I appreciate watching and reading Neil deGrasse Tyson, the well-known astrophysicist who has stepped into the public role once held by the late astronomer Carl Sagan. Yet we differ fundamentally in our understanding of the meaning of the universe. In Tyson’s view, before the beginning, astrophysicists have no certain idea what was going on. In his popular book on the topic, he jokes about how some people suggest God as the prime mover of all reality, while others speculate about an eternal multiverse, a universe from nothing, or even a cosmic simulation, “philosophically fun ideas,” he says, that ultimately satisfy few (Tyson 2017).

Now note the contrast in biblical scholar Derek Kidner’s reflection on Genesis 1. The creation account, he argues, stands as a bulwark against nihilism, presenting humanity as God’s image and regent and framing the grandeur of creation as a curtain-raiser to the human story God unfolds. In an age of overwhelming scientific statistics that can seem to reduce our significance to the vanishing point, Scripture reorients us to, “Stand here, on this earth and in this present, to get the meaning of the whole. See this world as my gift and charge to you …” (Kidner 1967).

My daughter loves to look at the sky and, since she could speak, would point to the moon, stars, a sunset, or a rainbow and say, “God made that for us.” There is more wisdom in that simple confession than in all the speculation about how a complex universe could arise from nothing.

Everything we study in the telescope “declares the glory of God” (Ps 19:1), and everything we examine in the microscope reminds us that even the hairs of our head are numbered (Matt 10:30). At ICS, we pursue academic excellence for the sake of virtue, as image bearers who reflect our Creator’s glory in worship and obedience.

References in order of appearance: 

• NASA, “Hubble Deep Field,” NASA Science: Hubble Space Telescope https://hubblesite.org/mission-and-telescope/hubble-legacy/hubble-deep-field.

• Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (New York: W. W. Norton, 2017), 32.

• Derek Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1967), 61.

• Psalm 19:1 (ESV): “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” 

• Matthew 10:30 (ESV): “But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” 

Blessings,

Kiel Nation, D.Min

High School Principal