In this latest question and answer I want to thank Lee for being willing to ask me a very interesting and poignant question that is very relevant to us all.
I have known Lee for quite a number of years in the context of him being my Barber and Hair Dresser. I have to confess that I am follicly challenged, but none the less, I feel it is important for me to maintain my appearance!! We always have meaningful conversations about life in general and the state of the world past, present and related to the future.
Lee was born and raised in Lancashire with his family and friends. He attended local schools and his early work experiences included some time spent in an owl sanctuary. During the past seven years Lee has established his own hair dressing business. He has a good customer base and a very dry sense of humour. He offers a very professional and quality standard of haircutting for all styles and lengths of hair
When working with the public, at any level, it can be a challenge but Lee has had many opportunities to listen and engage in people’s insights and experiences which can be a privilege as well as a strain.
Lee is a spiritual seeker in his own way and finds the Christian faith both interesting and helpful for daily living. However, he believes it can be hard to fully comprehend how the Christian faith may be applied to modern day thinking and living. So let’s consider Lee’s question as follows:
‘In a world where science and technology are increasingly able to explain natural phenomena what role do you see for faith and spirituality in the lives of modern people’?
Rev Graham replies
In reality Lee we live in a world full of certainty and uncertainty that includes the pursuit of science and technology and the question of faith, which we all have to consider and apply to modern living as we see fit.
Science
The study of science and technology can be like a journey into the unknown. It seeks to explore new ideas, actions and develop aids that may enhance human living in a modern world. Science can also address the challenges of social living as we experienced in the COVID-19 pandemic. Science and technology worked hand in hand to produce, as quickly as possible, a vaccine to keep us all safe.
Thank you Daniel unsplash.com
Over many generations science has expanded our knowledge base and understanding as we ponder on life and its meaning with all its certainties and uncertainties. It helps to give us a credible framework as to how the universe works and how we live in the natural world within human and animal relationships. It also helps to implement new ideas to solve modern problems.
Science and medical technology has introduced new practices that have challenged established moral values which may clash within a Christian framework. Science is not without its own values and morals but has to conform to whatever society it lives is for the common good.
Within any journey, there is that curiosity as to what is in front of us and how we might navigate it. Science has its own attractions as how to explore new ideas that might produce new technologies for modern living. We are human beings who want to be imaginative and to explore new things and continually seek to find our value and place in an ancient and modern world that is never black and white but full of grey and beautiful colours to enjoy and understand.
Faith
Faith is also a journey into the unknown that seeks to understand how we fit into the world’s natural existence. Faith addresses the certainties and uncertainties of life in the context of an Almighty God who we believe has created the world and is in the business of sustaining it. Faith that is applied to general living can act as an anchor through the storms and calm of modern living.
Within the Judo–Christian tradition we have the Holy Bible that acts as a guide for modern living even though it is ancient in its time scale. Wisdom and truth applied to modern living is always relevant but the difficulty is holding on to truth in the midst of all the challenges science and technology brings to modern living.
Faith, alongside science is something that we cannot prove or disprove but it brings hope and purpose to life in general. It offers guidance and a moral and ethical framework for daily living within communal living. There does exist for many people a secular faith that believes in the goodness of humanity and the outworking of certain philosophical and political aspirations.
Certainty and Uncertainty
One of the purposes of science is to prove what is certain and uncertain in an academic and proven manner that often negates and ignores any deference to an Almighty creator God that might just have a say in what is certain or uncertain!
Just recently I watched the film The Conclave which was quite fascinating since we have recently witnessed the appointment of the new Pope Leo XIV. In the film Dean Lawrence shared a homily to guide the conclave of 133 cardinal electors in their forthcoming quest to choose a new Pope.
Thank you google
Interestingly the Dean mentions that Certainty is the enemy of unity and tolerance and that doubt is essential for faith to be a living, breathing thing. He goes on to share that “if there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery and therefore no need for faith”. Overall he suggests “that humility is a solution to dogma, conviction and certainty”.
In the world of science and technology inventions have to be proven and be exact so as to fulfil a particular function or view. In the development of an Air Fryer it had to be proven and tested over many years so that the purchaser is confident and certain that it will work when it comes to creating a wholesome meal. In the pursuit of faith we constantly live in an uncertain world and in that mystery of faith, doubt plays a vital role that may draw us closer to the mystery and majesty of a creator God.
Takeaway
Within the Christian faith relationships are vital as compared to sterile facts or truths that are upheld almost as a counter god. God desires a living relationship with all human beings as a result of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It is a fact that over the years the development of the church and Christianity has actively encouraged science and technology and exercises its place as a moral and ethical guide to new ideas and practices that emerge. Over the centuries the church has established many schools, hospitals, universities and places of industrial and technological innovation that has enhanced and improved modern living.
In Proverbs 8, which is part of the Wisdom literature in the Bible, bears out that wisdom is not an abstract concept but one that guides us in every aspect of life and gives a divine order to follow even in the field of science and technology.
Thank you pixabay
Noah was instructed as how to make an incredible Ark (Genesis 6 13 – 22). King David and Solomon were instructed as how to make the Temple (1Chronicles 28). Many scientist have been inspired to follow their passion and insights to provide penicillin, electricity and lighting, radiotherapy and even weapons of mass destruction!
Within the Christian faith there exist as found in Hebrews 11:1 a “confidence (certainty) in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”. We may have in the pursuit of science and technology as a “sure and certain hope” to create new inventions. As people of faith we have the same certainly of knowing the presence of God in a modern world with a promise of an eternal and perfect life to come.
In closing Lee, science and technology in a modern and natural world definitely has a place in bringing a measure of certainty and improvement to life. However, if we do not legislate for doubt in the context of faith and uncertainty we will be poorer not better overall.
Selah: (Pause to think calmly on what has just been read) and check out A Time to Worship on exploretoinspire.uk
Graham
Explore to Inspire 
