Introduction
The Babylonians, like the Egyptians, were famous for their study of the movements of the stars. They had clear skies and a long written tradition which allowed them to record their observations accurately over long periods of time. They were known to understand the motions of the stars and, since the conquest of much of the civilised world by Alexander the Great, their knowledge had been further developed by the wisest scholars of the Greek-speaking world.
Context
Clear proof of the extent of this knowledge of ‘wise men from the east’ is a mysterious brass object with gears, recovered from a wrecked ship in the Mediterranean Sea. It was found 100 years ago, but it has taken a century to decipher its secrets. This device – named the Antikythera Mechanism – has been demonstrated to be an ancient analogue computer, designed some 200 years before Christ. It was used to predict eclipses of the sun and moon, and mapped the courses of the planets.
What it demonstrates is that Greek scientists knew that Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the rest of the planets were not gods who could influence human destiny, but simply created objects, bound for ever to follow their own paths – paths which could be predicted by clever mathematicians. Far from being gods they were more like puppets. The people who worked this out weren’t astrologers, they were the exact opposite. They were sophisticated mathematicians, scientists who could show that the planets and the sun were created objects with a fixed destiny. Gradually their knowledge became commonplace.
So, if Mars and Venus weren’t gods, then where should people look for God? This was surely the question which confronted every thinking educated person in Jesus’ day.
Reflection
One answer had already appeared. From the time of the Emperor Augustus (see Luke 2.1), Caesar was worshipped as a god, since the emperor had brought peace to his empire. This belief united people in worship, at a time when the old gods were falling out of favour.
This realisation must also lie behind Paul’s speech to the citizens of Athens (Acts 17. 24). He noted an altar erected to ‘an unknown god’ whom he proceeded to describe: ‘The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands. He himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth…so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him – though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we too are his offspring.”’
While Paul’s success that day is reported as being rather limited, the Christian faith did, because of Paul’s work, take the Greek-speaking world by storm. Surely it did so because he announced an idea whose time had come, because the old gods could no longer be believed. Paul notes (1 Corinthians 1.22) that ‘Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom’.
In today’s epistle Paul says ‘In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind’ (Ephesians 3.5). He is overjoyed that what has been revealed to him is exactly what the whole world was seeking; real knowledge of God, and of how to respond to God.
Our Christmas readings – John 1, and the readings from Titus and Hebrews – are all part of a new understanding of the whole of creation and of God’s purposes. Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, is doubly overjoyed. First, he is permitted to share the good news with non-Jews. But secondly, he believes that he has the answer to the deepest longings of the whole gentile world. Those who couldn’t believe in the old gods such as Jupiter and Saturn had been regarded as atheists. Instead, Paul could offer them a god who could be believed. This was ultimately why his message took the Greek-speaking world by storm.
It was the rediscovery of the ancient knowledge of the Greeks which inspired the renaissance in Europe, and this led to the development of modern science. One of its earliest achievements was the founding of the Royal Institution. This time of year is one when science is particularly celebrated, in the lectures from the Royal Institution, which are always broadcast in the days when we look forward to the coming of the wise men. With the wise men, science and faith come together.
Prayer
Lord, we give thanks for people of wisdom in every age:
for those who ask questions and are not satisfied with shallow answers;
for those who probe the mysteries of creation and bring new truth to light;
for those who bring new knowledge, and reveal old knowledge.
Lord, we thank you that we are created with a restless desire to know more,
to probe mysteries, to understand your purposes.
May we use this knowledge to enrich the lives of all,
to make available the resources you give,
and to use this wealth responsibly with a concern for all creation and every land.
And may we never forget the greatest wisdom which you have planted in our hearts,
the desire to seek you, as did the wise men in the Gospel,
and, finding you, to offer our worship.
Amen.
Questions
- Is there scientific truth, or religious truth, which we find challenging?
- Is there a conflict between the two?
- If you had been an educated Greek in Paul’s day, what might you have made of his message?
Action
Can you find a scientist to speak about their faith?
If you would like to know more of science and faith, have a look at the Faraday Institute web site. There are talks which can be downloaded and discussed.
Young people
How will you answer someone who rejects the Christian faith because they know the world wasn’t made in six days? If you haven’t got an answer, how will you find one? Who can help?
The Reverend Dr Tom Ambrose is a retired Anglican priest working in the Parish of the Ascension in Cambridge, and a former geologist who worked on the official geological mapping of northern Spain.
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