Jesus was not only an idealist. He was also a realist. He had his feet on the ground, and his knowledge of facts was excellent. And excellent knowledge includes some scientific knowledge. I believe that as the human Jesus grew up, he learned to be
- a keen observer,
- fearless in facing facts,
- logical in his reasoning,
- insightful about causes and consequences,
- and interested in a wide range of facts, especially about people.
Watch the 3:50 video or listen to the podcast episode.
These are traits of what I call scientific living. When scientific living and spiritual living are brought together, the combination is powerful. People don’t see the scientific side of Jesus, because he expressed himself in a manner that everybody could understand. Consider a couple examples.
“Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the beam in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the beam is in your own eye? . . . First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye” (Mt 7:3–5).
This teaching contains a general truth of psychology: it’s much easier to notice and label the mistakes of others than to recognize our own. The lesson also has spiritual implications. Sometimes we get full of pride and think of ourselves as better than those others. If we see little things in others that we would like to correct, we are blinded and cannot see other’s needs and respond helpfully. In this case, our attitude is a much greater spiritual obstacle than the other’s problem that we wanted to correct.
Note how Jesus expressed this truth. He did not teach like a scientist or a moralistic preacher. This is one of his lessons which he seasoned with humor.
Pride divides people and groups. Another example is a warning. Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand” (Mt 12:25). Here we have a general truth in sociology and political science with implications for the kingdom of God. Jesus implied that spiritual unity is essential in the kingdom of God. And he prayed for his followers, “May they all be one.”
Now we turn from Jesus’ way of knowing to our own practice. When you set out to do something that you think is the will of God, you’ll be in some situation or other. You’ll be in some place and time, alone or with one or more others. There are facts about your situation, and if you have a reasonable knowledge of them it helps a lot as you go forth to carry out the will of God in action.
We all know what it is like when we make a mistake about the facts or are simply ignorant of something that would be very helpful to know. Things do not go very well. Being realistic means recognizing that what we do has consequences. There are causes and effects. This is true about material things and about human beings to a significant extent.
Thus, we need some degree of knowledge about the facts of our situation in order to do the will of God effectively. And if we want a good knowledge of facts, knowing something about the relevant science can make a big difference. Think of a person who wanted to quit smoking. A student in a class on science and religion tackled on a project to quit smoking. He had tried before and failed. But this time he classified the temptations that arose as biological, psychological, or sociological. Adding this simple use of science to his persistent efforts was enough to enable him to quit successfully.
The habit of intelligently applying knowledge of the material realm and social domain is essential for excellence in daily life. I call it scientific living. The ideal of acting in the light of the truths of science is something we can experience in small steps. Select a simple task and take time to awaken your curiosity. Then bring to mind relevant truths of science that you already know and learn a little more. Then activate your spirit of adventure and go forth into action. In doing so, you can discover significant benefits from taking even a small step of putting scientific knowledge into practice.
In this way, we can experience for ourselves how easy scientific living can be, how meaningful it is to cooperate with the truths of the Creator’s design, how enjoyable it is, and how beautifully it complements spirituality.[i] As we learn to understand the world, including ourselves, with greater care, and apply our growing knowledge responsibly, we contribute to progress in partnership with our Maker.
We may be working on our own problems or the world’s problems. Either way, I am convinced that the wisdom we need requires a combination of what I call scientific realism and spiritual idealism.
Today the world needs to see spiritual values walking hand-in-hand with scientific responsibility. This requires us to develop and sharpen our capacity for scientific living as well as spiritual living. While some people look to science and technology to solve our major global problems, others look to religion. Jesus repeatedly brought forth a perspective that fully recognized both earthly and heavenly realities.
All our modern knowledge of causes and effects still leads back to the First Cause. The powerful, sovereign Creator has established the laws of nature, moral commandments, and the spiritual laws of love. To cooperate with these laws increases our practical effectiveness. Good knowledge, including good science, helps make our love intelligent.
The habit of intelligently applying knowledge of the material realm and social domain is essential for excellence in daily life. The ideal of acting in the light of the truths of science is something we can experience in small steps. Select a simple task and take time to awaken your curiosity. Then bring to mind one or more relevant truths of science that you already know and then learn a little more. Then activate your spirit of adventure and go forth into action. In doing so, you can discover significant benefits from taking even a small step of putting scientific knowledge into practice.
In this way, we can experience for ourselves how easy scientific living can be, how meaningful it is to cooperate with the truths of the Creator’s design, how enjoyable it is, and how beautifully it complements spirituality. As we learn to understand the world, including ourselves, with greater care, and apply our growing knowledge responsibly, we contribute to progress in partnership with our Maker.
For readers who would like to explore the topic of scientific living in an up-to-date way, here’s a link to one of the best chapters I’ve ever written. The opening chapter on scientific living concludes this excerpt from Living in Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.
Photo credit:
Carl Spitzweg, Schmetterlingsfänger (The Butterfly Catcher), c. 1845.
Neue Pinakothek, Munich.
[i] Popular presentations of psychological research can complement spirituality, for example, Ali Abdaal, Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You (Cornerstone Press, 2023).
Well said!
I like to think about science in terms of the physiology of my psychology.
Maintaining a “mind of perfect poise, housed in a body of clean habits, stabilized neural energies, and balanced chemical function…”.
By understanding my body’s mechanisms for processing thoughts and emotions, I learn more about self-mastery and the processes that aid my guardian seraphim’s work in coordinating spirit influences.