God and Nature 2025 #1
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By Robert Strauss
As a Christ-follower at a mainstream Christian church in Texas and a geoscience educator at a Christian university, I confront many situations that expose the tension between science and faith. In my church, I agree with our stance on the essentials of Christian orthodoxy and truly cherish the community of believers in my life, but we’re not always on the same page when it comes to science. Recently, I witnessed comments about God laughing in reference to a newly discovered scientific finding.
The ”laughing” God does in this kind of messaging is not one of joy or merriment, of course—God is laughing at, not with, the scientists. This is the laugh of mockery, to suggest an ongoing conflict between scientists (and science in general) and God. This idea is closely associated with evangelical worldviews that transcend the church’s stated mission and values and have their roots in cultural, political, and historical events and conservative misinformation that has been propagated over many years (1). Most of this content is more emotional and conjectural than fact-based.
As a Christ-follower at a mainstream Christian church in Texas and a geoscience educator at a Christian university, I confront many situations that expose the tension between science and faith. In my church, I agree with our stance on the essentials of Christian orthodoxy and truly cherish the community of believers in my life, but we’re not always on the same page when it comes to science. Recently, I witnessed comments about God laughing in reference to a newly discovered scientific finding.
The ”laughing” God does in this kind of messaging is not one of joy or merriment, of course—God is laughing at, not with, the scientists. This is the laugh of mockery, to suggest an ongoing conflict between scientists (and science in general) and God. This idea is closely associated with evangelical worldviews that transcend the church’s stated mission and values and have their roots in cultural, political, and historical events and conservative misinformation that has been propagated over many years (1). Most of this content is more emotional and conjectural than fact-based.
I know that God smiles when I seek Him in both His Word and in His World... |
Laughing or Crying? What About Smiling?
Perhaps God indeed laughs when humans think they can be wiser or know more than He does—as the old adage says: man plans and God laughs. That’s just what we read in Psalm 2, when nations and rulers plot against God, and God laughs at them (2). When it comes to science, though, is God laughing at us?
There are always new discoveries in science—a recent one, for example, is the oldest black hole (so far) detected using infrared technology with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) (3). This space-time rupture is about 13 billion years in the universe's past, and it is one of countless black holes that gorged themselves to terrifying scales during the cosmic dawn. Does God laugh or smile at humans learning this?
Made in His Image
Most Christians acknowledge the fact that mankind is made “in the image of God.” This doesn’t mean we physically look like God (although Christ incarnated as a human and thus looked like one), but rather that we possess the ability and are called to know and love God, and to discern the temporal from eternity, past and future. God has given us the curiosity to explore His creation that exhibits His presence and power, and to say wow! in worship. This God-given ability allows us to get to know more of Him and to reflect Him back to the world (4).
Saying that God laughs at a scientific discovery would imply that science and our understanding of God are at odds. Is this true? If all truth is God’s truth, as proclaimed by the early church father and historian Augustine, then the truth in His Word and His World should not be in conflict (5). Either our interpretation of His Word is incorrect, or science is just wrong. Accepting this takes intellectual humility that is often lacking in us humans (6).
Saying that God smiles at scientific discoveries would acknowledge that God is pleased with our exercising the abilities He blessed us with to explore the vastness of the universe and see the bigger fingerprint of His presence.
Words do Matter
Thus, words matter in the church. When people hear statements that God laughs at scientific discoveries, they will think that science is wrong in seeking to understand the universe—that God and science are not compatible. Whereas if God smiles at the good news of a discovery, we understand that He is pleased that through learning about His creation, we have revealed again how big God is in scope and in our understanding of Him. Unfortunately, there is a thread of anti-intellectualism running throughout the history of the evangelical movement. We have been raised on “plain readings” of His Word, and a culture of valuing personal feelings over the intellect percolates throughout evangelicalism. It’s not that feelings and emotions are valueless, of course—the problem lies in devaluing or even demonizing the intellect.
So, does God smile at our God-given intellect that seeks to know more about our universe, or does He laugh at our efforts because He is much bigger than our scientific discoveries? For me, I know that God smiles when I seek Him in both His Word and in His World, and that, I believe, is a good answer to this question.
References
1. Kellogg Ray, Janet. The God of Monkey Science: People of Faith in a Modern Scientific World. Eerdmans, 2023.
2. Psalm 2:1-12 (ESV, 2001).
3. “Astronomers detect oldest black hole ever observed.” University of Cambridge: Research. Jan. 17, 2024.
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/astronomers-detect-oldest-black-hole-ever-observed
4. Muir, John. Spiritual Writings. Selected with an Introduction by Tim Flinders. Orbis Books, 2013.
5. Withrow, Brandon. “Augustine, Genesis and ‘Removing the Mystical Veil.’” Biologos, Oct 11, 2010. https://biologos.org/articles/augustine-genesis-and-removing-the-mystical-veil
6. Vukov, Joseph. Navigating Faith and Science. Eerdmans, 2022.
Robert Strauss is an Adjunct Professor of Geology at Dallas Baptist University. He semi-retired after 33 years as an exploration geoscientist for American, Canadian, and Chinese energy companies. He resides in Dallas, Texas.
Perhaps God indeed laughs when humans think they can be wiser or know more than He does—as the old adage says: man plans and God laughs. That’s just what we read in Psalm 2, when nations and rulers plot against God, and God laughs at them (2). When it comes to science, though, is God laughing at us?
There are always new discoveries in science—a recent one, for example, is the oldest black hole (so far) detected using infrared technology with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) (3). This space-time rupture is about 13 billion years in the universe's past, and it is one of countless black holes that gorged themselves to terrifying scales during the cosmic dawn. Does God laugh or smile at humans learning this?
Made in His Image
Most Christians acknowledge the fact that mankind is made “in the image of God.” This doesn’t mean we physically look like God (although Christ incarnated as a human and thus looked like one), but rather that we possess the ability and are called to know and love God, and to discern the temporal from eternity, past and future. God has given us the curiosity to explore His creation that exhibits His presence and power, and to say wow! in worship. This God-given ability allows us to get to know more of Him and to reflect Him back to the world (4).
Saying that God laughs at a scientific discovery would imply that science and our understanding of God are at odds. Is this true? If all truth is God’s truth, as proclaimed by the early church father and historian Augustine, then the truth in His Word and His World should not be in conflict (5). Either our interpretation of His Word is incorrect, or science is just wrong. Accepting this takes intellectual humility that is often lacking in us humans (6).
Saying that God smiles at scientific discoveries would acknowledge that God is pleased with our exercising the abilities He blessed us with to explore the vastness of the universe and see the bigger fingerprint of His presence.
Words do Matter
Thus, words matter in the church. When people hear statements that God laughs at scientific discoveries, they will think that science is wrong in seeking to understand the universe—that God and science are not compatible. Whereas if God smiles at the good news of a discovery, we understand that He is pleased that through learning about His creation, we have revealed again how big God is in scope and in our understanding of Him. Unfortunately, there is a thread of anti-intellectualism running throughout the history of the evangelical movement. We have been raised on “plain readings” of His Word, and a culture of valuing personal feelings over the intellect percolates throughout evangelicalism. It’s not that feelings and emotions are valueless, of course—the problem lies in devaluing or even demonizing the intellect.
So, does God smile at our God-given intellect that seeks to know more about our universe, or does He laugh at our efforts because He is much bigger than our scientific discoveries? For me, I know that God smiles when I seek Him in both His Word and in His World, and that, I believe, is a good answer to this question.
References
1. Kellogg Ray, Janet. The God of Monkey Science: People of Faith in a Modern Scientific World. Eerdmans, 2023.
2. Psalm 2:1-12 (ESV, 2001).
3. “Astronomers detect oldest black hole ever observed.” University of Cambridge: Research. Jan. 17, 2024.
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/astronomers-detect-oldest-black-hole-ever-observed
4. Muir, John. Spiritual Writings. Selected with an Introduction by Tim Flinders. Orbis Books, 2013.
5. Withrow, Brandon. “Augustine, Genesis and ‘Removing the Mystical Veil.’” Biologos, Oct 11, 2010. https://biologos.org/articles/augustine-genesis-and-removing-the-mystical-veil
6. Vukov, Joseph. Navigating Faith and Science. Eerdmans, 2022.
Robert Strauss is an Adjunct Professor of Geology at Dallas Baptist University. He semi-retired after 33 years as an exploration geoscientist for American, Canadian, and Chinese energy companies. He resides in Dallas, Texas.