Hey all!
So, fun story: I'm actually writing this on a train that has wifi, because I'm currently on my way to go explore Salzburg. So my internet time today (2 hours) will end up being split into two 1 hour segments, due to train rides and curfews and such. Woooooo!!
So, this week has been pretty good. We've had some cool meetings with people, traveled a bit, and we had a big ward picnic after church yesterday. A lot of our time is still being spent talking to people in the street (we don't have a lot of people to teach at the moment), but that's getting to be more and more fun as time goes on and I come up with new ways to start conversations.
I get a lot of different responses from people on the street. I get a lot of "Ich hab keine Zeit fur deise." And straight up "nein's" too. But when someone decides to actually listen to what I'm asking them, instead of seeing the name tag and turning away as if the sight of it will cause their lives to end, we tend to have really interesting conversations. Once we get into the topic of religion, people tend to open up and it can be a really cool growing experience for both of us.
However, there's another thing I get a lot from people on the street, and I've also gotten it from a few of you reading this as well. A lot of people claim that they believe in science, and therefore, do not believe in religion or God, because the two concepts can't go together. They claim that they are too logical to believe in a god, which I o understand. It's widely known that a lot of religions beliefs can contradict that what it taught in science classes.
But here's the thing: none of these people on the street know that I am a bio-chemical engineering major. Most you you don't know that either, actually, but now you do.
So how does that work, a science major serving in Austria, talking to people about God and Jesus Christ? It words, because m when you know enough, you realize that science and religion con't actually contradict each other.
For example: I believe in the theory of evolution. That doesn't mean I believe that humans stem from apes, because that's not what the theory of evolution says. I can't give you a textbook definition of what exactly that theory says, but when you actually take the time to look at the research and understand it, it really can't be argues with that much.
That being said, I do believe that God and Jesus Christ created the Earth, that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, they partook of the forbidden fruit (from the tree of knowledge of good and evil), and they fell away from the presence of God and were able to bring the rest of us here.
Now, I can't explain to you why those two believes don't contradict each other, because the knowledge I have has come from my personal study in the scriptures, paired with prayer and discussion. Also, college classes and individual study and hobbies play a role in the knowledge and understanding I have. If you want all that information for yourself, you have to look for it. But that being said, you should also know that there are dark cloudy areas of both beliefs, where we don't know what happened. We actually do not know a lot about the physical creation of the earth. We can estimate, theorize, and accept those theories as facts until proven wrong, but we do not actually have hard evidence that explains in detail how he earth was created. We also don't know how long each day of creation took. Surely it wasn't only 24 hours. That would be rushing a masterpiece That information doesn't exist in biology or religion.
Now I want to know just as much (probably more than) the rest of you the chemical and biological information that would explain things like the creation of the earth of the change that occurred in Adam and Eve when they went from immortal to mortal beings. Heck, I really really REALLY want to know how on earth dinosaurs fit in God's plan. But the point is, we simply don't know, and we won't know until new inspired minds create the tools necessary to find this out, or until we die and learn more in our lives after this. That is why we have FAITH, okay?? We don't know everything, but we do know that our God is a god or order and logic, which I think means everything He's done has a logical and scientific answer behind it, even if that information has not been revealed.
But guys, if we knew everything during this tiny blink of time we spend here on earth, the eternity awaiting you afterwards would be incredibly an horridly boring. Don't forget that we will spend time learning in the afterlife as well. Intelligence is godliness, it's something we strive for. Science and religion --when we compare the facts and beliefs correctly --do not contradict,. Remember --I'll be a scientist someday, and you can totally ask me in 10 years if all that I've said is still true. Unless something crazy pops up that disproves the theory of evolution, I bet it will be.
Well, I want to write the rest of my family now. I hope this wasn't offensive. I hope if was education/inspiring. God wants us to learn and he wants us to find things out for ourselves. Ask Him if you're doubting anything, because He'll give you an answer.
Liebe Grusse,
Sister Sally Priest
No comments:
Post a Comment