Reconciling Faith and Science

Einstein with Georges Lemaître 

 

In a science classroom in Detroit, 1964, I listened to the teacher explain about the Big Bang Theory of how the universe came into existence. As a person of reason and intellect, I was intrigued of this scientific idea.

At the same time, age nine, I was taking seriously the Bible and particularly the Book of Genesis in which the first couple of chapters describe the creation of all things.

Being a person of intellect and religious conviction, I found no conflict between the science and the religion.

I sat in that classroom as the teacher continued to explain and I thought to myself “So, that’s how God did it!”

I know, there are many people who will feel more comfortable choosing either the science or the Bible as their landing of belief. But I claimed both, eagerly and excitedly.

I saw the Genesis account as a larger, macro-level description of the fundamental aspects while the science provided the “nuts and bolts” of the cosmic operation.

To offer a somewhat inelegant metaphor, imagine looking on Mapquest for a particular address, in this particular case 1621 E 3rd St Mishawaka, IN 46544.

Our first big-picture view shows most of North America and some other areas.

But it does not show details such as individual State names and national roads.

A next level in provided state names along with a few city names and locations.

Those two map pictures situate us in the “Genesis, big picture view”. We will now move toward the science, micro-level view of things.

We see more detail. More city names and some roads begin to appear like a hard boiled egg cracked.

The next picture shows yet more detail, just as science would provide.

Well, now let’s jump to a closer view of things where we see very definable local streest and even some businesses in the area.

Through these map pictures we have traveled from the big picture, Genesis style overview to the scientific “nuts and bolts” street names and business locations to describe our identified address.

Just to further reconcile the religious and scientific approaches to creation, I offer the following information…

Georges Lemaître (born July 17, 1894, Belgium—died June 20, 1966) was a Belgian astronomer and cosmologist who formulated the modern big-bang theory, which holds that the universe began in a cataclysmic explosion of a small, primeval “super-atom.” (from Encyclopedia Britannica).

Mr. Lemaître was also a Catholic Priest.

The Big Bang Theory was not contrived by earth-bound misfits detached from spiritual influence; contrarily, it was postulated by a well-educated priest nurtured in God-focused faith.

Genesis provides the overall narrative.

Science reveals the specifics as to how God “knit it all together”.

The Faithful are Still in the Pews

 

image from Masterbundles.com

I have been reading the Bible diligently since I was nine years old, thanks to my grandmother, Nell Leach, my stepfather, George Eckenrode, and my pastor at the Alliance Baptist Church in Detroit with whom I argued much after each of his sermons.

My grandmother, Baptist, insisted I go to church.

My stepfather, Catholic, introduced me to Bible Commentaries which were available at the Monteith Public Library in Detroit.

My pastor, with whom I argued, seemed to have an emotionally manipulative approach to preaching while I was looking for a “reasoned out” approach in keeping with Apostle Paul’s approach found in Acts 18: 4 “And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.”

Over these last sixty-one years of paying attention to preachers, church attendance, faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus, and “Christian culture” in general, I have not seen a decline in authentic Christian belief.

          Contrarily, I have noticed those who had attended church from a sense of peer pressure, family expectation, or some other less than spiritual conviction, to finally release themselves from the burden and discontinue attendance.

   I have noticed a decline in attendance of salespeople seeking out prospects, politicians laundering their reputations, and lonely people looking for romantic dates.

Church was never intended by Jesus or the apostles to be a place of commerce, political campaigning, or romantic conquest.

Unfortunately, without all of those people of self-serving motivations, our congregations seem much smaller than they did in the nineteen sixties and nineteen seventies.

But I assert that the decline in attendance is much, much less a result of people losing faith and more the result of church no longer serving wealth and power seekers.

The faithful are still there; in the pews, serving the poor, feeding the hungry, and not even expecting a trophy for doing so.

Earth Day, April 22, 2026

 

Earth set from Artimis II
NASA image

Greetings inhabitants of Earth…

 Wednesday, April 22, is Earth Day.

You can view my video here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jasaw33Gh7o

Job 12:

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
    or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
    or let the fish in the sea inform you.
9 Which of all these does not know
    that the hand of the Lord has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every creature
    and the breath of all mankind.

That is poetic language for sure. But it speaks a truth. Just as the native or original Americans believed, just as the following Native American Proverb teaches…

‘Treat the Earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.’

And also from the world of Confucius…

“If the foundations of living are strengthened and are economically used, then Nature cannot bring impoverishment. But if the foundations of living are neglected and used extravagantly, then Nature cannot make the country rich.” Xunzi, a student of Confucius.

Most, if not all ancient civilizations recognize the sacredness of nature.

On this Earth Day, may we also recognize the sacred aspect of nature, created by God, in some way. Even if it is merely taking a walk and enjoying the birds as they chirp.

Congress is the Principal Aspect of a Non-Monarchical Constitution

 

 

 

As I am an enthusiast of American history and founding documents, my wife is always diligent about discovery of items that relate to such interests.

Here I picture a coffee mug upon which is printed the first ten amendments to the Constitution, also known collectively as “The Bill of Rights”.

According to the National Archives the first ten amendments to the Constitution were ratified and became effective on December 15, 1791.

It is worth noting that the U.S. Constitution was originally ratified June 21, 1788.

More than three years earlier than the Bill of Rights.

I do not suggest that the Bill of Rights to be a mere afterthought.

But, given a recent sharing of a meme on Facebook indicating “The Constitution does not give you rights. It precludes the government from taking them from you.”

That is true but so seriously simplistic as to diminish the truer sense of the Constitution.

Faithful to the Declaration’s promise of a non-monarchical form of government, the Constitution provides for a means of government equitably distributed between legislative, executive, and judicial aspects.

While the Preamble describes the scope and purpose of the Constitution, its various Articles, sections, and clauses jointly construct a means by which the States, and therefore, people can engage with certain predictable circumstances.

The Constitution provides Congress with much legislative authority. I believe Congress to be the primary source of the will and consent of the governed while the Executive is an agent of Congress (see foot note in italics regarding Neil Gorsuch) to see to it that the laws are faithfully executed.

The Judiciary being the final authority, short of further amendment or legislation, when there is argument to resolve.

I fear that many voters and others are under the erroneous understanding that every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November that we elect a quadrennial monarch to govern, not according to consent of the governed, but according to whim of a faction of the governed that won the election.

I fear that Congress, the framer’s primary Constitutional provision, is thereby set aside as an incidental aspect to be kept in a closet along with the Constitution and brought out only for ceremonial occasions, such as The State of the Union.

I advocate for a return of primacy of Congress, an agency of the Executive, and a prudent expansion of the Judiciary to a sufficient number of Justices such that personality and celebrity of those Justices is well subordinated to published opinions. Perhaps majority and dissenting opinions remain anonymous.

 

Gorsuch quote…

Article I of the Constitution vests all federal legislative power in Congress, and Article II charges the executive branch with seeing that Congress’s laws are faithfully executed. In a very real sense, then, when it comes to legislative power, Congress is the principal and executive officials are the agents

Found on page 14 of the Gorsuch concurrence of the Supreme Court Opinion…

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1287_new_3135.pdf

1969, Detroit, Boblo Isalnd, and Miss Bombardier: A Micro Memoir

 

 

Twiggy

Miss Bombardier (pronounced Bomb-bar-dee-yaa), the girl recently from Quebec, and expected to return, sat next to me in seventh grade art class at Carsten’s Elementary school in Detroit, 1969.

That's me...1969

Both of us enviously mature at the age of thirteen. Well, at least she seemed so mature. Her natural height exceded mine and then she also wore heels, most usual, and also she was accompanied by peerless self-confidence and vocabulary that could intimidate a classical novelist.

I respectfully addressed her as Miss Bombardier taking care to not presume familiarity with which to even speak her first name, as it seemed a gentlemanly manner to observe. She donned hair style similar of the famed model Twiggy, though brunette rather than blond, and clothing style, also similar, yet more elegant than Twiggy’s, and yet more impressive was her intellectual capacity; all of this left me perplexed as to why she seemed so infatuated with me. But I was smart enough to not ask questions.

Boblo Island Boat

As we approached completion of seventh grade we discussed attending the class-trip to Boblo Island, an amusement park on the Ontario side of the Detroit River. It was our agreement that we would attend together, as an adventurous duo, me, originally from the State of Tennessee, and she, from Quebec. We both giggled when she described it as an international diplomacy summit, and then quickly caught our serious selves and regained our studious composures.

My grandmother, by whom I was raised, provided me with spending cash for our rides and other amusements and sufficient money with which an aspiring gentleman could entertain a date with an impressive meal and a proper tip.

It turned out that, like me, Miss Bombardier was not amused with rides and games of the popular amusement park, though we did appreciate the zoo. But what impelled her emotional interest was the dance pavilion.

We danced together many tunes played by a Dixie band, she, waving her arms and bouncing off the floor with enlivened grace, her bulbous earrings swaying pendulum-like with each landing and succeeding jump, smiling at me the whole time, her giggles interrupted only briefly to babble something in Quebec French, which I did not understand, nor did I ask questions regarding. If she was happy and entertained, I felt accomplished.

The dance pavilion

Later, after dinner, sitting on a bench awaiting the boat for the return home, Miss Bombardier, wearing t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, thrust her left leg over my right leg and, lifting my ever-present ink pen from my shirt pocket and wagging it back and forth before me, enthusiastically instructed me to “Draw a flower on my knee, Charles”. I immediately and with great care obliged with a daisy.

The ride back on the boat, evening to night, found us on the top deck looking at a navy-blue night sky bespeckled with stars and a cool breeze to evaporate the heat of the day. We listened to the lapping of waves against the hull of the boat while the bands played on a deck below us.

Miss Bombardier, full of smile and quite impulsively, kissed me affectionately on my right cheek and then whispered something in Quebec French, which I did not understand, except, of course, my name “Charles” which she spoke with such a fetching accent.

But I did not wish to ruin an ephemeral seventh-grade affectionate moment under such majestic conditions by asking questions.

I’m sure her memory of the event had evaporated as quickly as steam from the surface of coffee by the time she and her family had returned to Quebec.

But still, I wonder how long she allowed that flower to reside on her knee.

My Fatigue with Religious Leaders Enabling Civilian Leaders toward UnChristian Conduct

 

image from https://www.montroselutheranchurch.org/

Esther, of the Old Testament book “Esther”, was never a Christian…a Christ follower.

Heroic as was Esther (Hadassah being her “birth certificate” name) we continue to speak of her by her oppressor’s name given to her.

But my immediate point is heroic as she was, in her historical context, she never claimed to be a Christ follower. Of course, I acknowledge that she lived hundreds of years before Jesus and thus never had opportunity to hear his teachings.

But those of us who claim Jesus have much opportunity to know the teachings of Jesus.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John provide the attitudes, the teachings, and the sacrificial conduct of Jesus.

For sure the writings of the Old Testament are inspired by God and useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.

But when there is a conflict of moral discernment, those that profess Jesus should land with the Jesus teaching rather than try to find some Old Testament words that will provide faux justification for them to behave in ways undistinguishable from the world.

Moses said that there should be no work on the sabbath. He said that anyone who worked on the sabbath would die. And he lived up to that notion when a fellow caught picking firewood on the sabbath was put to death (Numbers 15:32-36).

Jesus did some of his best work on the sabbath, in the synagogue, healing people.

As a Christ follower, where do you choose to land?

Moses said to not eat gentile food. Jesus often had dinner with gentiles.

As a Christ follower, which teaching is to be followed.

Moses said to throw a stone at a woman caught in adultery. Jesus saved that woman.

As Christians, do we subscribe to Jesus’ teachings or a “pick and choose” selectivity of Scripture to excuse our self-centered goals and pursuits?

I continue to become increasingly fatigued of religious leaders who pick and choose words from the Bible to enable and excuse civilian leaders to behave in ways that are indistinguishable from those that they denounce.

A true revival of religion among Christians will be achieved when Christians actually open the gospels and read for themselves the attitudes, teachings and conduct of Jesus. And then seek to follow that model in all that we do.