Saturday, December 15, 2012

Technology and Theology

It has been said that historically man has progressed from being interested first in theology, and then philosophy, and today science. 

Initially man asked such questions of God as King David of Israel, Psalm 8, by saying, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him?"  In comparison to the vast universe, David asked how he was to understand himself and found his meaning and purpose in God.

During the Renaissance however the idea of "God is dead" ushered in a wave of philosophy that had man questioning the existence of God and thus his own existence.  Man had "progressed" to the point of not needing God to understand life.  The idea of God was replaced with the idea that man could create his own reality and define his own existence.  The doctors of philosophy taught that there was no absolute truth.

The twentieth century brought still more development in the "progress" of man.  The pursuit of science developed technology that was predicated on scientific absolutes.  Telescopes and microscopes increased man's ability to learn and computers increased our ability to process knowledge.  Science itself is dependent upon absolutes to discover what is true.  But scientist themselves can be bias against absolute truth in their pursuit of scientific truth.

Technology is a witness to the existence of God however because it depends upon and uses absolute truths.  We live in a universe of absolute truth that reveals "intelligent design" just as we see in technology.  Telescopes, microscopes and computers are created from scientists and technicians with knowledge.  And the scientists and technicians are also created from - Somebody - with much greater knowledge. 

Intelligent design points to a Designer, and humanity points to a personal Designer.  It's not a stretch to see that the universe was created by a tremendously awesome Designer.  And that brings us back to the existence and study of God, who is not dead but very much alive and well.  Technology is a witness for theology. 

Monday, October 8, 2012

Truly, Truly

One of the most interesting aspects of Jesus' teachings was that he claimed to be speaking True-Truth.  The Apostle John often quoted Jesus with the expression "Truly, truly" as he taught, such as in John 5:24.  "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.  He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life," ESV.  Some translations describe this as, "Most assuredly," such as the NKJV.  But others have translated it, "Verily, Verily." This is in reference to the Latin word for truth, Veritas.  In the Greek it is, "Amen, Amen."

This repetition of a word was the first century way of making emphasis or highlighting something as being very important.  It elevated something to a higher level of significance, and in this case, truth that was true truth, or objectively true.  This was set in contrast with everything that was merely opinion or personal perspective.  Jesus was speaking with the authority of God, and it was not just his opinion or perspective, it was God's truth.

The gospel of Christ is a multifaceted truth but essentially it is about the salvation of our souls for the glory of God.  We see from John 5:24 that Jesus affirmed that in faith we do not come into the eternal judgment of death but instead we come into eternal life.  This describes the redemption in Christ that is by grace and through faith, for those who believe.  This salvation brings conversion, justification, forgiveness, adoption, propitiation, reconciliation, sanctification, and even glorification to us in Christ.  And this affects all of life as we walk in faith.  We are new people in Christ because we have been "born again" and given Spiritual life from the Holy Spirit.  This is a great reality and not a myth.

Such a great truth is worthy to highlight, emphasize and proclaim.  It is a true-truth that we surely want to know when we approach our own death.  But it also is a truth that brings life into the here and now like nothing else can.  God is the One who sent Jesus into the world and he is the True-Truth, the Veritas, in all the universe.  He is not just a personal perspective of faith, he is the objective Truth in all the universe.

The Veritas Fellowship is a blog to share the True-Truth of God and the gospel of Christ to all of culture.