One of the sins of evangelicalism is that it has canceled the joy of wonder in so many people. As children, we are born with an innate sense of wonder as we learn about the world around us. Unfortunately, religion has a way of stuffing that wonder into a box. As Carl Sagan wrote in Pale Blue Dot, “How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, ‘This is better than we thought!'” No, science is usually seen as a threat to the flat earth, the earth-centered universe, or the seven-day creation, as is archeology. Instead of the joy of wonder, there is a fear that knowledge can threaten our faith.
To me, this all comes down to a belief in a small god–a wizard of Oz sort who is afraid of someone tearing back the curtain to reveal the truth. It is no wonder that so many people refuse to believe in such a god. I refuse to believe in one myself.
You Need A Bigger God
Do you really think the creator of the universe is afraid of scientists discovering some secret about how he cheated in his creation, or that perhaps God never guessed that science would ever discover dinosaur bones? Do you think God would really think we’d never notice that there were a few contradictions in the Bible accounts? Does God worry about how much knowledge some humans are amassing?
I really think that many Christians are afraid that their God is inferior to “the world,” so they, too, live in fear with that same feeling of inferiority. One of the ways this comes out is in super-religiosity, like fundamentalism and Christian Nationalism. It’s putting faith in earthly power rather than in God, who is perceived to be inferior to man’s power.
Now consider this: Do you really think God wants his followers to be totally clueless about creation–the expanding universe, the human genome, and so on–while the rest of the world figures it out?
Recovering the Joy Of Wonder
I believe in a God who is bigger than science, and politics, and religion, populism. I believe in a God who isn’t afraid of man’s knowledge (or lack of it). I love science, and logic, and reason. My faith in God isn’t hindered by discussions about who really wrote the Gospel of John (I personally still believe John did), or the various changes made to the Septuagint from the original languages. My faith doesn’t rise or fall on a literal reading of Genesis. I believe in a huge God, and all knowledge to me is a source of wonder as I believe it all leads to a wonder-ful God.
