Where do science and theology converge?

The typical answer is that they converge in Genesis chapter 1. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…” To the modern Western mind this makes perfect sense. We like linear logic, therefore when we talk about science or theology (often times either confusing the two or treating them as the same) we want to go to the starting point. We, being very Greek-ish, want to trace all causes and effects back to their original, static source. It makes sense, right?

I want to posit an alternative. (Granted, my thinking on this topic is in a VERY primitive state. Maybe you can offer some feedback to help me think this through.) My suggestion is this:

Science and theology converge not in the creation, but in the Incarnation.

As science delves ever more deeply into the inner workings of the material universe, it is becoming ever more clear that built into it from its conception is incredible design -- not just design, but design with an end in mind. Therefore, the question of design leads naturally to the question of purpose. In my estimation, the Eastern church has a better grasp on articulating the topic of purpose than the West. Perhaps that is because they are not bound up in linear logic, but instead are free to view things from the end first and then on back.

I have a sneaky suspicion that as cosmology and teleology are coupled together we start to see that science and theology inevitably find their beginning and end in the God-man, Jesus Christ. He alone offers an explanation for creation and consummation. He is the Alpha and the Omega, and this can be best understood from the end backwards, not the other way around. Purposeful design implies a purposeful, and in my mind personal, designer.

The author of I John understood this full well:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life -- the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us -- that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (I John 1:1-3)

It is this Word of Life who became incarnate and entered into the material world. He can be touched, seen, and heard with the physical senses. And yet he transcends the material and gives definition to otherwise meaningless empirical data. He reveals that material is not without purpose, but instead finds its meaning and definition in its consummation. He alone answers the best questions that science, theology, and philosophy have to offer. He truly, definitively, and absolutely IS.

I know this is very unpolished thought and speech. Those of you who have been following my work for some time know that I don’t normally share thoughts this raw (in my own mind). I earnestly invite you to think out loud with me on the inner workings of this line of thinking as well as its implications (if any). I assure you that as my thinking on this topic develops I will revisit this discussion in future posts.

Labels: theology