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Our spiritualities are carved out in a world dominated by big M materialism. At heart, we are taught that what is real is what we can see, feel, smell, hear, and touch. Ask us what we know about the world and we give you facts, figures, and measurements.

For atheists, that means that life’s only mysteries are what we have yet to learn. For some believers it means that God lies just beyond what we don’t know or just beyond what is yet to be known. The debate over creationism illustrates how much atheists and some believers have in common: They may come to different conclusions, but they can’t believe that God is somehow present in and through the world in which we live.

The result is a God of the gaps or none at all.

There are a lot of problems with big M materialism. Some of them are these:

One, not all truths — not even the most important truths — are material. We are moved by far more than what we can see, feel, smell, hear, and touch — by love and conviction, for example.

Two, the scientific method — the road to mastering our knowledge of big M materialism is a great, but limited tool. It can describe what happens in the world around us, it can’t explain why it exists at all. Thanks to science I know that mass and gravity are related. Science can’t tell me why the relationship does or should exist.

Three, for people of faith, a devotion to big “M” materialism, a devotion to it drives God to the boundaries of our existence. The best of the Christian tradition has always held that God is both beyond our existence (transcendent) and active in our world (immanent).

Four, for the atheist a devotion to big M materialism never quite eliminates the need to have faith. Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens — all of the “new atheists” I can think of still want to talk about meaning, beauty, morality, and significance. Why? For what reason? If we are here as the product of an accident — then why care, even if we are here for a long time?

Don’t be bullied by big M materialism. The Greek Orthodox tradition has always held that the world around us exists and holds together thanks to the creative and animating work of the Trinity. Science isn’t a window into the absence of God, it is a small window into the grandeur of God.

One Response to “Big M Materialism”

  1. Pat Schroer says:

    and I’m so glad that God left the windowshades open on days like this. The weather this afternoon was breathtakingly beautiful! God is in His heavens and all is right with the world (at least my little corner of it!)

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