Science in Christian Perspective

Is There Unity In Creation?
Russell Maatman
Dordt College

Christians believe that there is one God and that He created the whole world. Christians usually claim that many corollaries flow from this statement. For example, in one sense all men are brothers. Also, all men should unite and look in one direction-toward God. Men are united in other ways: they all die; for all there is one judgment; and there is but one way in which they can be made alive. Again, because all men are of one flesh they should exhibit this one-ness in a unity of purpose and action.

The corollaries to the fundamental, statement also include statements of beliefs on matters other than those related to the goals of mankind. Thus, when Christians say that all creation ought to unite in praising God, they usually refer to more than the verbal praise of God required of men. For example, they believe that everything that man does-whether it is making music, selling real estate, writing poetry, or synthesizing new compounds-ought to unite in praising God, Who made us and the rest of creation. Finally, when Christians quote the bible directly and maintain that the heavens declare the glory of god, they confess that even creation quite apart from man is united in praising its Creator.

This symposium is an examination of only one of the possible ways of looking at the unity-in-creation concept. Is there unity in broad areas of knowledge, such as the physical scientific area, the artistic area, or the biotic area? In the present discussion the physical scientific area is of special interest. The participants have been asked if the existence or non-existence of unity in any of these broad areas of knowledge has any significance for our Christian faith. The reader should also note that the participants have also been asked to reflect on some related matters to the extent that those matters interest them. Therefore, the participants do not all discuss the same facets of the unity-in-creation concept; they share a common preparation only in that all have seen this introduction, not each other's contributions to this Symposium.