GOD

God: Science and the Media

THE MEDIA

Was Jesus Married?

Yesterday, a major network newscaster provided one of those provocative snippets of “news” with a (snide? whimsical? embarrassed?) grin without much further comment.  It had to do with a fragment of ancient text from biblical times which associated Jesus with a term for wife.  The brief associated comments made in the newscast lead one to think it implied Jesus was or might have been married.

No!

There is little reason to think Jesus was married in the sense of having a wife or being a spouse.  But it would not make much difference if he had been anymore than the fact that at least some of the original apostles were married.  But (1) such a major fact would have been very likely to be passed on down through tradition if it were true.  And (2) the terms used for spouse and marriage are and have long been used for the association of Jesus with his church.  Even today Roman Catholic nuns typically wear a wedding ring at, and perhaps after, receiving their final vows in which they are considered “married to Christ” in a spiritual sense. So (3), the fragmentary new evidence has no compelling basis for the suggestion passed on in a newscast.

Science

Science and its methods have much to reveal about God’s creation, but little if anything to reveal about God.  Because the world and all that is in it are a product of God’s creative genius and grandeur, scientists are more likely to find the truths science is capable of finding by proper respect and love for the creator of the world and all that is in it.  What we see as chance and evil are likely misunderstood products of other natural aspects of creation such as evolution and free will that can be found to be positive aspects in some way conforming to God’s plan or direction beyond our present understanding.

The positive aspect of regressive evolutionary events

One hint of this is the profound effect of extinctions and regressive aspects of evolution that were part of the path leading to human beings.  The loss of many annelid features leading to the pogonophoran intermediates giving rise to the most successful animal phylum has been described in several previous posts (the first on 05/031/2013 shows the evidence of error in current theories), concepts that are not yet clearly understood by my peers.  Evidence was partially shown by annelid theory of chordate origin which was not was not properly reinstated in scientific credibility when the evidence used to reject it was shown to be invalid. (See also the last five posts of June 2013)

God

God works in mysterious ways beyond our present comprehension.  So are God’s attributes beyond our comprehension.  Why and how this imperfect and error prone individual could lead a life that discovers the aspect of evolution noted in the previous paragraph could only be possible with God’s grace. That is quite amazing, but even more so, are the accomplishments of the also ordinary lives of many others I know.

Joseph G. Engemann     April 12, 2014