The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, March 8th: Genesis 22:1-18; Romans 8:31-34; Mark 9:2-10)

UNSCIENTIFIC APOSTLES WERE NOT MORONS

This week’s gospel reading is the Transfiguration of Jesus, a miraculous event witnessed by Peter, James, and John. When it was over and they were coming down the mountain, Jesus told the three stunned disciples not to tell anyone what they had just seen. They were to wait, Jesus instructed, until after “the Son of Man had risen from the dead.”

The Scripture reading concludes, “So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.”

In today’s modern world, a lot of people dismiss the miracles described in the Bible as a bunch of superstitious nonsense. For example, the Rev. Robert Funk, the founder of the ultra-liberal Jesus Seminar, explained, “Modern Christians can no longer swallow the kind of mythology that has dominated the faith for the past 2,000 years.”

Another modern theologian, Roy Hoover, said, “The idea of resurrection is embedded in an ancient world-view that is outdated in a scientific age.”

The modern view is that Jesus was a good and wise—but thoroughly human—teacher. His philosophies and social ethics can be a good guide for us today, it is taught, but we have to forget all that miracle stuff because modern science has proven that miracles simply cannot happen.

The thinking is that all those miracle stories, especially the resurrection story, were gross exaggerations added on to the legend of Jesus long after he had died. The modern view of the Gospel authors can be summed up as follows: “Well, those guys were from the ancient world. They were unscientific and very superstitious back then. They believed anything, no matter how far-fetched. They did not realize how foolish it was to make up a story claiming that someone rose from the dead.”

There is no doubt the apostles lived in an unscientific era. Peter didn’t even have a cell phone, let alone a BlackBerry with high-speed Internet connection. James had to live his whole life without the benefit of tinted contact lenses. And John never experienced the fun of having to lay perfectly still inside an MRI machine at the hospital.

However, the fact that these men were ignorant about modern technology does not automatically mean they were stupid and irrational. They did not take resurrections lightly. Based on their experience, they knew that when people died, they stayed dead.

First-century people understood life and death. They did not gullibly accept a resurrection claim just because they lived centuries before Thomas Edison and Jonas Salk. They were just as skeptical as we are when it comes to the idea that a dead guy can get up and walk.

If the apostles were really as superstitious and stupid as today’s liberal theologians say, they would not have been confused and troubled by Jesus’ words. They would not have questioned “what rising from the dead meant.” Instead, they would have nodded their heads and said, “OK, sure, whatever…” and went on their merry way.

Making the claim that someone rose from the dead was just as stunning 2,000 years ago as it would be today. The “idea of resurrection” was NOT embedded in their ancient world-view. They were not nearly that stupid.

When the apostles did make the claim later on that Jesus rose from the dead, they were met with the exact same skepticism I would be met with today if I went around claiming that my Uncle Mickey rose from the dead. The apostles never would have made up a wild resurrection story. The only reason they preached it was because they had seen it with their own eyes.

But what about modern science? Hasn’t science proven that miracles cannot happen?

Here’s the definition of “science,” right out of the American Heritage Dictionary: “The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of natural phenomena.”

Did you catch those last two words? Science can only tell us about “natural phenomena.” Science is, by definition, not capable of telling us anything about supernatural phenomena. To claim that modern science has proven that miracles cannot happen makes about as much sense as claiming that my shoe proves that there are no radio signals in the air because I can’t tune in a single station on one of my size 12 work boots.

Shoes are not capable of tuning in radio signals. Because my shoe does not do what it is not capable of doing, does not prove that radio signals are absent from this area. (And just to make sure, I held a stinky work boot tightly against my ear and listened very carefully. I did not hear a single radio broadcast. I did, however, give myself a bad case of Athlete’s Face.)

Science is not capable of studying supernatural phenomena. Because science finds no evidence for something it is, by definition, incapable of studying, does not prove that miracles are impossible.

People are free to believe that miracles cannot happen. But if they do, it is NOT because of the scientific evidence, it is because they embrace the philosophy of Naturalism, the belief that “nature is all there is.” Naturalism is a faith system every bit as religious as Christianity. (Remember the late Carl Sagan’s TV show? His opening line, “The Cosmos is all there is, or ever was, or ever will be,” was a religious creed. It was a statement of faith, not a statement of science.)

You can choose to dismiss the miracles described in the Bible as fictitious. But if you do so, don’t blame the apostles for being unscientific dummies. Be intellectually honest and admit you have embraced the religion of Naturalism.

©2009