I grew up when the big controversy was about teaching evolution in the public schools. Religious people said it violated their beliefs (Genesis ch. 1-2) and educators said they were only teaching science (evolution is a well supported scientific theory). Then we moved on to global warming, then to whether global climate change is human caused, and now it’s LGBTQ acceptance.
And let’s be honest. Those “religious people” were only a small (but noisy) chunk of the Christian population that did not include us. Methodists uphold evolution as compatible with creation by God. “We recognize science as a legitimate interpretation of God’s natural world… We find that science’s description of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution are not in conflict with theology” (¶160.I.F, The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church).
And yet, accepting scientific conclusions requires that we place our trust in something we don’t totally know or understand. Most of us have not read and researched ALL the scientific evidence for evolution, and yet we accept it as scientific fact. Scientists readily admit that scientific conclusions are theories, not proofs, that are open to re-evaluation as new evidence comes to light. Therefore, all scientific theories are held with some level of doubt, which actually makes them stronger.
The same is true in faith. Instead of doubt undermining our faith, it actually makes it stronger as we take in new spiritual information and formulate new understandings of God. This Sunday we’ll wrestle with the existence of God, not striving to “prove” the existence of God, but instead examining the evidence, including our own hearts, and coming to conclusions.
Peace,
Pastor Mia
Comments