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Science-Compatible
Faith --
Are We Worthy of God's Creation? From Reflections on the Worthiness of Human Creation by K. T. Chang The Christian faith demands a believer to accept without
question a number of claims which have no relation to proper behavior
(isn’t that the purpose of any religious teaching?), these are: the
virgin birth, the resurrection, and the ascension. In this age of
cloned mammals and GPS locater covering every foot of space in “heaven”
(and finding nothing), I think we need to redefine Christian faith as a
belief in the infallibility of creational design. By this I mean to
recognize God as the most competent Master of Engineering Designer
(beyond, and way beyond, the engineering sophistication achieved by
mankind). At the same time, God is an artist. This is evident in the
beauty of the plants, flowers, bird plumage, and colorful sea life (and
far more significantly, the aptitude for art, such as music and
painting, by his crown creation, the human beings). Again, I have to
repeat that a humanlike God is only for the convenience of an imagined
dialogue, it is entirely fictional – the Creator can only be defined by
his guidance of the energy pathway, and we must not assume for him a
physical presence. This new faith will no longer contest each bioscience
discovery as heresy, but, on the contrary, seek to strengthen the
belief in the supernatural power of the designer with each revelation.
Stated in another way, this faith negates the Christian concept of
father and son, as in a family, but proposes a truer relationship – a
great designer and his creations. Thus, God does not need to be
worshipped, or feared. He has accomplished a grandest of miracles,
creating a mind in his likeness from the waste heat of a star. For our
part, we do have an assignment of duty: to understand the limits of
this gift of life and to use this gift in a manner worthy of God’s
creation. ©2008 K. T. Chang. All rights reserved.
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