Origin Story #21 of 21:

There is more. (Ruth 2:21)

David Christian’s Origin Story has the subtitle: “A Big History of Everything.” The “everything” bothers me. Our Genesis origin story won’t do because “modern science can find no direct evidence for a god.” That’s it. End of story. Science, “modern science” as he likes to say, has now reach a point whereby it alone can speak the last word. There’s no room for any other word than science’s one totalizing claim.

This “everything” of David C’s includes “meaning.” He wrote the book, he tells us in the preface, to layout an “emerging new global origin story that is full of meaning… based on modern scientific scholarship.” Can that be so? Has science given us the last word on the meaning of our lives—of the universe?

David C. waffles when he makes his moves from scientific inquiry to scientific meaning: “The universe is indifferent to our fate,” he acknowledges. But David is not indifferent to our fate. He cares. He pleads for us to repent and change our ways. Where does his deep personal concern come from? What’s its origin?

I’m not a scientist. I’m a pastor. As a pastor down the road from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, I’ve been blessed to pastor a congregation with a fair share of scientist. I’m blessed because they tend to be interesting people. I’m enriched by their company.

My attempt at retelling our Genesis origin story began pastorally when Jimmy dropped by the house to discuss faith and science—his faith and his scientific vocation. It also comes from my concern that our grandchildren, the oldest of which is pursuing scientific studies, grow to trust the truth of our Genesis story.

Can both faith and science cohabitate in the same person, or does one have to obliterate the other? Here’s a few pastoral suggestions for the cohabitation of science and faith. I’ll start with the wisest of all mortals:

            1.      “‘Vanity of vanities’ says the wise leader, ‘all is vanity’” (Ecc 1:2). That’s a good place for us all to start—for the scientist and for the believer/pastor. Out of our own vanity we claim too much. We tend to speak with vain certitude. The wise person acknowledges the limits of wisdom. The reasonable person acknowledges the limits of reason. The religious leader acknowledges the limits of religion. The scientific person could benefit by acknowledging the limits off science.

            Out of Christian vanity the church forces Galileo to recant. Out of vanity, science participates in eugenics. Out of vanity for our side we end up doing vain things. Acknowledging our vanity and the limits of our knowledge is a good place to start. As the Apostle reminds us: “Now we see through a glass dimly… Now we know in part. …For now, faith, hope and love abide, and the greatest of these is love” (1Cor 13).

            2.         “There is more” says Ruth to Naomi (Rt 2:21). There is always more. There is a certitude in David C’s origin story, that science must speak the last word and nothing more can or should be said. Conversation over. Our faith assures us that the last word is not ours to speak. After every theologian and every scientist has given it his or her best shot, there is always more. More to discover and more to be said. No mortal, religious or scientific, can speak the last word into our lives. There’s always more.

            3.         “Mystery” and “Wonder”…  Those are the big words of our faith. As we enter the mystery and wonder of Christmas, let’s freely retell our story. On Christmas Eve, let’s gather to worship and sing “glory to the new born king.” It’s not exactly science. We do not claim scientific certitude. It’s not the kind of thing science figures out. It’s the mystery and wonder of our faith (1Tm 3:16).

For those of us who believe in “God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth”; we can trust our Creator to be faithful to his creation. There’s something more going on in that rainbow stretching across the sky than refracted light shining through water droplets. There’s always more.