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II. SCIENCE AND REVELATION
(Signs of the Times articles, 1884)
Science
"THE fool hath in his heart, There is no God." The
mightiest intellects of earth cannot comprehend God. If he reveals himself at
all to men, it is by veiling himself in mystery. His ways are past finding out.
Men must be ever searching. ever learning; and yet there is an infinity beyond.
Could they fully understand the purposes, wisdom, love, and character of God.
they would not believe in him as an infinite being, and trust him with the
interests of their souls. If they could fathom him, he would no longer stand
supreme.
There are men who think they have made wonderful discoveries in science.
They quote the opinions of learned men as though they considered them
infallible, and teach the deductions of science as truths that cannot be
controverted. And the word of God, which is given as a lamp to the feet of the
world-weary traveler, is judged by this standard, and pronounced wanting. The
scientific research in which these men have indulged has proved a snare to them.
It has clouded their minds, and they have drifted into skepticism. They have a
consciousness of power; and instead of looking to the Source of all wisdom, they
triumph in the smattering of knowledge they may have gained. They have exalted
their human wisdom in opposition to the wisdom of the great and mighty God, and
have dared to enter into controversy with him. The word of inspiration
pronounces these men "fools."
God has permitted a flood of light to be poured upon the world in
discoveries in science and art; but when professedly scientific men lecture and
write upon these subjects from a merely human stand-point, they will assuredly
come to wrong conclusions. The greatest minds, if not guided by the word of God
in their research, become bewildered in their attempts to investigate the
relations of science and revelation. The Creator and his works are beyond their
comprehension; and because they cannot explain these by natural laws, Bible
history is considered unreliable. Those who doubt the reliability of the records
of the Old and New Testaments, will be led to go a step farther, and doubt the
existence of God; and then, having let go their anchor, they are left to beat
about upon the rocks of infidelity. Moses wrote under the guidance of the Spirit
of God, and a correct theory of geology will never claim discoveries that cannot
be reconciled with his statements. The idea that many stumble over, that God did
not create matter when he brought the world into existence, limits the power of
the Holy One of Israel.
Many, when they find themselves incapable of measuring the Creator and his
works by their own imperfect knowledge of science, doubt the existence of God
and attribute infinite power to nature. These persons have lost the simplicity
of faith, and are removed far from God in mind and spirit. There should be a
settled faith in the divinity of God's holy word. The Bible is not to be tested
by men's ideas of science, but science is to be brought to the test of this
unerring standard. When the Bible makes statements of facts in nature, science
may be compared with the written word, and a correct understanding of both will
always prove them to be in harmony. One does not contradict the other. All
truth, whether in nature or revelation, agrees. Scientific research will open to
the minds of the really wise vast fields of thought and information. They will
see God in his works, and will praise him. He will be to them first and best,
and the mind will be centered upon him. Skeptics, who read the Bible for the
sake of caviling, through ignorance claim to find decided contradictions between
science and revelation. But man's measurement of God will never be correct. The
mind unenlightened by God's Spirit will ever be in darkness in regard to his
power.
Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. Those who have no vital union
with God are swayed one way and another; they put men's opinions in the front,
and God's word in the background. They grasp human assertions, that judgment
against sin is contrary to God's benevolent character, and, while dwelling upon
infinite benevolence, try to forget that there is such a thing as infinite
justice.
When we have right views of the power, greatness, and majesty of God, and of
the weakness of man, we shall despise the assumptions of wisdom made by earth's
so-called great men, who have none of Heaven's nobility in their characters.
There is nothing for which men should be praised or exalted. There is no reason
why the opinions of the learned should be trusted, when they are disposed to
measure divine things by their own perverted conceptions. Those who serve God
are the only ones whose opinion and example it is safe to follow. A sanctified
heart quickens and intensifies the mental powers. A living faith in God imparts
energy; it gives calmness and repose of spirit, and strength and nobility of
character.
Men of science think that with their enlarged conceptions they can
comprehend the wisdom of God, that which he has done or can do. The idea largely
prevails that he is bounded and restricted by his own laws. Men either deny and
ignore his existence, or think to explain everything, even the operations of his
Spirit upon the human heart, by natural laws; and they no longer reverence his
name or fear his power. While they think they are gaining everything, they are
chasing bubbles, and losing precious opportunities to become acquainted with
God. They do not believe in the supernatural, not realizing, that the Author of
nature's laws can work above those laws. They deny the claims of God, and
neglect the interests of their own souls; but his existence, his character, his
laws, are facts that the reasoning of men of the highest attainments cannot
overthrow.
The pen of inspiration thus describes the power and majesty of God: "Who
hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with
the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the
mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? . . . Behold, the nations are
as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold,
he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to
burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before
him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and
vanity. . . . It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a
curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in."
Nature is a power, but the God of nature is unlimited in power. His works
interpret his character. Those who judge him from his handiworks, and not from
the suppositions of great men, will see his presence in everything. They behold
his smile in the glad sunshine, and his love and care for man in the rich fields
of autumn. Even the adornments of the earth, as seen in the grass of living
green, the lovely flowers of every hue, and the lofty and varied trees of the
forest, testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God, and to his desire to
make his children happy.
The power of the great God will be exerted in behalf of those that fear him.
Listen to the words of the prophet: "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard,
that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He
giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth
strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they
shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they
shall walk, and not faint."
In the word of God many queries are raised that the most profound scholars
can never answer. Attention is called to these subjects to show us how many
things there are, even among the common things of every-day life, that finite
minds, with all their boasted wisdom, can never fully comprehend.
All the systems of philosophy devised by men have led to confusion and shame
when God has not been recognized and honored. To lose faith in God is terrible.
Prosperity cannot be a great blessing to nations or individuals, when once faith
in his word is lost. Nothing is truly great but that which is eternal in its
tendencies. Truth, justice, mercy, purity, and the love of Gods, are
imperishable. When men possess these qualities, they are brought into close
relationship to God, and are candidates for the highest exaltation to which the
race can aspire. They will disregard human praise, and will be superior to
disappointment, weariness, the strife of tongues, and contentions for supremacy.
He whose soul is imbued with the Spirit of God will learn the lesson of
confiding trust. Taking the written word as his counselor and guide, he will
find in science an aid to understand God, but he will riot become exalted, till,
in his blind self-conceit; he is a fool in his ideas of God.
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Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, 10:[161], 162, March 13, 1884.
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