“For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
-Acts 17:31
The goal of science isn't to prove anything. Don't just take my word for it, have a look at what experts like Satoshi Kanazawa have to say: >>HERE<<
But if you watch NatGeo or Discovery, you’ll often hear words like “proof” and “proven” regarding things like Darwinian evolution, the origins of the universe, etc.
Historically speaking, there was no practical delineation between the arts and sciences until around the time of the Renaissance. The distinction then became that of the ARTS being “something to do” (always a product produced) and the SCIENCES being “something to know.”
There are some challenges to those categorizations because the sciences often result in doing and producing too. Is a brain surgeon purely a scientist or are they an artist? Do they merely have information or do they practice/do medicine? Is the blacksmith a scientist or an artist? Do they merely produce stuff (horseshoes, blades, etc.) or do they also possess information and understanding about various metals, temperatures, cooling rates, hammering techniques, etc.?
Therefore, maybe a better way to look at things might be to see science as a foundational phase of learning through observation, testing, gathering information, and formulating hypotheses. Meanwhile, art is the culmination, expression, product, or intentional application of information.
However we choose to define science, a huge part of it is undoubtedly about gathering information via sensory input through observations. From those observations and analyses, we draw conclusions (good and bad) and formulate hypotheses, i.e. scientific theories, and even scientific “laws.” That's what is typically referred to as The Scientific Method. Our observations and analyses don't happen in a vacuum, and the observer is unavoidably changed through their observations.
Science confirms what Scripture has already revealed, i.e. human beings have a whole host of sensory flaws: blindness, deafness, a diminished ability to smell or taste (remember covid?), and issues with sensory overload resulting from trauma, genetics, etc.
Therefore, we should be cognizant that our imperfect observations via imperfect senses will always result in imperfect analyses, hypotheses, and conclusions. But science can help us to understand that objective truth and perfect knowledge must come from outside of us (transcendent) rather than from within.
A foundational truth revealed through Scripture (The Bible) is that the greatest flaw human beings suffer from is our sin nature. Our sin in Adam has resulted in our fatal separation from God, i.e. death, which effectively prevents us from knowing, observing, perceiving, experiencing, and worshipping our Eternal Creator. That could have been the end of the story, but God didn't leave it there. As Ephesians 2:4-10 reveals:
“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.”
Should we ridicule the blind for their inability to see rainbows or read print? Should we ridicule or chastise the deaf for their inability to hear music or speech? Why, then, do many self-professing Christians lack compassion for those who are spiritually blind, deaf, and dead in their sin? Why is their expectation that people dead in their sins “without Christ… without hope and without God” should act with the same piety and wisdom as those born-again and truly alive in Christ?
Real science isn't in opposition to real faith. God gives us the ability to observe and study the world around us not merely in the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness, but as a means by which God reveals Himself. King David was a great scientist which made him a great artist. In observing the world around Him it produced unbridled worship. One example is found in Pslam 8:3-9:
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.”
It's said that science doesn't prove anything, but maybe it does. Maybe what science actually proves is twofold: 1) our inherent limitations and brokenness in our sin, and 2) our absolute need for Christ Jesus, our Creator, and Redeemer.
As Romans 1:19-20 reveals, “since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, all people are without excuse.”
Since art is the expression or product of information gathered from our observations, then maybe that understanding will foster a change in our perception of worship from some detached, convenient, selfish, compulsory, and superficial ritual or tradition to what God truly desires... people, like King David, after God's own heart.
Imagine the fragrant aroma of our collective worship as genuine, devoted, sacrificial members of the Body & Bride of Christ! Imagine it erupting into one perpetually harmonious lifesong poured out for our Sovereign Lord and His everlasting glory! That's the kind of worship that King Jesus said the Father desires. That, my friends, is the Art of Worship!
Grace and Peace,
Kevin M. Kelley
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