"You gotta serve somebody" Bob Dylan
I was reading somewhere recently that when the Big Bang Theory was first proposed there was an intense backlash from scientists wishing to deny it. This theory, is seems, could lend itself to the notion of a beginning to the known Universe, or, more pointedly, a creation. And this just wouldn't do. No these learned men had pre-determined that there was no God, no Creator and were quite comfortable with that state of affairs. They would brook no disruption of their tidy cosmology.
But why, I thought, would scientists - presumably dispassionate seekers of truth - be so willing to reject a scientific theory based on its philosophical ramifications? Surely they of all men would wish to follow Jefferson's prescription to "follow the truth wherever it may lead."
Well, the answer is, I think, the human will. Scientists for all of their talent are still simply men and subject to the full gamut of human folly, and willfulness is chief among our follies. These men, as all men, simply wished to walk their own road free of the haunting conviction to do otherwise common to the believer.
Overcoming this drive to elevate self - to set ourselves up as our own gods - is the central struggle of Mankind. All Earthly strife flows from this. But Jesus instructed us to deny ourselves and follow him. Paul spoke of the daily struggle to "die to ourselves." And the believer must strive to do just that.
I think it was C.S.Lewis that said "...In the end there are two kinds of people. Those who say to God 'Thy will be done', and those to whom God says thy will be done." In other words, God doesn't banish the non-believer. He banishes himself. For those outside of His will, only destruction awaits.
Where am I outside of the will of God? How better to "die" to myself today. Help me understand, Lord.
I was reading somewhere recently that when the Big Bang Theory was first proposed there was an intense backlash from scientists wishing to deny it. This theory, is seems, could lend itself to the notion of a beginning to the known Universe, or, more pointedly, a creation. And this just wouldn't do. No these learned men had pre-determined that there was no God, no Creator and were quite comfortable with that state of affairs. They would brook no disruption of their tidy cosmology.
But why, I thought, would scientists - presumably dispassionate seekers of truth - be so willing to reject a scientific theory based on its philosophical ramifications? Surely they of all men would wish to follow Jefferson's prescription to "follow the truth wherever it may lead."
Well, the answer is, I think, the human will. Scientists for all of their talent are still simply men and subject to the full gamut of human folly, and willfulness is chief among our follies. These men, as all men, simply wished to walk their own road free of the haunting conviction to do otherwise common to the believer.
Overcoming this drive to elevate self - to set ourselves up as our own gods - is the central struggle of Mankind. All Earthly strife flows from this. But Jesus instructed us to deny ourselves and follow him. Paul spoke of the daily struggle to "die to ourselves." And the believer must strive to do just that.
I think it was C.S.Lewis that said "...In the end there are two kinds of people. Those who say to God 'Thy will be done', and those to whom God says thy will be done." In other words, God doesn't banish the non-believer. He banishes himself. For those outside of His will, only destruction awaits.
Where am I outside of the will of God? How better to "die" to myself today. Help me understand, Lord.
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