they espouse young earth or old.

Let there be no mistake about this: The earth and all life are not some random accident. We are the creation of the Trinity acting together in a way that is as yet inexplicable by modern science. Even atheistic scientists used to refer to "the God particle" (4) to explain why the atom holds together. Even the staunchest Darwinian must describe the functionality of an organ as "designed" for its purpose.

My prayer today: Oh God our Father, let your truth shine out! I fear that many have lost their faith, or never sought you, because of the lies propagated in the name of "Science." Science is not the 'enemy' of belief -- Your Word is true, and science only strives to understand that which you spoke into being. Let Your Name be glorified by all.

(1) Moses Maimonides, "The Guide for the Perplexed," Circa 1190, countless editions and publishers, still in print after nearly 1,000 years.

(2) "Homilies on the Psalms 15.4," IVP Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, OT Vol vii, Blaising & Hardin, Eds.

(3) See Michael Kellogg, "The Wisdom of the Middle Ages," Prometheus Books, 2016. The Summa Theologica is too tough for me, but Kellogg is accessible, page 214 forward.

(4) Leon Lederman, "The God Particle," 1993. Lederman's characterization is thoroughly rejected by Higgs, among many others