How and Why

I wonder how much time and energy has been spent on the question of how this all came to be. Darwin framed the debate in those terms and since then the church and the world has been consumed by the question of how. It seems that this has done little more than side-track much of our work as the church. It isn't that the question of "How" is an improper field of study for the church, I wonder though if it should be primary as it has been. If we believe in divine inspiration then we have to believe also that we got only the important stuff for life and if we were doing a better job of that we wouldn't be as concerned about this question.

"Why" seems a better question and the Westminster Shorter Catechism begins there, with the question, "What is the chief end of man?" "Why are we?" is another way to phrase that question. The question takes seriously that we exist and now that we are clear on that the next step is to figure out the why of existence. The church's business, it seems is the working out of life, glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.

The how question is partially responsible for much of the mess of the church in my lifetime. We have become consumed with mechanics because of the "how" question when the "why" question of existence is the more important issue. I appreciate the scientific work on biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics and it is fascinating to realize the incredible complexity of life and this universe, but at the end of the day I still need to know why there should be a thinking person like me in that universe and if that means anything. For tomorrow - beginning and ending.