Beetles and Thunderstorms
Believers and non-believers are both humans and have to
live with the limitations that come with being human. However difficult
it is do we need to retain some degree of modesty. Even if the believer
knew beyond the possibility of doubt that there is a God who has shown
himself to us in and as Jesus Christ it wouldn't follow that she knew
everything about that God. It's amusing (and occasionally irritating) to
hear people talk as if they had a direct line with God who tells them
everything he thinks about everything. And no matter what they decide to
do or say or think, it appears that God has given them explicit
instructions in the matter. Must be nice to have that kind of assurance.
It's almost amusing to hear some non-believers speak in the same
oracular fashion. They don't profess to have an omniscient advisor but
they speak as if with their own intellectual powers they all the
answers. It's true that not all believers or non-believers are like this
but there are enough of us to go around.
I'm sure we aren't to live as if we can't be sure of anything! G.K.
Chesterton rightly chided those whose modesty wouldn't allow them to
assert that 2+2=4 but in between that and speaking as though we had
universal knowledge there is a great chasm.
A beetle born during a thunderstorm and dying before it ended might
not have a balanced view of creation. Presumably adult humans will be
able to acknowledge the reality of the storm but put it in perspective.
Maybe it's all right to make our judgements provisional. Maybe it's
okay to speak with firmness and conviction while still acknowledging
that new truths might lead us to re-think our conclusions or at least to
reshape them a bit. Isn't that what we hear when Jesus the Christ said
both, "Judge righteous judgements" and "Judge not"?
Being a convinced believer in Jesus Christ I speak (or at least try
to) with conviction but if it could be proved that Jesus didn't rise I'd
have to confess that my faith is vain and my gospel is nonsense. Maybe a
long "conversation" with the biblical Christ would lead a non-believer
to rethink his or her conclusions. Maybe one tiny life, even a sincere
tiny life, isn't grounds enough to close the door to God.