A university student learning “science.”

by Brian Shilhavy

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” (1 Corinthians 3:18-20)

In a previous article I mentioned how the word “science” originally was a synonym of “knowledge,” and that only recently in our history of the English language has it taken on a much more narrow meaning of “a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through the scientific method and concerned with the physical world and its phenomena.” (science. Dictionary.com. Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc.)

This narrow understanding of “science” or “knowledge,” which only looks at what can be observed in the physical realm, is now equated with “truth,” and is considered by modern society to be more valuable than any other kind of knowledge. It has become the religion of modern man.

But there is much knowledge in our world that cannot be observed in the physical realm, or “proven” by scientific discovery! We are also warned not to be deceived by “science” and knowledge based only on the natural realm:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

As I wrote previously, a more valuable knowledge is the kind of knowledge that is a result of relationships, where we come to know someone (as opposed to knowing about someone.)

The most important person in the universe who is within our grasp to know in a personal way is God himself – the one who created you! He is more accessible to you than any important person here on earth who may be rich and famous but would not even give you the time of day! And he is always available to you – he is never too busy to listen to what you have to say, or too busy to spend time with you. He is also the one person in the universe who really knows you, even better than you know yourself!

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (Psalms 139:13-17)

Wouldn’t you like to know the thoughts of God; what God is thinking about you? Well you can! While we can’t read other people’s minds and understand what they are feeling and thinking, God has in fact allowed us to read his mind and understand what he is thinking and feeling. He does this through his Spirit:

For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God… “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:11-12;14)

God’s Spirit is a gift he gives to everyone who has been recreated spiritually and born again into his kingdom, the Kingdom of Light. Everyone walking on the face of this earth is either walking in the Kingdom of Light or the Kingdom of Darkness. They are spiritual kingdoms.

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for the punishment of our sins, our spirits are recreated and we are reborn spiritually into the Kingdom of Light. God’s seal of ownership on us, our “proof” that we now belong to him, is the gift of his Spirit:

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

This is a reality that can only be experienced:  it cannot be proven in the natural (physical) realm by modern day scientific methods!

Spiritual Wisdom

Those who walk in the Kingdom of Darkness do not have access to God’s Spirit, and are therefore limited to what they can observe in the natural realm. They cannot understand spiritual wisdom from God, because they lack his Spirit. So they develop whole systems of “scientific knowledge” based only on their limited observation of the physical realm, often coming up with foolish philosophies and beliefs such as Darwinian evolution.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned… (1 Corinthians 2:14)

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools… (Romans 1:21-22)

The spiritual wisdom that comes from God, on the other hand, helps us to understand things that cannot be understood strictly in the natural realm. The really important issues of life, such as who is God, why did he create me, what is my purpose in life – are not found simply through “scientific” discovery. We must seek the spiritual wisdom from God via a relationship with him to understand these things.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14 italics added)

So when you have health challenges and need help, who do you turn to first: those experts with scientific knowledge walking in darkness, or to the one who created you and loves you, and has allowed you to know his thoughts through his Spirit? Who is in the best position to help you?

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:18-21)

See Also:

The Value and Power of God’s Wisdom

More than a half century ago, famed writer C.S. Lewis warned about how science (a good thing) could be twisted in order to attack religion, undermine ethics, and limit human freedom. Lewis lived during the era of scientific eugenics, and saw first hand its horrors.

In this documentary “The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis and the Case Against Scientism,” leading scholars explore Lewis’s prophetic warnings about the abuse of science and how Lewis’s concerns are increasingly relevant for us today.

Medicine: Idolatry in the Twenty First Century

The Authority to Heal

The subject of “authority” and health is one that affects every living person on the planet today, and everyone reading this article. Here in the 21st Century, various government agencies regulate “health” and operate under laws and regulations as to just who has the authority to practice healing. This would include the World Health Organization (WHO) internationally, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States.

“Health” of course is generally defined today as “practicing medicine,” and the authority given by government to “practice medicine” is tightly controlled through government licensing. Someone not licensed, or using unapproved products for healing, face arrest and imprisonment.

A similar situation existed during the First Century. Jesus and his disciples did not follow the laws set forth by the government body of their day, and their system of healing was far superior. When common people outside the educated ruling class dared to oppose their authority and implement healing in Jesus name, they faced arrest and even execution in the First Century.

The authority of Jesus is still in place today, as is his healthcare plan. Just as there was during the days and times of Jesus’ earthly life and immediately afterward, there is a competing health care system in place today that denies the authority of Jesus, and would feel threatened if enough people started being healed through Christ’s healthcare plan. To oppose the authority of today’s medical system and their approved cures is to risk punishment and even imprisonment.

The current healthcare system is not a “healthcare” system at all, but a “medical” system designed to bring great profit to the pharmaceutical companies and others who profit from treating sick people. If enough people started exercising the authority of Jesus to see cures without having to pay for medical care, it would threaten their business, and opposition would be just as fierce as it was during the days of Jesus and the early disciples. But will that ever happen?