BY MART DE GROOT
The following is an edited transcript of the devotional message for August 27, 2002, presented to the International Faith and Science Conference held in Ogden, Utah, U.S.A.--Editors.
OR ME, SCIENCE MEANS ASTRONOMY, one of the oldest of the pure sciences. And the best for expanding the mind (even if the universe should ultimately prove not to be expanding).
Expansion of the mind. That's what we need to comprehend. Astronomy is still the subject of cosmology and faith.
In 1976 I applied for the directorship of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland. On my first get-acquainted visit to the observatory, I found out that it was established in 1790 by an archbishop of the Church of Ireland, and that if I were accepted, my boss would be the current archbishop. In the late 1700s natural theology was still an option, a fact clearly shown in the seal of the governors of the observatory, which carries the first words of Psalm 19: "The heavens declare the glory of God."* It felt like coming home.
But how does one interpret these words in the twenty-first century?
I took "heavens" to mean the first and second heavens of the Bible, namely Earth's atmosphere and the wider universe beyond. "Glory" was a bit more difficult, but in my opinion, Ellen White's explanation still holds true. Discussing the glory of God Moses requested to see, she asks, "What is this glory?" Her answer: "The character of God. This is what He proclaimed to Moses."1 Thus, my rendering of Psalm 19:1: "The universe shows us God's character in the things He has created."
The Creator intended that our observation of "the work of his hands" should lead us to Himself before we go off in the different directions defined as "pure" science, "observational" science, "theoretical" science, and "applied" science. In fact, what really constitutes pure science is the correct application of observations that leads to a good theory or concept of God.
A second pointer in the same direction is found in Isaiah 40:26: "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?" Note that the text says "Who," not "How," a simple but very significant permutation of letters!
Thus, apart from the Word of God, written or incarnate, the study of creation in nature is one of the most powerful and effective ways of getting to know God. "To Adam and Eve nature was teeming with divine wisdom."2
It should, therefore, come as no surprise that Satan has tried to obliterate the image of God in creation. In this he has succeeded quite well. Because of transgression, says Ellen G. White, "man was cut off from learning of God through direct communion and, to a great degree, through His works. The earth, marred and defiled by sin, reflects but dimly the Creator's glory."3
But don't we agree that the universe is free from sin? And that, therefore, in the universe we may find the least spoiled--maybe even completely unspoiled--manifestation of God's work and character? Ellen White agrees: "The heavens may be to them [the youth] a study book, from which they may learn lessons of intense interest. The moon and the star may be their companions, speaking to them in the most eloquent language of the love of God."4 The moon with its dust, the sun with its spots, planets with their rings, and planetary satellites with their volcanoes point to a surprisingly different concept of perfection. "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts'" (Isa. 55:8, 9).
The workings of gravity on Earth and in space, rainbows and gaseous nebulae, atomic bombs and nuclear explosions, stellar nucleosynthesis and energy production--all these are governed by laws that are valid everywhere. "I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts" (Heb. 8:10). Stars of different colors and sizes--from neutron stars (a mere 10 miles in diameter), to the sun (some 930,000 miles in diameter), to red supergiant stars (150 million miles in diameter), to nebulae and galaxies, of which no two are the same--all speak of variety. This same variety exists between human beings. We see it, for example, in the four Gospels, their varied approach to the Jesus story geared to reach a variety of audiences. Solar outbursts, Jupiter's Red Spot, exploding stars, and colliding galaxies all speak of the tremendous power of a dynamic God. The enormous distances and sizes of things in the universe, and the very long times needed even for light to reach us from distant stars, all tell us that God is big. Surely the study of the universe will keep us from the danger of arriving at the conclusion that our God is too small.
Back to Psalm 19 and Isaiah 40. The heavens declare God's glory, His character. They prompt us to lift Him up because of the beauty of His character, because of who He is. "In the study of the sciences also we are to obtain a knowledge of the Creator. All true science is but an interpretation of the handwriting of God in the material world. Science brings from her research only fresh evidences of the wisdom and power of God. Rightly understood, both the book of nature and the written word make us acquainted with God by teaching us something of the wise and beneficent laws through which He works."5
There is a caveat, however: "In our fallen state, with weakened powers and restricted vision, we are incapable of interpreting aright. We need the fuller revelation of Himself that God has given in His written Word."6
This, then, is the reason we have two books about God, the Bible and the book of nature--special revelation and general revelation, theology and natural science. It reminds me of a statement made by Albert Einstein: "Religion without science is blind, and science without religion is lame"7 The two disciplines need each other to arrive at valid conclusions. Of course, we do realize that both books need to be interpreted correctly. In this context it is good to remember that the answer to the questions "Do we know all the laws of physics?" and "Do we understand all the nuances of biblical Hebrew?" is the same: "no."
Yet even with these limitations, our mission is the same as that of Jesus: Father, He said, "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do" (John 17:4). That's also our reason for existence. Paul had much to say about God's glory in his epistle to the Ephesians: "To the praise of his glorious grace," he wrote in one place (Eph. 1:6). And in others he spoke about: "the praise of his glory" (verses 12, 14); "to him be glory" (Eph. 3:21). He emphasized that God's glory was to be proclaimed especially in this time of the end (see Eph. 1:10, 14; 2:7), on observation entirely in line with John's statement in Revelation 14:7: "Fear God and give him glory. . . . Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
So how do you bring glory to God? How do you find out about His character so that you can share it with others for His glory? Whatever your discipline, God has entrusted into your hands a tool for His glory. Use it for Him!
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*Bible texts in this article are from the new International Version.
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1 Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, p. 417.
2 White, Education, p. 17.
3 Ibid.
4 White, in Youth's Instructor, Oct. 25, 1900.
5 White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 599.
6 White, Education, p. 17.
7 P. Frank, Einstein: his life and times (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947).
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After a 40-year career in astronomy, during which he served as director of the Armagh Observatory in northern Ireland, Mart de Groot is now an associate pastor in the Irish Mission.
