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Enlightenment and Faith ...

Thursday, May 21, 2015. Humans are very human. We all are influenced by our environment. We all have grown up in a particular way, shaping our way to think, to feel, to approach problems and challenges. It can be helpful to look beyond our limits, to try to learn more, to move on. Life is a pilgrimage. And it continues to be a learning phase for everyone of us, where ever we stand!

Science and faith in a historical perspective …

When you look back into history, science and faith did not have an easy time together. After the initial 300 years of Christianity, where Christian faith was strongly suppressed by the Roman emperors, history dipped into what we call the medieval ages. Faith die not reign, nor did science or democracy. The church was hijeacked by people without much faith or understanding, and the whole society suffered.

After many crimes in the name of Christ, science and enlightment were coming back onto the stage of mankind from around 1500. Many early scientists had their particular Christian faith. Through many tears and times of suffering, the religious conflicts between protestants and catholics led to a significant freedom of choice for individuals.

But where do we see faith and science today? Are the problems resolved? I think they are not resolved. Science is an indispensible tool for us, we cannot imagine to live in this world without a scientific way to approach nature, life, technology and social questions. But we cannot live without faith either. We need to determine where we are and where we go. We need philosophy and the view beyond. We need God, we are in a very desperate need indeed!

Kids of enlightment …

I believe that we need to heal some historical wounds. We need to bring together some things which were separated by unfortunate historical processes. We need to remedy the relationship between science and faith. It belongs together. It is two sides of one coin.

The bible does not detest science - on the contrary. God has created this world, and he has given it to humans to live in it, to use it, to enjoy it, to understand it. We are called to explore what he has given to us! Science is a Christian duty, it is a command, which the Lord has given us. It is not in conflict to faith, but it is there to live faith. Science is good!

We can and need to claim that science does not contradict faith. It does not. Science is just our way to explore the world we are given. Curiosity and creativity and technology and insight is what the Lord wants us to develop and nurture on all levels of our life!

Of course, the eternal God also wants us to listen to him. He talks - through biblical words as well as through his people, to all those who live with him and walk with him. He has called us to listen - and to be careful, to inspect all what people say, and take the good things to learn from it. Enlightment and faith belong to each other. Enlightenment is Gods command and will for us, for everyone on this planet! (RWEP) ... more texts