How do religion, science and miracles fit together?
Scripture for today: Romans 1:19-20
…for God himself made it plain. Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made.”
Christ tells us:
Matthew 11:4-6
“Go back and report to John
what you hear and see: the blind recover their sight, cripples walk, lepers are
cured, the deaf hear, dead men are raised to life, and the poor have the good
news preached to them. Blest is the man who finds no stumbling block in me.”
Peter Kreeft tells us: In the past, some Christians have opposed
science because they were afraid that it somehow threatened their faith. This
attitude is totally wrong…. no
discovery of any science has ever disproved any of the doctrines of Christianity. Every new thing we learn by
science about God’s world is a new understanding of God’s wisdom and a new
reason to praise and love him….. Do not let yourself be intimidated by atheists
who claim that science disproves God. That is like claiming that studying
Shakespeare’s plays disproves Shakespeare. If there were no God, there would be
no science, because there would be no world for science to know. Likewise,
belief in science does not contradict belief in miracles. Science studies the
way things usually work in the world, and it formulates laws to express these
ways. Miracles are exceptions to these laws, but miracles presuppose these
laws. If there were no scientific laws, there would be no sense in calling
anything a miracle. Exceptions to a law do not disprove the law. Suppose the
President pardons a criminal. The laws of the court still hold, but the President
adds something else from outside. The laws of the court are like the laws of
science, and Presidential pardon is like a miracle…. If there is a God, there
can be miracles. If there is no God, there can be no miracles, because there is
no one who has the supernatural power to do them. God created the world by intelligent
design. That is why science is possible. It is not an accident that science
arose in the West, which believed in the doctrine of the Creation, not in the
Orient, which did not. Most of the great scientists in history have been Jews,
Christians, and Muslims, because these three religions believe that the world
is created, therefore intelligently designed, ordered. Science and religion are
allies, not enemies. (Your Questions, God’s
Answers, Ignatius Press1994)
Prayer: Splendor of Creation (Lucien Deiss, C.S.Sp.)
O my soul, arise and bless the
Lord God. O Lord, in majesty, enrobed with power and eternal might.You are clothed with splendor and with beauty, O God, and heavenly light is like a cloud that conceals your face. You have built your palace on the waters; on wings of wind and fire You reign in heaven, rule supreme on earth. Like the winds your angels fly before you; as fire and flaming light your ministers stand before your throne. Praise to God, the Father, Son and Spirit, to God who gives us life; our thanks, return, now and evermore.
My thoughts: Peter Kreeft makes a clear case for God, the creator
of the universe, and for science, the body of men and women who strive to make
sense of it all. In the midst of the creation of God, and its natural laws, are
miracles. Thank God for miracles. The blind see, the lame walk, the
cancer-filled patient is cured. God has a reason for His miracles. He uses them
to teach an important lesson, which is to me, that no matter how learned and
scientific we are, the only real truth and power in this world lies in God. If
science says it can’t be done, and then it is done, we call that a miracle. It’s
just a little reminder of who is in charge. Thank God it isn’t man.
Our prayer to God: It is a beautiful thing to see the miracles in
our lives, the little miracles that make our lives so special. Let us take time
today to thank God for the miracles we have seen and for the ones for which we
still pray. In everything, give thanks.
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