The Society of Ordained Scientists
is now 25 years old. We are preparing a book of short articles by members which will probably be published electronically. Here is my contribution:
For it is he who
gave me unerring knowledge of what exists,
to know the
structure of the world and the activity of the elements;
the beginning and
end and middle of times,
the alternations of
the solstices and the changes of the seasons,
the cycles of the
year and the constellations of the stars,
the natures of
animals and the tempers of wild animals,
the powers of
spirits and the thoughts of human beings,
the varieties of
plants and the virtues of roots;
I learned both what
is secret and what is manifest,
for wisdom, the
fashioner of all things, taught me.
For wisdom is more
mobile than any motion;
because of her
pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.
For she is a breath
of the power of God,
and a pure
emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore nothing
defiled gains entrance into her.
For she is a
reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an
image of his goodness.
Wisdom
7.17-22,24-26
But we speak God’s
wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen,
nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those
who love him’— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the
Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows
what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one
comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. Now we have received
not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may
understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
1 Corinthians
2.7-12
There
was surprise verging on incredulity when I visited the school group appearing
to be a clergyman, but speaking as an experienced scientist. How, they
wondered, could these things be possible in the same person? What could it be
like to be in that apparently contradictory position? These two readings would
have given them some answer. I’m delighted to read that the author of Wisdom
seems to understand the excitement of discovery and understanding, and probably
would appreciate the satisfaction of an experiment well planned and data
interpreted. There is a link in this useful knowledge to the divine.
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