Exodus Decoded – Science vs God

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

This is my final bit on The Exodus Decoded on the History Channel. One of the frequent comments left on Chris Heard’s website was that because he was pointing out Simcha’s errors/oversights/manipulations he has no faith and he was making the blog and the program all about the science. Actally Chris was just dealing with Simcha’s stated beliefs/observations that the 10 plagues could be proven be science. Simcha took God out of the Biblical 10 plagues, not Chris.

My question is why can’t we come up with a scientific explanations for God’s creations? If God uses the Earth to send us a message… should we take that message less seriously? No, of course not. Think back to a place and time when you could have been in the middle of a great tragedy, but weren’t because you decided to go the other way. Or even missed a huge traffic jam because you went home a way that you is normally off your route. Why did these things happen? A subtle push by a Divine hand of which you aren’t aware? But just because it’s scientific doesn’t mean it’s not divine. But then again on the other hand… just because it’s a big earth quake or tsunami doesn’t mean there’s a reason behind it. It could just be the earth stretching. It a fine line to be sure. Science isn’t always the answer. It may, in time, be able to explain many things in the Bible, but I don’t think it will ever explain everything. Which is ok in my opinion. The Bible is about faith, not science.

Will we ever find the reasons behind the 10 plagues? Maybe, but we probably won’t. Which, in my opinion, is fine. The Bible is about faith, not science. I think the Bible is a collection of stories that teach us to be better people. Are they real? It’s hard to imagine a 900 year old man doing anything but being a mummy. In a time when the average lifespan was 25, even a person 75 would have out lived 2 generations! So maybe… just maybe… some things are exaggerated. Slowly the archeology is catching up with the Bible. That’s science, isn’t it?

Not all things in life should be explained, even if it’s just a simple card trick. It’s about keeping a sense of wonder at the glories we have given to us every day. Look at a sunrise or a sunset or a rainbow. We can explain them with science. Does that make them any less amazing or beautiful? Not to me. It’s God taking his paint brush and painting us a daily reminder of how good life is.