Thoughts for the Day

For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he did not create it a chaos,
he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn,
from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear.’

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

I got to know Professor John Polkinghorne when he was Chairman of the Publishing Division of SPCK, a 300+ year old charity that seeks to educate and nurture Christians around the world. At the time I was Chairman of the Bookshop's Division. John was a world renowned scientist - he was Professor of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge University, became a priest in the 1980s, wrote many books, and was knighted by the Queen.

Today's words from Isaiah take it for granted that God created the world and that He wants to gather all His people to Himself. However millions of people today would disagree with this, citing Darwin and his theory of evolution. Professor Polkinghorne believed he was a true 'creationist', not as traditionally argued, as he says in an article in 'The Times':

"As a Christian believer I am, of course, a creationist in the proper sense of the term, for I believe that the mind and the purpose of a divine Creator lie behind the fruitful history and remarkable order of the universe which science explores. But I am certainly not a creationist in that curious North American sense, which implies interpreting Genesis 1 in a flat-footed literal way and supposing that evolution is wrong."

We need to hold fast to our belief in God the Creator, and His love for us, as well as our understanding of natural selection and evolution.

Almighty God,
who planned and designed our world,
and whose Word brought it into being,
we thank You for science and scientists,
for their ingenuity,
and for their creativity,
as well as for the solutions that they bring
to the problems existing in our world today.
Amen.