Meditating on the Two Books
Meditating on God’s two books, the Bible and God’s creation, is one key practice for creating a scientifically engaged spirituality. As Psalm 19 proclaims, God is revealed both in Scripture and in creation.
Meditating on God’s two books, the Bible and God’s creation, is one key practice for creating a scientifically engaged spirituality. As Psalm 19 proclaims, God is revealed both in Scripture and in creation.
Here’s what I’d like to hear when I tell friends and others that I bring science to church—“Wow! That’s amazing.”
And yet—to be honest—here is what I often hear—“What? Hmm… I’m not sure what that means.”
How has science impacted my prayer life? I remain confident that God can still answer my prayers. But I no longer pray the same way today that I did in my early years as a Christian, in part because of what science is teaching us about prayer and meditation.
Since the Enlightenment, a commonplace assertion has been that no one (in light of the lawlike nature of the universe discovered by science) has reason to believe in a God who answers petitionary prayer. I suppose, if we’re not bothered by this apparent conflict, we haven’t really listened to modern science and felt its implications. C.S. Lewis… did listen to these voices and was bothered.
Several years ago, a pastor asked me if the scientific study of prayer is legit. I replied, “That’s complicated.” At the time, I did not fully understand how true this is. Learn more about why in this post.