Exodus 31:1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 6 And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: (ESV)
This is one of several examples in the Bible that indicate that technological ability is a gift from God, that can be used to His glory. I don't know of any examples from the New Testament, unless it be Paul's tentmaking, or the fishing ability of Peter and his companions, but I suspect that God has endowed certain people with such abilities, even to the present time. I'll mention a few who might have been so endowed, and who used the ability to God's glory: Johannes Kepler, Gregor Mendel, George Washington Carver. Can you think of any others?
Thanks for reading.
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Addendum, May 15th 06.
The poem/hymn, "God of Concrete, God of Steel" was mentioned in the comments to this post. (I should have thought of it myself!) I have posted about this hymn here. Thanks for the comments!
Musings on science, the Bible, and fantastic literature (and sometimes basketball and other stuff).
God speaks to us through the Bible and the findings of science, and we should listen to both types of revelation.
The title is from Psalm 84:11.
The Wikipedia is usually a pretty good reference. I mostly use the World English Bible (WEB), because it is public domain. I am grateful.
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The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
3 comments:
Dr. LaBar,
I will always remember that in a chapel that you conducted we sang the song "God of Concrete, God of Steel, God of Piston and of Wheel".
I too am thankful that HE is LORD of All.
Dave Hansen SWU (CWC) Class of 1991
Devout scientists like Copernicus, Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton would probably count as well, wouldn't they? As would Charles Townes or John Polkinghorne?
Gene Wolfe, being an engineer by trade, quite likes this idea and incorporates it into his stories. In 'Under Hill' a knight prays to St. Joseph the Worker and is granted a vision of a carpentry design that aids him in his quest.
In The Book of the Long Sun, Auk, a thief, is infused with knowledge by the night-god, Tartaros, and suddenly becomes very good at fixing complicated pieces of equipment - specifically airship engines and space shuttles.
I like the ideas in 'God of Concrete,' but as a song it seems somewhat...clumsy.
Thanks, gentlemen. I should have thought of that hymn myself. I have posted about it
here.
I didn't know, but should have, that Gene Wolfe was an engineer.
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