Wonder. Or, It's all just too whimsical isn't it?

Sometime ago I was watching a movie called Agora. I remember a scene where Hypatia and her students are discussing (or debating might be more accurate) whether the Earth was the center of the universe, or whether the Earth revolved around something. During the scene one of her students makes the comment: "It's all just too whimsical isn't it?," referring to the theory that the Earth revolved around something and was not the center of the universe. 


I didn't make much of the comment at first, but lately I've realized just how profoundly insightful that comment really is.


I've started reading Eugene Merrill's An Historical Survey Of The Old Testament in preparation for one of my seminary classes. Merrill, from what I can tell, is young Earth. While I on the other hand would put myself in the old Earth camp. I haven't read many of the arguments from the young Earth side of the equation for myself so it was interesting hearing them articulated clearly. While I may not agree with Merrill completely I've been thinking about something that he said for the past few days, something that was just "so whimsical." 


It was one of Merrill's arguments, that many of the geologic features (including the fossil record) used to support an old Earth position could be explained by a world-wide catastrophic flood, the flood recorded in Genesis 7. As I thought about this argument the one thought that kept coming back to me was: "If this is actually what happened then it means that we are living in a world that is out of a fantasy novel. This is too whimsical to be true."


Note: This is not Merrill's entire argument. If you want to hear that I would suggest buying the book and reading it, or waiting a few weeks until I finish it and borrow it from me.


I am sure that some of the things we now know to be true, such as the Earth revolving around the sun, or being round seemed whimsical at one point as well, but now we know them to be true. Hypatia and her students were limited by their knowledge, they were finite, they did not know everything. Despite all our advances we are also finite, we do not know everything.


I wonder what beliefs of ours will be laughed at as primitive by those who study and read about our age 500 years from now. The things that we are so certain are true in our day and age may very well be proven false and look silly in the future.


With my personality it is tempting for me to think that I know, and can explain, everything. This was a reminder that I do not know everything, that I am a finite being and will never know everything this side of eternity.


"For now we see an obscure thing in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known." 
- 1 Corinthians 13:12


I do enjoy thinking about things like this though. Things that are incredibly complicated and nearly impossible to definitively prove. This should keep me busy for a while. Haha.