It is not uncommon for people to experience God, or at least, question whether they can experience God, when they are in nature, as, being immersed in the beauty of the natural world can seemingly trigger one to have a spiritual experience.
Now, the bible itself reninforces the spiritual, ‘awe-inspiring’ nature of, pardon the pun, nature, when it states, in Psalm 19:1, that;
‘The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship”,
and in Romans 1:20:
‘Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature.’
By the quotes above, the bible means that, everywhere we look/every time we admire the beauty of nature, whether it be upon viewing the scale of the mountains, or the strength of the sun, we can appreciate the person/thing/force/energy which was responsible for creating such beauty-
A combination of religion and science…
And so, you see? We can believe in scientific explanations for the origins of the universe and believe in religious texts. To do so is not ‘indecisiveness’ or ‘greediness’- it is rational/common-sense- the only perspective offered regarding the origins of the universe which, in my opinion, makes any sense…
If you needed any more of a reason to adopt a ‘co’-belief system, other than it just making the most sense, then consider Brian Cox’s perspective- Brian Cox who, in case you’re not familiar, (in case you’ve been living under a rock), is a famous British Physicist who has contributed so much to developing greater insight into the origins of the planet…
Cox, despite evidently being very scientifically minded, (he is a scientist, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone), does not consider himself to be an Atheist- in fact, he has been noted as saying that he actually rejects the term ‘Atheist.’
In an interview, Cox explained how he disagrees with the term because, in his opinion, it is too ‘broad.’
‘There is so much that is unknowable’, Cox says, which is why he has ‘no personal faith.’
If you were going to put a label on Brian Cox though, then ‘Agnostic’ would perhaps be the most appropriate term, with this term-‘Agnostic’- translating to;
‘a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as God) is unknown and probably unknowable’,
and/or,
‘a person who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God.’
The above definition(s) of what it means to be Agnostic fits in with what Brian Cox is saying, that, in science, there is undoubtedly the potential for there to have been some sort of ‘God’, but, to understand it completley is an impossible feat, for, it is beyond human comprehension, hence why it is also often referred to as, not just ‘God’, but also a ‘higher power’ (higher than us and our limited understanding of the world)…
In a 2014 interview, speaking about his BBC show Human Universe, Cox acknowledged humanity as ‘rare, remarkable, valuable and worth celebrating.’ He added, ‘there is naivety in just saying there’s no God.’
Why?
Because, Science alone does not give us all the answers- Cox goes on to retort-
We don’t know where the laws of nature came from, and, we don’t know why the universe began in the way that it did, if indeed it had a beginning at all,
&,
We don’t know why the Big Bang was so very highly ordered- in a necessary state of order at the start of the universe (an order for which we owe our whole existence, by the way),which is really the reason we exist –
because the universe began in a particular form – we don’t know why that was.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Cox said ‘science, philosophy, theology and religion are all valid ways of trying to come to terms with this remarkable thing that we are.’
Because science doesn’t have all the answers then, there is evidently a ‘gap’ left open within science which allows for the existence of God-
a combination of God, and science, which means that;
‘When the pattern of atoms known as you ceases to be, the building blocks will return to the voids of space and in a billion years or more they may take their place in another structure so beautiful that a future mind may perceive it to be the work of a god.’
-how beautiful.
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