“Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.” Romans 1:20
I love a good whodunit. Ever since my first Sherlock Holmes story, I’ve been fascinated with tales of uncovering a criminal’s identity. As I kid, I was rapt by TV shows like Quincy, Perry Mason, and the Eddie Capra Mysteries (good luck finding reruns of that one on YouTube).
Though he certainly loomed large over 70’s and 80’s pop culture, I only recently started watching Columbo, starring Peter Falk as a rumpled L.A. homicide detective. It was such a shocking deviation from the standard mystery show that I almost turned it off and never watched it again.
Stop me if you already know this, but Columbo is not a whodunnit at all. It’s a howdunit. Each episode begins with an upper-class knave executing a sophisticated set of steps to commit a murder. By the time Det. Columbo enters the picture, we already know whodunit and a lot more. Even Columbo generally IDs the chief suspect early on.
The entertainment lies in watching Columbo figure out for himself exactly how the suspect committed the crime. It takes some getting used to, but once you accept that you’re not going to see a standard mystery, the show becomes totally engrossing.
Okay, so what sort of graceful intrusion could a 70’s detective show possibly impose on us today? It highlights the differences in how believers and nonbelievers view the world’s great mysteries, including science.
Consider puzzles like the universe’s origin, nature’s laws, and life’s astonishing diversification and complexity. The doubter studies them and asks, “Whodunit”? Whose fingerprints are present? Is there a God? An intelligent designer? An alien race? Is it possible there’s no originator at all, and everything is a product of random chance?
The Christian doesn’t wonder “whodunit” because he already knows. He’s on to more intriguing questions, like how and why did God do it that way.
Let’s take the Big Bang theory, which posits that the universe began when a microscopic singularity exploded. I remember my father flatly rejecting the idea. He believed God created the universe. He didn’t need scientists telling him something other than what he already knew.
Fair enough—to a point. It’s not unreasonable to dismiss the inferences of scientists because they’re just fallible people like you and me. But it would be wrong to reject the scientific evidence of the natural world itself. The Word tells us plainly in Romans 1 that “Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.” Psalm 19 likewise reveals that “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.”
In other words, the world around us is a revelation. The earth’s orbit around the sun, the development of an embryo in the womb, and the turning tides of the ocean are all testimonies of God, each one a manifestation as infallible as the Word itself.
Thus, when I took astronomy courses in college, I listened carefully to the evidence of the heavens yet cautiously to the inferences of men. My professors and I would disagree on whodunit, but that didn’t matter to me. The howdunit was far more illuminating.
I recall explaining to my father over dinner why I believed the Big Bang theory was probably correct. “Measurements show that everything in the universe is moving away from everything else. Run it backward, and it all comes together at a single point. Plus, we’ve seen quasars which give evidence of a primordial explosion. The proof seems clear: there was a Big Bang!”
He eyed me skeptically. “Meh. The Bible says God created the universe, and that’s good enough for me.”
“That’s my point!” I said with exuberance. “The Bible does say that—and so does the Big Bang.” I referenced Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” And Hebrews 11:3: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” God created the universe ex nihilo: out of nothing. One moment it was empty and void. Then God spoke, and the next moment, there was everything. “That’s the Big Bang!” I said. “Science shows us how God did what He says He did in His Word.”
This tickled my father, and it thrilled me. Nature is evidence of God’s plan and power. Putting its clues together with His Holy Word provides us with the ultimate howdunit. We are like Columbo: we already know the perpetrator. Our task is to discover the hows and whys.
I find tremendous joy in that assignment. It makes life infinitely more wondrous. It allows us to see the divinity in rainstorms, frogs, and pluff mud. As Ray Bradbury said, “Science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle.” I’ll add a third point: faith is the substance of that miracle.
Oh, just one more thing!
If you’ve never viewed the world in this way, the best time to start is right now. Say yes to God in your heart and let your entire view of life be changed forever.
Graceful contemplations
“The better we understand the intricacies of the atomic structure, the nature of life, or the master plan for the galaxies, the more reason we have found to marvel at the wonder of God’s creation.” — Wernher von Braun
“The Holy Scripture and nature both equally derive from the divine Word, the former as the dictation of the Holy Spirit, the latter as the most obedient executrix of God’s commands.” — Galileo
“The sun, with all these planets moving around it, can ripen the smallest bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else to do. Why then should I doubt God’s power?” — C.S. Lewis
Thank you for reading!
April saw the debut of the second novel in my Shadow Point series, Shadow Point Dreams. Two down and only eight more to go! Writing these books has been a blessing. My prayer is that they will offer readers a bit of Christian diversion, comfort, inspiration, insight, and, well … fun! (That’s allowed, you know!)
If you’re interested in learning more about the Shadow Point series, including how to order, click here.
As always, thank you so much for reading!