Evolution, and Reality.

I apologise! It would appear that, having previewed this post on Friday evening, I failed to publish it! Désolé!

My wife and I are currently spending a few days with friends who live in the Basque Region of SW France. When the arrangement was made, we had anticipated time at the beach and maybe even a swim in the sea! Sadly, the weather conditions are not conducive to such activities! :-(

However, we are still able to get out and about and, today, we drove to Biarritz and visited a major exhibition entitled "Cité de l'Océan". It was fascinating, and we learned a great deal about the oceans of the world; the many forces behind wave production; and denizens of the deep of which we had previously been unaware.

Two experiences stood out,especially, for me. One was "Virtual Surfing" - my first ever experience of the use of virtual reality technology. The other was a forty-minute, 3-D film, based on the Galapagos archipelago, and narrated by (in the English language version) David Attenborough. As with the other exhibits, it was totally biased towards the theory of evolution (no surprise there!).

Many years ago, I was invited to produce an article for a German Christian magazine on the subject of "Reality". Having made reference to, and quoted from, figures such as Plato, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, I posed the question: "Is true reality to be found in that dimension that we call the spiritual?" I then suggested that, if the spiritual dimension is indeed the true reality, then it follows that ultimate reality is the Being Who exists eternally; is neither created nor destructible; and who, in the English language, is referred to as God! 

Stephen Hawking has stated, somewhere, that: "The boundary condition of the universe is that it has no boundary. The universe would be completely self-contained, and not affected by anything outside itself. It would neither be created nor destroyed. It would just BE!" Take out the references to "the universe", and replace them with references to God and, with one exception, we would have a not unreasonable definition of the "Immortal, ineffable, God only wise; in light inaccessible hid from our eyes" Who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Christ.

However, that one exception is of eternal significance! It is in the words "... not affected by anything outside itself." Because the core of the Christian Gospel is that Almighty God is affected by something outside Himself. And that something is your sin, and mine. But, being One Whose very essence is love - and neither the sentimentalism, nor the eroticism, that is passed off as 'love' in our contemporary culture; but the unconditional, immeasurable, unending love that is expressed by the Greek word 'agape' - He was not prepared to let our sin cut us off from His love, and from a living relationship with Himself. His justice demanded that justice be meted out; His love took that punishment upon Himself as, in the Persona (NOT a typo - see the chapter on The Trinity in my book: Great Words of the Faith) of the Son, He hung on a man-made cross, and died the death that we deserve. He paid the price that we might go free, and now offers salvation, and real life - "... life in all its fulness." (Jn.10:10).

Virtual reality may be great fun - but it is virtual! It is not genuine; it is fake. Certainly for the disciple of Jesus, true reality is found, as is salvation, only in Jesus the Christ. May this be the experience of all who read these words. It will be for your good; and for His glory.

I'll comment on the evolution film in the next post!