Big History

I just watched a video by David Christian called "Big History" on T.E.D. It was fascinating. He began with a video to show how impossible, improbable it is to go from chaos to order and then proceeds for 15 minutes to whimsically declare that's exactly how the universe came to be. With no reason or real defense he described how the universe just suddenly happened, and how order began.

If you were listening closely you had to wonder, who could possibly believe any of this? With no apology or embarrassment he declared evolutionary events of the last 13 billion years as if they had really happened. I was amazed, humored and honestly surprised anyone stayed through the whole speech, but they did. Maybe what kept everyone distracted were the beautiful PowerPoint slides he used. Maybe it was his British accent, but whatever kept the crowd enthralled with his speech simply missed me. I could not believe he could make such bold statement in complete contradiction to his opening statement and yet declare it all with great flair and confidence.

Maybe that's the secret....maybe all you need is a British accent, a few credentials and a boldness to declare the impossible. In fact, that's exactly what David did. Without evidence or proof he described how the Universe came to be. As he spoke my thoughts raced, "how does he know that? where's the proof? that's a bold statement you can't prove!" On and on I debated him in my mind as he spoke. Surely even a simple man like me could see through this silliness, why do so many buy into this without question or rational thought?

It's clear, after listening to David's speech, that to believe in evolution takes more faith that it does to believe in the Bible. Yes, I said it, but just to make sure I'm clear let me repeat it, it takes more faith to believe in order coming from disorder, something coming from nothing, complexity coming from simplicity, all breaking the second law of thermodynamics than it does to believe in the Bible and the God who says very clearly and simply, "I made all of this!"

After watching David I'm more convinced than ever that this is a faith discussion, not a knowledge discussion. I wonder if they realize that?