The Painter and his Painting

I was talking with my parents over the holiday break and this analogy is a product of that discussion. We were talking about how people look to science, which is confined to explain only the natural, to either prove or disprove God, whose primary residence is in the supernatural. We realized that in many ways science can shed light on the creativity and complexity and various other attributes of God, but how it is limited in its scope when it comes to understanding God or knowing Him. The earth is His creation, and this is where the painter/painting analogy came about:

What can you learn about a painter from his painting? Only a general understanding can be grasped, end even that knowledge is limited by the subject or theme of that painting, and how many of that painter’s paintings you might have access to. In order to know more about the painter we either have to talk to him, talk to others who know him, or read a biography or autobiography about him. So it is with God. We can learn about Him through the sciences: observations made in nature that reveal details about the earth, its formation, its laws and functions, etc which shed some light on His order, creativity, and complexity. In order to know Him though in any sort of personal or intimate way though, to know Him past the general revelations elicited from creation, we cannot only use science. God has provided three means similar to the way we would seek to know more about a painter after looking at his painting.

First, through prayer we speak to Him directly and that relationship begins when we know His Son Jesus Christ. Christ introduces us to Him in a way that lets us communicate with Him and grow more in our relationship to Him. Second, through fellowship and relationship with other children of God we learn more about God through their interactions and opinions of Him. Finally, and one of the most reliable and important, He has given us an account of Himself and His dealings with His masterpiece through His Word. In the scriptures we read about Him and accounts about His purposes from a nation (Israel in the Old Testament) and from people who knew Him while He was living in His creation (the apostles in the New Testament).

Hopefully this analogy serves to bring to light the advantages and the limitations of science as a primary or sole means of knowing God. For the non-believer I hope it causes them to seek to know God through the other means listed, and for the believer I hope it does two things. One, that we would not fear that science will undermine our faith as we recognize its proper place in the world and the impossibility of it disproving the existence of God. Second, through that recognition that believers would no longer reject science as a whole but would understand that it is another means for us to understand, appreciate, and give praise to our God.

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