Many people become defensive when talk about scientific technology arises. There is a new program at the University of Pennsylvania, which will research stem cells in order to find treatments for cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. I have a difficult time understanding why people are so opposed to this research. Why has science and technology become something that we fear? The world has changed. So too should our theology. Theology need not be stagnant.
When it comes to something like stem cell research, I applaud the advancements of our world. I think it is fabulous that we have been given the wisdom to find cures on our own. I do not think this is interfering with God’s “role.” Why can’t we find God in scientific knowledge?
In this new age where some of the answers to our biggest questions can be found outside of God, we can take our cue from Dietrich Bonhoeffer and ask, “Who is Christ for us today–in a time where religion has taken a back seat?” Christ can be found in our new knowledge and in our experiences in the secular world. Just as Christ suffered in the hands of a secular world, we too can participate in Christ’s suffering in this world. In the words of Bonhoeffer this is achieved by “living unreservedly in life’s duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In doing so, we throw ourselves completely in the arms of God, taking seriously not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world.” (Letters and Papers from Prison).
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