Before the first pictographs were stenciled on cave walls, before the first words were pressed into clay tablets, God’s “eternal power and divine nature” was revealed in creation (Romans 1:20). Unlike other ancient origin myths in which the gods emerged from a primordial swamp, the God of the Bible eternally preexist space, time, and matter (Genesis 1:1). Nature as a source of revelation is a common theme among the biblical writers.
The psalmist sang out, “The heavens tell of the glory of God; and their expanse declares the work of His hands” (19:1; cf. Psalm 50:6). The apostle Paul tells us that God’s “invisible attributes”- omnipotence, omniscience, and eternity – can be discerned by thoughtful reflection on the world around us. Paul insists that creation itself renders humanity “without excuse” in proper acknowledgement of God (Romans 1:20-21). Lactantius, a fourth century Christian apologist, declared, “There is no one so uncivilized and ignorant who, when he looks up to the heavens, … does not understand … that the things that exist in such wonderful order must have been created by some higher intelligence…” (Divine Institutes 1.2–1.3).
Lactantius’ ancient declaration continues to find voices of support in our own scientific age. Albert Einstein, the most celebrated physicist of the early twentieth century, did not believe in the notion of a personal god. Even so, he could not bring himself to deny the that the advances of science moved him to a “profound reverence for the relationality made manifest in existence… the grandeur of reason incarnate in existence” (Ideas and Opinions, 1973, emphasis added). He insisted that “Everyone who is seriously engaged in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that the laws of nature manifest the existence of a spirit vastly superior to that of men, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble” (Quoted in Max Jammer, Einstein and Religion, 1999, emphasis added). Anthony Flew, a noted British philosopher who espoused atheism for fifty years attributed his conversion to theism to the wonders of DNA. He said, “What I think the DNA material has done is that it has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce (life), that intelligence must have been involved in getting these extraordinarily diverse elements to work together” (emphasis added). Flew identifies the intelligence as the Mind of God (There is A God, 2007).
John Calvin affirmed that humans can come to know God, to encounter God, in the “beautiful theater” of creation. He wrote,
There are innumerable evidences both in heaven and in earth that declare his wonderful wisdom; not only those more recondite matters for the closer observation of which astronomy, medicine, and all natural science are intended, but also those which thrust themselves upon the sight of even the most untutored and ignorant persons, so that they cannot open their eyes without being compelled to witness them. Indeed, men who have either quaffed or even tasted the liberal arts penetrate with their aid for more deeply into the secrets of divine wisdom… To be sure, there is need of art and of more exacting toil in order to investigate the motion of the stars, to determine their assigned stations, to measure their intervals, to note their properties. As God’s providence shows itself more explicitly when one observes these, so the mind must rise to a somewhat higher level to look upon his glory.
Calvin believed that we should “take pious delight in the works of God open and manifest in this most beautiful theater” because nature is the “first evidence” of God (Institutes of the Christian Religion 1, 1960). The natural sciences are helpful tools in discerning the glory of God.
John Wesley wrote, “How small a part of this great work of God is man able to understand! But it is our duty to contemplate what he has wrought, and to understand as much of it as we are able… Let us, then, by the assistance of that Spirit who giveth unto man understanding, endeavor to take a general survey of the works which God made in this lower world…” (Works, 3rd ed., vol. 6, 1872, emphasis added).
The American scientist, George Washington Carver, believed that “science is simply the truth about anything.” He often said that his scientific insight was divinely inspired. He wrote, “More and more as we come closer and closer in touch with nature and its teachings are we able to see the Divine and are therefore fitted to interpret correctly the various languages spoken by all forms of nature about us” (Quoted in: Gary R. Kremer, George Washington Carver: In His Own Words, 2nd Ed., 2017, emphasis added).
Just as the student of sacred scripture must employ the proper hermeneutic, the student of the natural sciences must employ an adequate hermeneutic that recognizes God as creator and correctly interprets the languages of nature. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth” who will guide us “into all the truth” (John 16:13). Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit gives the church “the word of wisdom” and “the word of knowledge” (1 Corinthians 12:8). These charisms are not limited to theological insight, but may also offer insight into technology and the natural sciences (Exodus 31:3; 35:31; 36:1; 1 Kings 7:14; Job 28:1-11; Proverbs 6:6; 30:24-33; Matthew 16:2-3). The ancient sage declared, “the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding” (Job 32:8). Pentecostals should embrace the role of the Holy Spirit who gifts us with the charism to interpret the various languages of nature and reveal to us the mysteries of creation (1 Corinthians 12:10; 14:5, 13).
Click here to read “Engaging Science in Pastoral Ministry.”
