GOD AND CREATION
God’s Speech in Nature: Truth, Wisdom and Knowledge
© 2011 David W. Opderbeck
Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution / Share-Alike
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Prov. 1:20-22
Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
she raises her voice in the public square;
on top of the wall she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech: “How long will
you who are simple love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?”
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Jesus:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your strength and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27)
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Heb. 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen.
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
The early Church wrestles with the philosophy and
science of its day: Plato, Aristotle, and the Greeks….
WISDOM, REASON AND FAITH
Origen (c. A.D. 186-254) (described by Gregory
Thaumaturgus):
“He required us to study philosophy by reading all the
existing writings of the ancients, both philosophers and
religious poets, taking every care not to put aside or
reject any…. For us there was nothing forbidden,
nothing hidden, nothing inaccessible.”
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Tertullian (160-220 A.D.)
“Credo quia absurdum est”
“I believe because it is absurd”
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Clement of Alexandria (150-215)
“Credo ut intelligam”
I believe in order that I may know
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Augustine masterfully incorporates authority, faith, and
reason in works that remain foundational for all Western
Christian thought…
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Augustine (354-430 A.D.)
“Authority demands belief and prepares man for reason.
Reason leads to understanding and knowledge. But
reason is not entirely absent from authority, for we have
got to consider whom we have to believe, and the highest
authority belongs to truth when it is clearly known.”
“It is yet necessary that everything which is believed
should be believed after thought has led the way.”
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Medieval theology reaches a grand synthesis of
theology, Greek philosophy and sciences, and politics…
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Anselm (1033-1109 A.D.):
“Fides quaerens intellectum”
“Faith Seeks Understanding”
In other words: Someone who loves God actively seeks out
deeper and deeper knowledge of God.
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Aquinas (1225-1274 A.D.):
Two sources of knowledge: faith and reason
Reason produces reliable knowledge of things that can be
observed
Faith produces knowledge of mysteries that cannot be
observed (e.g. the Trinity)
The two sources of knowledge are always ultimately in
harmony
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
Political crises, wars, the Black Plague, corruption in the Papacy
and Bishoprics, the “Babylonian Captivity” of the Papacy and the
“anti-Popes,” the intractability of Islam, the abuse of “indulgences,”
and new humanistic and individualistic philosophical ideas (start of
the Renaissance) rock Christendom…
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
The Reformation (16 th Century)
Emphasized human corruption and fallibility and the final
authority of scripture as part of separation from the Catholic
Church
Most branches of Protestantism continued to emphasize the
value of reason, but in varying forms and degrees (as we will
see in relation to the early natural sciences….)
Where do “we” fall on Protestantism’s fissiparous family tree?
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy
• Roots in American Presbyterian splits in the 18 th and 19th Centuries
• Reaction to “higher criticism” and theological liberalism in the 19 th
Century
• 19th C. theological liberalism influenced by Kant and other
Enlightenment thinkers who separated “faith” and “reason”
• Overbroad generalizations but still generally accurate:
• Fundamentalists retreated from public and intellectual life and
exalted faith over reason
• Modernists relegated faith to individual preference and exalted
reason over faith
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
• The relationship between faith and reason is an age-old question
• There is a spectrum of approaches for thinking about the relationship
between faith and reason
• The mainstream of historic Christian thought is that faith and reason
are not at odds
• The mainstream of historic Christian thought – including Magisterial
and Scholastic Protestant thought – is that Scripture, Tradition,
Reason and Experience each are important and complementary
sources of knowledge
WISDOM, REASON, AND FAITH
• Protestant thought and culture, particularly in North America, is
only slowly recovering from the Fundamentalist-Modernist
controversy. Deep and intractable divides remain.
• Recovering the deep historical Christian tradition about the relation
of faith and reason is a key aspect of this process of recovery.
• Developing careful perspectives on faith and the natural sciences
is a key element of this recovery in our scientific culture and is vital
to the future health and mission of the Church.
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Psalm 19:1-4
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Platonic and Aristotelian Greek thought recognize that
nature is orderly and coherent because if reflects higher
orders of causation…
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Aristotle:
“But of a truth every realm of nature is marvelous. It is
told that strangers, visiting Heraclitus and finding him
by the kitchen fire, hesitated to enter. ‘Come in, come
in,’ he cried, ‘the gods are here too.’ So should we
venture on a study of every kind of creature, without
horror, for each and all will reveal something that is
natural and therefore beautiful”
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
The great early Christian minds recognize the God
speaks in creation…
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
St. Paul:
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the
godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth
by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is
plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since
the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal
power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that people are
without excuse.” (Romans 1:18-20)
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Augustine (354-430):
Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth,
the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the
motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative
positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon,
the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of
animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he
hold to as being certain from reason and experience.
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Augustine (354-430):
Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a
Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking
nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent
such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast
ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so
much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the
household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to
the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our
Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men.
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
On the authority of Greek science and of scripture,
Christians believed the earth was the center of the
universe
“Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be
moved.”
(1 Chron. 16:30)
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
The Copernican Revolution, confirmed by Galileo’s
observations through his telescopes, threatens to
undermine not only specific Biblical interpretations, but
the entire Aristotelian synthesis….
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
“Our Creator has added mind to our senses not simply so
that man might earn his daily keep – many kinds of
creatures possessing unreasoning souls can do this much
more skillfully – but also so that from the existence of the
things which we behold with our eyes, we might delve into
the causes of their being and becoming, even if this might
serve no further useful purpose.”
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Galileo (1564 -1642)
“For the holy Bible and the phenomena of nature proceed
alike from the divine Word, the former as the dictate of the
Holy Ghost and the latter as the observant executrix of
God’s commands. A hundred passages of holy Scripture …
teach us that the glory and greatness of Almighty God are
marvelously discerned in all his works and divinely read in
the open book of heaven.”
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
A disputed Table Talk….
“Whoever wants to be clever must agree with nothing that
others esteem. He must do something of his own. This is what
that fellow does [Copernicus?] who wishes to turn the whole of
astronomy upside down. Even in these things that are thrown
into disorder I believe the Holy Scriptures, for Joshua
commanded the sun to stand still and not the earth.”
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
“[In biblical studies] one must accustom oneself to the
Holy Spirit’s way of expression. With the other
sciences, too, no one is successful unless he has first
duly learned their technical language…. Now no
science should stand in the way of another science, but
each should continue to have its own mode of
procedure and its own terms.”
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
“An astronomer, therefore, does right when he uses the
terms ‘spheres,’ ‘apsides,’ and ‘epicycles’; they belong to
his profession and enable him to teach others with greater
ease. By way of contrast, the Holy Spirit and Holy Scripture
know nothing about those designations and call the entire
area above us ‘heaven.’ Nor should an astronomer find fault
with this; let each of the two speak in his own terminology.”
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
John Calvin (1483-1546)
“For astronomy is not only pleasant, but also very useful to be known:
it cannot be denied that this art unfolds the admirable wisdom of God.
Therefore, clever men who expend their labor upon it are to be
praised and those who have ability and leisure ought not to neglect
work of this kind.”
….
“If we hold the Spirit of God to be the only source of Truth, we will
neither reject, nor despise this Truth wherever it may reveal itself.”
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
John Calvin (1483-1546)
“The Holy Spirit had no intention to teach astronomy; and, in
proposing instruction meant to be common to the simplest and most
uneducated persons, he made use by Moses and the other prophets
of popular language… the Holy Spirit would rather speak childishly
than unintelligibly to the humble and unlearned.”
….
“He who would learn astronomy and the other recondite arts, let him
go elsewhere.”
GOD’S SPEECH AND HUMAN LIMITS
1 Cor. 13:12:
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to
face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as
also I am known.
GOD’S SPEECH AND HUMAN LIMITS
• We are not God.
• We can speak of God only using human concepts and
language.
• We can never know creation as exhaustively as God knows
it.
• Yet we trust that God created us and enables us to learn
real truth, even if slowly and provisionally
• Therefore we have a “proper confidence” (L. Newbigin) in
historical, theological, and scientific knowledge
GOD’S SPEECH AND HUMAN LIMITS
• We have a “proper confidence” (L. Newbigin) in historical,
theological, and scientific knowledge
• Circumstantial evidence about the past is not illusory
and cannot be interpreted without restraints
• The assumption that nature operates in accordance with
uniform law-like parameters is necessary for any sort of
reliable knowledge and is a deeply Christian concept
GOD’S SPEECH AND HUMAN LIMITS
• We have a “proper confidence” (L. Newbigin) in historical, theological,
and scientific knowledge
• It is never adequate or responsible – in fact, it is impossible from a
Christian framework – to ignore God’s revelation to us in Christ,
Scripture, and the Church
• The starting point for Christian epistemology (“how we know
things”) is gift and faith:
• The gift of creation with contingent order;
• The gift of our creation in God’s image with the capacity to
know God;
• The gift of faith in the Triune God revealed in Jesus Christ.
GOD’S SPEECH AND HUMAN LIMITS
• We have a “proper confidence” (L. Newbigin) in historical,
theological, and scientific knowledge
• So: true understanding is embedded in creation but
always proceeds from faith
• Because all knowledge is a gift from God, it is never
adequate or responsible simply to oppose scripture
against apparently reasonable inferences from historical
circumstantial evidence
• To deny history is to deny creation and to deny God
Himself
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Psalm 19: Nature and Torah
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Psalm 19: Nature and Torah
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Psalm 19: Nature and Torah
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the LORD are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Psalm 19: Nature and Torah
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
GOD’S SPEECH IN NATURE
Psalm 19: Nature and Torah
But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Image Sources:
All images Wikimedia Commons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plato-raphael.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Holbein-death.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Da_Vinci_Vitruve_Luc_Viatour.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CrusadersThrowingHeadsOfMuslimsOverRamparts.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Avignon,_Palais_des_Papes_by_JM_Rosier.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Luther46c.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cassini_apparent.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CopernicSystem.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Calvin_2.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sandro_Botticelli_050.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Aquinas_in_Stained_Glass_crop.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Protestantbranches.svg