“I can’t help but look at those pages and have a vague sense that this is giving me a glimpse of God’s mind.”
The more deeply you look at the great mysteries of the universe, the more “stuff just blew up like the Godfather” doesn’t seem to be such a good explanation.
For Collins [Francis Collins, the director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute], unravelling the human genome did not create a conflict in his mind. Instead, it allowed him to “glimpse at the workings of God”.
“When you make a breakthrough it is a moment of scientific exhilaration because you have been on this search and seem to have found it,” he said. “But it is also a moment where I at least feel closeness to the creator in the sense of having now perceived something that no human knew before but God knew all along.
“When you have for the first time in front of you this 3.1 billion-letter instruction book that conveys all kinds of information and all kinds of mystery about humankind, you can’t survey that going through page after page without a sense of awe. I can’t help but look at those pages and have a vague sense that this is giving me a glimpse of God’s mind.”
Collins joins a line of scientists whose research deepened their belief in God. Isaac Newton, whose discovery of the laws of gravity reshaped our understanding of the universe, said: “This most beautiful system could only proceed from the dominion of an intelligent and powerful being.”
Note by the way that this is not necessarily a ringing endorsement of Intelligent Design nor a criticism of Evolutional Theory. It is a statement of budding belief from a man of science on an issue that science can never fully address. It deserves attention as such, but we shouldn’t mistake it for something it’s not.
CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: I am informed that my use of “budding” in the preceding paragraph was misleading. I did not intend to imply that Collins’ belief is new, as the definition of “budding” would lead some to believe. I intended the word “budding” in the sense of a tree or plant that puts forth new buds to imply that Collins’ new epiphany led him toward writing his book, which is certainly a new area of growth for him and his belief. Collins is not a new convert to Christianity.
I apologize for any confusion my errant use of the word may have caused.
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Category: General
No, it is not a statement of "budding belief" – though one could conclude that from the misleading title and lead paragraphs. Fact is, Collins has been committed Christian for a long time – there is nothing new about this, and he certainly did not come by any conversion because of his genome work. That much is explained deeper in the article, but the lede is very misleading.
I'm not saying that Collins' study of the genome was his conversion experience but I don't think it's improper to call his belief "budding". A budding plant is one that is putting out new flowers or stalks and it's proper, I believe, to say that his study of the human genome has caused his belief to put out a new flower in the form of his book.
From Merriam-Webster online: budding adj being in an early stage of development.
It is, specifically, improper to call his belief "budding", if you don't intend to indicate that he has only recently come by it. You needn't be indicating that study of the genome was his conversion experience, but you are implying that it was recent. Better words would be "growing," or "flowering," if you insist on the plant metaphor. Your response indicates that you thought of your own personal variation on the common usage, and followed that instead. That's encouraged in poetry, but in journalism it's called slanted writing. When we're trying not to be too harsh…
It's a fair enough criticism, EricH, but I'm not a journalist and I have never said I was anything even close to it.
When I said "budding" I honestly meant in the sense that you walk by a tree in the spring (or a grown plant) and see it full of buds and note that it's budding. That is what I believe to be common usage.
Nevertheless, I correct.