"Geometry, the
first and noblest of sciences is the basis on which the
superstructure of Freemasonry is erected. By Geometry, we may
curiously trace nature through her various windings to her most
concealed recesses. By it, we discover the wisdom, power and
goodness of the Grand Architect of the Universe and view with delight
the proportions which connect this vast machine. By it we discover
how the planets move in their respective orbits and demonstrate their
various revolutions."
I recall sitting in a
science class in high school. Our teacher, Mr. Mohr, dropped a chunk
of sodium into a beaker of water. The sodium instantly fizzed up and
zooped around the beaker like an out of control power boat. Then it
burst into flames and finally exploded as the students oohed and
aahed. When the rumbling subsided, the diabolical Mr. Mohr called on
an unfortunate student, "Henry, what made it do that?"
Henry beamed, "God."
The class thought it was
funny. Mr. Mohr, who had the sense of humor of a wounded gorilla,
didn't. In his own gruff and unsympathetic way he explained that
just because we don't understand something doesn't mean it's a direct
result of God's action.
True, but in fact the
Masonic ritual teaches there is a relationship between God and the
physical universe. From that relationship, as we learn in the Second
Degree lecture, we can not only observe the magnificence of the
Creator, but also draw moral symbolism from metaphors we see in His
physical creation.
God and science are not at
war. They can't be.
Think about that… they can't be.
It is we humans, who don't have all the answers when it comes to
understanding either God or science, who somehow perceive there is a
war. As Henry discovered, it's a slippery slope to take something we
don't understand, stop research, and conclude it's God's work; in
that event, what happens when we discover the scientific principle
behind it? Historically, many have taken the stance that the research
is wrong in the face of overwhelming evidence that it is, in fact,
right.
In the 17th
century, for example, humans did not understand the solar system. It
was taken as scientific and religious fact that the sun circled the
earth (Psalm 104 tells us: "He set the
earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." ~Psalm 104:5, NIV)."
When scientists proved the earth, in fact, did orbit the sun, rather
than being inconsistent with God's design, it revealed
it. The church, however, still didn't warm up to the concept right
away. Today, scientists and virtually all religious establishments
know it to be an incontrovertible fact.
Today's hot buttons
include evolution, the "Big Bang Theory" and a few more
points of contention. Regardless of your point of view on these
issues, the facts for each are overwhelming; and with some religious
groups challenging scientific evidence we are, on some level, back in
the 17th century.
Scientific discoveries are not political, not vindictive and not
anti-God. They are based on fact. (Not, by the way, just on
observation — any idiot can observe daily that the sun circles the
earth). These discoveries don't offer proof of God one way or the
other. They prove we have learned more about God's universe and, as
we are admonished, should "view with delight" all such
revelations.
What these scientific
discoveries do prove is that God is bigger and more complex than we
can ever comprehend. So complex, in fact, that when asked to prove
God exists, famed theologian and Freemason Peter Marshall responded,
"How could my tiny mind prove God?"
The Reverend Marshall went
further. He turned the tables and asked his questioners to prove
they existed. Fact is, he was onto something. Any legitimate,
credible scientist today will tell you, your body is nothing but
energy. Your house, everything inside it, the trees outside, the
very ground you walk on is nothing but energy. This is not some kind
of New Age folderol; it's scientific fact. Sounds kind of spiritual,
doesn't it? Or, as Dr. Wayne Dyer put it, "You are not a body
with a soul. You are a soul with a body"
If what you personally
believe about God seems inconsistent with scientific facts, consider
this: scientists have already observed the world of relativity and
the quantum world appear completely incompatible. Yet, they coexist!
Can't God coexist along with them even with perceived
inconsistencies? And don't we know on some level all those
inconsistencies have to iron themselves out, even if that process is
beyond our human capability to figure out?
So many concepts still
baffle our best scientists: dark matter and dark energy; the nature
of time and matter inside black holes — the "singularity";
a unified theory; the possibility of parallel universes; backwards
time travel; dimensions beyond the three (four, if you count time) we
live in; quantum entanglement, a phenomenon so strange and baffling
that Einstein called it "spooky." To each of these, the
best scientific minds around would say, "We just don't
completely understand." Or, perhaps more accurately, "We
just don't have all the facts."
Many, even some
scientists, think there may be spiritual elements to these mysteries.
The scientists, however, will not draw conclusions without proven
facts — pesky hindrances that some outside the scientific community
have the luxury of ignoring. In our lifetimes, we will most likely
solve some of these mysteries. To many, those discoveries will not
just reveal scientific facts. They will also give us greater insight
into the wisdom, power and goodness of the Grand Architect of the
Universe.
And I, for one, finding
far more spirituality in science than science in spirituality,
anticipate each new discovery with delight.
For the Whence Came You
podcast, this is Steve Harrison with the Masonic Minute.
