Blocks of Wood

          He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”

          From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!” They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” (Isaiah 44:14-19)

          Today, most of us would not be tempted to bow down to a block of wood and worship it, and yes, I’ll grant that quite likely, most of the people who did didn’t think that the idol was their god. It was simply a representation, and somehow, as a representation, it was a sort of ear. If you prayed to it, the god would hear.

          What makes this passage poignant today is that we’re still doing it. For different people, it takes different forms. To whom do we cry for salvation from COVID-19? Whose faces do we see giving us reports on a daily, or hourly basis? We look to politicians and scientists. In the first place, we take mere men and women, and put them in places of power that we have constructed, making them into our leaders, and we cry out “Save me!”

          In the second place, we systematize a means of gaining knowledge (and it works pretty well as long as it sticks to its system’s limitations.) Because it’s not really possible for everyone to study all of the theories and conclusions, and because the system has worked well in the past, we look to the system not as a means of gaining knowledge, but as the means of gaining knowledge. We make a god of science, and scientists become its priests. Those identifying themselves as scientists are viewed as incapable of deceit, incapable of error, incapable of bias.

          Of course, scientists, like politicians, are people, so they’re capable of all three. Complicating the matter further is a trend on the part of scientists to theorize publically in hopes of gaining funding with which to do their research. Even if those theories are presented as theories, they are understood as fact by many, because “a scientist said.” This isn’t bias on my part, the Biblical Archaeology Review had an article several years back bemoaning the trend. There have been programs on TV about Wooly Mammoths, Giant Squid, and even about giant humans. We even have an annual series of programs about sharks. And having watched those supposedly scientific programs, I’ve concluded that they provide almost nothing in terms of science, but focus most of their attention on the scientists and their “exciting new theories.” The problem is that those exciting new theories are exciting because they spit in the face of previous theories, not because they’ve been proven to be right.  It’s all about creating publicity that will result in funding of the research, and the researchers.

          Science makes a good block of wood with which to build fires and roast dinners. It’s a terrible god.