Monday, July 27, 2009

Chasing Immortality and the Absurdity of Certainty

Over the last several years I have been wrestling with death. The closer I get, the more honest I become about my faith in God as opposed to my knowledge about the future --including heaven and (what is referred to in Christian circles as) salvation.

My humility about what I do and don't know has led to real anxiety that the atheists have a lock on truth/reality not to mention courage since they are willing to admit that death is the end. A while back I realized that for many atheists, the finality of death may be as much wishful thinking as heaven is for Christians. Maybe it would take more courage for an atheist to contemplate facing God.

This week as I thought about what I learned in Geology at SMU from Wendy Williams dad (I was thinking about this course because I was wondering if Thomas would take Geology at Hope from Ed Hansen, our friend), I remembered the detailed slides Dr. Williams showed about the evolution of the reproductive system. I, admittedly predisposed to it, found myself completely skeptical about the evolutionary history of reproduction. It looked like some observation plus a lot of hopeful rationalization. Clearly, the atheistic view places as much "faith" in evolution as I do in God.

At the time this felt like a proof of God. It isn't that.

It is a reminder that all knowledge is based on what we know and what we want (or believe or desire) to be true. The atheists believe that their position is stronger than mine, just as my evangelical friends truly believe their position is stronger than the atheists.

I, wise person that I am, recognize the absurdity of certainty.

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