Ecclesiastes 1:5 - Science and Hermeneutics

Ecclesiastes 1:5
Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hastening to its place it rises there again.

Message: Science and Hermeneutics

Time: Solomon's authorship is not stated. Solomon's reign as king of Israel lasted from around 970 B.C. to around 930 B.C. The Book of Ecclesiastes was likely written towards the end of his reign, approximately 935 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

As has been discussed previously, God is the first cause of all motion in our universe. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and scientist, who lived from 384 BC to 322 BC spoke of the idea of an "unmoved mover" in life and he said the unmoved mover in life is God. He said that to be this mover, the mover can not include the contingent affairs of individual human beings. Thomas Aquinas, an Italian friar and Catholic priest, who lived from 1225-1274, took Aristotle's idea of an unmoved mover and expanded on it to describe God as prima cause or first cause. Thomas Aquinas asserts that God is the first cause of all things. He said that nothing can cause itself, but there must be a first cause. Thus, God is eternal. Conversely, atheism believes the universe is eternal and things can happen with a cause or things can just happen. To the atheist, it could be that the universe began with a big bang or it simply began.

I would say that both atheism and theology don't have complete understanding for all of the events and things and causes of life. We don't know how God works, but we trust that He works. The atheist also doesn't have complete understanding of all of life, but they believe that as time marches on, it will be discovered how things work.

For me, as I study God's sovereignty and look at life, I see a very complex life. The human body is so complex and to believe that it simply evolved or came together over the years is hard for my brain to fathom. Yes, man is fallible and therefore, has not always done a good job in managing life and even religious thought. Yet, I can also understand how someone might think that life is somewhat ordered by chance or that there is determinism or the thought that today's actions occur because of yesterday's actions.

Many believe that scientists are all atheists as science and theology are often stated to be at odds with one another. This is not so as many of our greatest scientific discoveries have come from those that believe in God as creator and first cause. Scientific discoveries are thus secondary causes which quite simply is how God goes about in accomplishing his work.

I believe that God cannot err and so the Bible is infallible and all true. Psalm 12:6 says - The words of the Lord are pure words;as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. I have seen that the truth of God and His attributes is revealed through His creation.

The Bible can help is interpret science and science can help us to interpret the Bible. The text that is mentioned today is from Ecclesiastes 1:5. Currently, people who believe in a flat earth state that this verse supports that view - the sun rises and the sun sets; and hastening to its place it rises there again. Yet, Galileo helped us to see that this language is simply what it looked like to Solomon at the time. The Bible is not necessarily a scientific book.

In addition, Scripture can help illuminate creation and show the err in science in attempting to view science, the universe from only an atheistic or naturalistic worldview.

Promise: We need to be slower to speak and quicker to learn from all the disciplines of life. We need to better understand each other's area of study.

Prayer: Lord, illuminate my thinking. Help me to see value in what other people think. I get so caught up in my bubble sometimes and think life can only be defined narrowly. Often when I speak to people this is the perspective they give. Lord, help me to not be a chameleon and look like whatever I hear. But, instead help me to be defined by Your Holy Spirit and what information you are giving me. Lord, in our world there is such a quest to be right and correct. Thank you that we can have faith and believe in You. Keep us close to this thinking. Thank you for your truth and that it can be understood and that it makes sense always. Keep my mind open and other people's minds open to Your truth and Your ways.


Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.