{"id":85259,"date":"2025-03-03T11:55:32","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T17:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=85259"},"modified":"2025-03-03T11:55:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T17:55:32","slug":"the-new-idol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-new-idol\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Idol?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by David Gibson<\/p>\n<p>A cartoon depicts people bowing to a golden calf. The calf is labeled SCIENCE.<\/p>\n<p>Do you find that amusing, offensive, or right on target?<\/p>\n<p>The word &#8220;science&#8221; simply means knowledge. One of the definitions of science is &#8220;systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation [dictionary.com].<\/p>\n<h2>Good or Evil?<\/h2>\n<p>Should Christians support or oppose science? The Scriptures tell us that mature Christians &#8220;<em>have their senses trained to discern good and evil<\/em>&#8221; (Hebrews 5:14 NASB). So, are scientific endeavors good or evil? That depends. It&#8217;s like asking, &#8220;Is education good or evil?&#8221; &#8220;Is entertainment good or evil?&#8221; &#8220;Is government good or evil?&#8221; Whether anything is good or evil depends on whether it conforms to righteousness and truth, as God defines them.<\/p>\n<p>A few observations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Scientists are not infallible. &#8220;To err is human,&#8221; and scientists are human. Some things scientists once believed have since been discredited. Is it possible, then, that future studies may prove current scientific conclusions untenable?<\/li>\n<li>Many scientists truly want to go wherever the evidence leads. However, as in any field of study, not all scientists are so committed. Rather, they have an agenda, and they use their white-coat, degreed status to pose as experts, when in reality, they are agents of propaganda. We are made to feel that we who lack their credentials must unquestionably trust whatever they tell us, regardless.<\/li>\n<li>The Bible warns against putting ultimate trust in people, military strength, material things, etc. Only God is fully trustworthy.<\/li>\n<li>So, can we afford to assume that everything purportedly scientific is 100% trustworthy? It pays to be both open-minded and a bit skeptical at the same time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t take a rocket scientist to know that much.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by David Gibson A cartoon depicts people bowing to a golden calf. The calf is labeled SCIENCE. Do you find that amusing, offensive, or right on target? The word &#8220;science&#8221; simply means knowledge. One of the definitions of science is &#8220;systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation [dictionary.com]. Good&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[304,474],"class_list":["post-85259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-idolatry","tag-science"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15213,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/witchcraft-isnt-evil-i-dont-believe-in-evil-it-depends-on-each-individual\/","url_meta":{"origin":85259,"position":0},"title":"Witchcraft isn&#8217;t evil. I don&#8217;t believe in evil. It depends on each individual","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just have a comment. Please don't misunderstand. Witchcraft is like a secret. It is no different than other religions. Nothing bad about it. But don't confuse witchcraft with people's intentions, which could be good or bad. Look at all the corrupt people, all of them believe in some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2250,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-good-men-do-nothing\/","url_meta":{"origin":85259,"position":1},"title":"When Good Men Do Nothing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Edmund Burke once said, \u201cAll that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the endless battle between good and evil, it is seldom the numbers that determine the outcome of each skirmish. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many times, the side for the right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16084,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-watching-movies-or-making-jokes-about-sinful-things-really-that-bad\/","url_meta":{"origin":85259,"position":2},"title":"Is watching movies or making jokes about sinful things really that bad?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What about people who like action movies and stuff like that, or producers who make violent movies. I mean, you can like action movies but that does not mean that you support violence. There is a difference between making a joke about something and claiming that you actually would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7622,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-children-truly-innocent\/","url_meta":{"origin":85259,"position":3},"title":"Are children truly innocent?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am researching about sin and sin in children.\u00a0 I read your writings and agree with you for the most part, but I have a problem with the idea of children being innocent.\u00a0 If children are not sinful, wouldn't that make them sinless and almost perfect? Christ was the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43127,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/on-the-relationship-between-good-and-evil\/","url_meta":{"origin":85259,"position":4},"title":"On the Relationship between Good and Evil","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Evil implies good, but good does not necessarily imply evil. Some have the mistaken notion that good and evil must be necessary counterparts. That is, if there is good, then there must be evil. Some worldviews are founded on this principle, but it is not so. Good\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/good-and-evil-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15479,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-adam-and-eve-not-know-of-good-and-evil-until-they-ate-a-fruit\/","url_meta":{"origin":85259,"position":5},"title":"How could Adam and Eve not know of good and evil until they ate a fruit?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, How does one respond to someone who mocks the Christian faith by saying, \"The first human did not have knowledge of right or wrong and only got such ability after eating a fruit.\" He says that sounds like a far-fetched fairy tale. Answer: What changes between childhood and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85259\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}