Sentilong Ozukum
The mentality that modern humanity has descended to is amazing. Somehow here in the 21st Century we have so many who holds the opinion that if you can’t prove scientifically it’s not true. Well, that’s not true. The great English journalist Malcolm Muggeridge once quipped, “We have educated ourselves into imbecility.” There are minds in our society who are of the opinion that a thing cannot be true if it cannot be proven scientifically. I met a group of such minds some time ago while attending a seminar organized by the Physics Department in College. I was at the seminar on the invitation of a friend of mine who happened to be one of the participants at the Seminar. This scientifically minded group was discussing at length about the changes brought in our thinking and our life style by the advancement in Science and Technology. I turned my attention towards their discussion and was somewhat captivated by their engaging dialogues. They were all sharing the view that religion was false and that only Science can lift humanity to the highest point and not religion. They went on to say that in the future Science would destroy all the existing religious beliefs and faiths. For a moment I was tempted to challenge their views but I preferred to be seated in my chair realizing that I was only an average Arts student in the midst of scientific minds in a Scientific Seminar. One of them who seemed to be the leader of the group went a step ahead of the rest when he said, “We cannot believe anything blindly unless it is backed by a scientific explanation. All these stuffs in the Bible about Jesus dying in a cross, rising from the dead, healing the blind and the lame etc cannot be believed blindly because they cannot be proven scientifically.”
The last sentence literally hooked me off my chair. It really got me on my nerves. I found myself walking towards this little scientific group. So I approached them and politely asked, “Can I disagree with you?”
They all looked at me surprised. Maybe they were never challenged like that before.
“Yeah” said one of them.
So I shared my views and told them that I had been listening to their interesting discussion for the last few minutes but could not find myself agreeing with what they just said about Jesus and the other stuffs which they said could not be explained scientifically. “I think you are confusing between scientific proof and historical proof.” I told them.
“Explain yourself” he said.
So I continued, “Well, there are certain facts which cannot be proven scientifically and just because they cannot be proven scientifically does not mean that they are not true.”
“I don’t get you. Would you please illustrate a little what you just said now?” asked one of them.
I scanned the floor and to my delight saw a pen cover. So I picked up the pen cap and asked them, “How did this pen cap reach the floor?” Without waiting for their reply I continued, “This pen cap reached the floor obeying Newton’s Law of Gravity.” Saying that I dropped the pen cap and down it accelerated to the floor with a little thud. I continued, “I think I’m right when I say that the pen cap fell to the ground with a velocity of 9.8m/s² until it reached the floor.” They all nodded their head.
“My point is” I continued, “that the scientific method can only be used to prove repeatable things. It cannot be used for proving or disproving many questions about a person or event in history. For example- We all know Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of our Nation. But can you prove it scientifically?”
“Of course we can.” said a new voice. I was a little surprised. It was now my turn to say Explain yourself. He answered very rapidly, “Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of our Nation. It is written in all the history textbooks, GK books and even his image is printed in our currency.”
“You have a problem” I said. “That’s not scientific. I don’t think History text books and Physics text books go together. In fact what you just explained now is the legal historical proof. Can you apply the laws of physics, chemistry and biology to prove that Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of our Nation?”
There was silence all around. I studied their faces. Some of them seemed to agree. Others were looking for loopholes. So I concluded, “The scientific method is not appropriate for questions like -Is Manmohan Singh the present Prime Minister of India? Did I attend Physics or History class yesterday? Did Jesus ever live? Or Is Jesus the Son of God? They all seemed to agree with me. So I shook their hands, thanked them for their time and we all returned to our respective seats and waited for the Seminar to begin.
Some months later after the incident I was taken aback by the comment of a university student friend of mine who said that there is no place for reason, science or intelligence in the Christian Faith. He sounded very much like the Atheist George H. Smith who said, “Christian theism must be rejected by any person with a shred of respect for reason.” But as a Christian one thing that has especially appealed to me over and over again is that the Christian faith is not a blind, ignorant belief but rather an intelligent faith. I find myself agreeing with Charles Colson who wrote, “Christian faith is not an irrational leap. Examined objectively, the claims of the Bible are rational propositions well supported by reason and evidence.” Every time in the Bible when a person is call upon to exercise faith, it’s an intelligent faith. When Christ was asked, “What is the greatest commandment of all?” He replied, “To love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind...”
The problem with most people is that they seem to stop with their hearts. The facts about Christ never get to their minds. The average young person today actually surrenders the intellect to the world, presuming Christianity to be bereft of it. Many a pulpit has succumbed to the lie that anything intellectual cannot be spiritual or exciting. We cannot leave this uncorrected. We’ve been given a mind innovated by the Holy Spirit to know God, as well as a heart to love him and a will to choose him. We need to function in all three areas to have a maximum relationship with God and to glorify him. I don’t know about the reader, but my heart can’t rejoice in what my mind has rejected. Honestly speaking what I believe in my heart must make sense in my mind. My heart and my mind were created to work in harmony together. Never has an individual been called upon to commit intellectual suicide in trusting Christ as the Saviour and Lord.
Maybe some of you are thinking what I have written is unscientific and misleading. Well that’s not scientific thinking either.
