Babes with PC’s? No doubt they’re intrigued, learning and having fun, but how much do you think these two really understand about the incredible technology before them? With such little life experience, there’s obviously little insight they can have into this marvel of design. They may be beginning to understand cause and effect, but the last thing on their mind is wanting to know who created it.
Do you suppose that this is how we look to God when peering into His universe? We’re obviously intrigued by all we see, but with such limited life experience in relation to the universe, how much insight can we really have into His marvel of design?
But surely this can’t be the case, can it! Through the collective progress of mankind in science and technology over the centuries, surely we understand life and the universe almost as well as we understand all the wonderful technologies we have created ourselves. We can look back a mere 1,000 years in history and see the incredible gains we have made in the advancement of scientific knowledge. Consider this:
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The total of all printed knowledge doubles every five years.
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People have produced more information than in the last 30 years than in all of the previous 5,000 years.
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The daily New York Times now contains more information than the average 17th century person would have encountered in a lifetime.
But here’s a thought: If this ever-increasing pace of acquiring new knowledge continues, in 1,000 years won’t the knowledge we have today make us look far more primitive, by comparison, than the civilizations that we now consider to be ancient?
Maybe the “babes with PC’s” analogy is giving us way too much credit, unless we at least have the wisdom to not take pride in how much we know, but rather to be humbled by how much about life we still have to learn, and to contemplate the meaning and source of all we discover. Isn’t that what sets us apart from the animals?
“Learn less and contemplate more.”
René Descartes (1596-1650)
“Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.”
1 Corinthians 3:18-19a
“How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?”
Proverbs 1:22
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.”
Psalms 19:1-3
“Be assured that my words are not false; one perfect in knowledge is with you.”
Job 36:4
“The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,
but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.”
Proverbs 14:6
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
Proverbs 1:7