Misinformation in the Church

As I stated in my last post, my good friend from college visited over the weekend. He has been a journalist in the past although he migrated to a new career rather recently due to the collapse of the local newspaper as seen in many parts of our country. As we sat down to lunch, my friend, my wife, and I had a long discussion about misinformation in the public square. He (a journalist) and my spouse and I (both physicians) have been on the front lines here….alternative “news” and non-science health beliefs are rife with misinformation. Our talk was a bit pessimistic although we ended up doing a nice walk about town afterwards which was helpful.

Unfortunately, this misinformation is occurring in churches throughout the United States. This issue is tragic as I am pretty sure Jesus would not want us peddling in lies and falsehoods especially around current events and scientific knowledge. In my own experience both in and around churches, I have seen numerous examples of this problem. Just a very short list:

A. My children being told that pterodactyls still exist in Idaho. Thus, evolution is not true….beyond gross. Also, incredibly uninformed.

B. My family being told that any belief in the science of evolution is an example of lack of faith (never mind that fact that several, well-respected organizations exist which promote science in church — BioLogos and the American Scientific Affiliation among others)

C. The yelling of a U.S. Presidential candidate’s name from the congregation while a pastor gives a sermon…very gross.

D. The anti-vax movement that has infested many congregations in the U.S. leading to countless deaths. I was involved with some work trying to stop anti-vax crud occurring in churches early on in the pandemic. I do not know how successful this work was.

Such thoughts lead me to Augustine. There are times I love reading Augustine; there are times that I want to scream at him. I feel that way about Paul as well. Augustine, Paul, and every human who have ever existed are not great all of the time, and I see this aspect in my own life frequently.

Augustine’s work on Genesis is helpful, however. Many of the points in his work are not super relevant today. However, I read through his work again today and found some things that ring true.

“I admit that I do not know why mice and frogs were created, or flies or worms. Yet I see that all things are beautiful in their kind, though on account of our sins many things seem to us disadvantageous.” There is no personal appeal to his known authority here. The great “I don’t know” is the cornerstone to science. Likewise, it is “disadvantageous” (per Augustine) that we don’t know the cause or reason for many things. Science can help here. Honestly, good literature, an exacting understanding of history, and well-thought out theology also can help.

“He set the light of wisdom to the east in Eden, that is, in immortal and intelligible delights. For this word is said to signify delights, or pleasure, or a feast if it is translated from Hebrew to Latin. It is set down in this way without translation so that it seems to signify a particular place and to make the expression more figurative. We take every tree that the earth produced as every spiritual joy; for such joys rise above the earth and are not caught and overwhelmed by the tangles of earthly desires. The tree of life planted in the middle of paradise signifies the wisdom by which the soul should understand that it is ordered in a certain middle range of things.” I love the wording of “more figurative”. Here is one of the original church fathers stating that a reading of Genesis can have symbolic meaning while not necessitating a literal reading. If you want evidence that a literal reading of Scripture has caused harm, just visit AiG or listen to a Christian nationalist.

“Now let us also look at the verse that they mock with greater impudence than ignorance. Scripture says that, after completing heaven and earth and all the things he made, God rested from all his works on the seventh day and blessed the seventh day and made it holy by reason of his resting from his works. They say, “What need did God have for rest? Was he perhaps tired and worn out by the works of the six days?” They also add the testimony of the Lord, where he says, “My father works up to now,” and by this they deceive many of the uneducated, whom they try to convince that the
New Testament contradicts the Old Testament.” Ahh, two points here. “They” in this segment comprises those who followed ideas surrounding Manichaeism which was a gnostic belief system. 1) The first point is that Augustine uses the days of creation as figurative mechanisms and not literal. Much of his work on Genesis surrounds this topic as he believes that figurative understanding is better food for the soul. I would agree. 2) The second point is that Christian nationalism tends to misunderstand how the Old Testament supports (from a Christian perspective) the Old Testament. Violence is never an answer. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s… Love God; love neighbor in an eternal lovely dance.

Simply put, Augustine provides good arguments against literal interpretation of Scripture. Metaphor is extremely important in human understanding.

Scientific knowledge can bolster beautiful metaphors that exist in theology. A lovely, eternal dance indeed.

P.S. I wrote a somewhat related topic about this issue in BioLogos in 2018.

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