Comment By Torchlight

The Frontiers of Science

We referred last month to the dangers arising from man's tampering with the balance of nature, and the "pollution of environment" which is giving serious concern to those who have studied the problem. The need to look to the dangers as well as the advantages of the present surge of scientific research is emphasized in a recent book (Science is God, D. T. Horrobin). The following excerpt states the problem lucidly and echoes the fears of many thoughtful people:

"Twentieth century science is in danger of decline because it is obvious that it has failed to provide answers to any of the really important problems of the age. In spite of the phenomenal growth of scientific activity, if anything the problems are becoming more serious. What is worse, science is actually responsible for some of the most unpleasant disasters. World population is exploding, our cities are clogged with fumes, our countryside is despoiled, our planet is being raped of its irreplaceable natural resources, and science is quite rightly being tarred with the brush of vandalism and failure.... Science will survive only if it controls itself, only if it takes care to stress the limited areas over which it is valid, only if, no matter what the pressures, it refuses to go beyond its proper frontiers, only if it ceases to proclaim itself as the panacea for all ills".

These are weighty words, and the more significant for coming from a practising scientist. Will the warning be heeded? Or are the pressures so strong that no one has the power to cry, Halt? The answers to these questions could be momentous for mankind.

After stressing the need for discipline in certain areas of scientific research, the writer referred to above goes on to state:

"One line of research which should be stopped forthwith is that into the method whereby human parents may choose the sex of their children. This is undoubtedly something which is going to be possible in a very few years. Yet I submit that this is knowledge which by deliberate choice we should refrain from seeking. The adverse effects of such a choice could be socially disastrous. Parents in most societies seem to prefer sons to daughters. This could lead to a gross excess of males and to all the violence of a society in which this situation occurs. The research should be stopped at once. The scientists know what they are doing. They will be responsible for the consequences".

Again, many will see the wisdom of such a plea. Others will say that you cannot halt the forward march of man as he seeks to master his environment. So runs the argument. Who will be the arbiter?

That this is not mere journalistic sensationalism may be gathered from the fact that a world-famous scientist, Dr James Shapiro, who has played a leading part in genetic research at Harvard Medical School, has recently resigned on this issue. He is so appalled by the dangers to mankind if recent discoveries in this field were manipulated by unscrupulous men, that he has decided to renounce science.

We have commented on this matter here because the bewildered man in the street seems to have the impression that science will eventually find an answer to all human problems. Millions have abandoned God as an outworn idea necessary in former generations but redundant in this technological age. A godless secular society, restless and violent, is the result. The lesson is clear for all to see. Man's spiritual need is a frontier science cannot penetrate. As ever, man needs God and abandons Him at his peril.

The relevance of the gospel to modern man's spiritual hunger and to get this through to him in language meaningful and clear is the great problem of Christian witness. Perhaps our greatest need is to live the gospel as it was lived by those first-century believers. We repeat a quotation given here last month, "We shall convince the world, not by arguing with it or lecturing it, but by making it envious; envious of the life that is life indeed".

The Preacher

"Preaching is a manifestation of the incarnate Word, from the written word by the spoken word; it is a most solemn act of worship, in which the thing given-the gospel of the Son of God overshadows and even transfigures the preacher by whom it is declared" (D.L. Manning).

unknown | Apr 1970
Comment By Torchlight