Christianity is Stupid

I read this morning that Stephen Hawking, considered by many to be the most brilliant man alive, stated that he felt he had proof that God was not needed for Creation. That the Big Bang was, in fact, self caused as a result of gravity. The link is here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7976594/Stephen-Hawking-God-was-not-needed-to-create-the-Universe.html

I'm not going to argue with the science that Dr. Hawking espouses, I just can't hang in that league. I'm not even going to try to defend that the story of Creation, or much of the rest of what we Christians beleive, is scientifically accurate. Or really, that it even makes sense.

For thousands of years, brilliant minds have sought answers, be they scientific, philosphical, theological, or pop cultural. These minds have often crossed each other, arguing that their theory, their view, is truth. Wars of words, and yes, wars of weapons have been waged in the name of being 'right.' Thats what arguments like the one I'm avoiding getting into lead to. And truth really gets lost in a sea of "I'm right, and you're not!"

So, I'm ending it. Right here.

Christianity is stupid.

That's right. It is nonsensical, unscientific, and fantastical. It asks us to believe in things that, to our senses, are not there. We are asked to beleive that there is a being of such great power and benevolence that he created a world as a sort of experiment to see what would happen. That he would then occasionally send messages to people of faith from murderers, adulterers, liars, and the like- about how to be holy. That this kind and loving God would terribly punish those who reject him. A God who tells us that the way to live is to die. A God that makes animals talk, changes dirt into people, and changes the coarse of OCEANS.

That makes no sense, to science or our own sensibilities.

Reading the comments to the article above, I saw that many people felt the same way. Christianity is full of what science calls contradictions. In more poetic terms, the "center does not hold." If God is so holy, why is one of his biggest allies Moses- a cowardly fugitive murderer? Why would Jesus let Lazarus die, when he could heal him? Just to prove he could raise the dead? That's not very kind. Nor is letting John the Baptist die a horrible, and kind of pointless death.

We live in a world that wants- no, demands- answers. Dr. Hawking has them. They are firm and clear, and well documented. Christianity tells us that we have to beleive in what we cannot see. It's no wonder the world runs to science when they have questions.

But there is something. Something that seems almost...sensical about Christianity. In the Bible, 1 Corinthians 2:14 says: "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." In science terms, you don't have the right rubric. When a scientest looks at something, they must be objective, but there is still something they are looking for. They have a baseline. Without all the information, they cannot come to a solid conclusion. Those who do not have the Spirit cannot accept( read: Understand) the thing of God, because they lack ALL of the variables in the experiment. But the same can be said for Christians who ignore science- we need to try to grasp that variable as well.

But in the end, we shouldn't expect to understand God. If I can fully understand God, then he is not God. So, it makes sense that we followers of God won't make sense to those who don't know Him as we do. Christianity does not resolve, it does not make sense, it is stupid.

But I am so glad that it doesn't have to make sense for me to receive grace.