First, let me be clear………I am not smarter than God. The fact is that I spend a lot of my time trying to understand my world and what is going on in it. To paraphrase a not so famous politician……….”my ignorance is encyclopedic”. But, at least I recognize my limitations.
What I’m angling toward is this: do you believe that you are smarter than God? Do you believe that we, as a species, are smarter than God? Don’t laugh yet……..If you believe that there is no God, then by default you are answering yes. If you find yourself saying……”I can’t believe that God would (fill in the blank)” then you are answering yes. If you are angry with God because of something that has happened to you or somebody close to you, then you are answering yes. If you reject “organized religion” then you are answering yes. If you believe in God but also believe in Darwin then you are saying yes…….by proxy.
One of my sons used to say that he was the smartest man alive. He was, in fact, very smart…….so smart that it was sometimes scary. He was, of course, wrong. However, just for the purposes of argument, let’s assume that he was right. Let’s go one more…….. let’s assume that you are as smart as he was.
How much, out of all that there is to know, do you have command of? If you are honest, you must say that you understand a tiny fraction of the universe. In reality, you rely on the understanding of others to extend your reach. This brings us to the next question.
How much, out of all that is out there, do we communally……..as a species…….know?
All of it………most of it………some of it………….or have we just scratched the surface. If you consider how much we learn each year……..if you look at the increasing pace of scientific discovery………you must conclude that there is a vast reservoir of knowledge that is beyond our current understanding. Either that or we will soon learn the last thing that is to be learned and our knowledge will be complete and perfect.
I’m asking you to place your personal knowledge and, as a species, our communal knowledge on a scale between hubris and humility. This is going to be hard. As humans, we like hubris a lot more than humility. Hubris is a lot more fun. Furthermore, and far more importantly, hubris allows us to do whatever we want. After all…….as smart as we are……we must be right……….right?
If you believe that we pretty much know it all, then you will no doubt find Darwin appealing. On the other hand, if you believe that we have just scratched the surface………. that we have the understanding of children…… then you are open to possibilities beyond what we, as a community, can explain…….today.
As I said at the top, I am not very confident that I have reached the highest levels of understanding. I am willing to accept that there are things that exist, that are completely beyond my comprehension, beyond our communal comprehension. As a corollary, I will not exclude the existence of God because I cannot see, touch, measure or understand him.
To reject God, you must believe that you are……. that we are…… close to the top of the scale of understanding. This, in spite of the fact that we, as a species, are well on our way to destroying this beautiful planet.
And that is a good working definition of hubris.