A good story is not too complex for the human brain

 

    In the beginning, God ...
    ... Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it."
    So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”
    Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food. And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. ...
    ... And the twenty-four elders who sat on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth."

Featured:
Exceeding Earth's Safe Limits with Johan Rockström | TGS 134
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research 

Comprehending the Complex

gospel — good news — PIE *ghedh- "to unite, be associated, suitable" + Gothic spill- "report, story, tale, fable, myth"
news — from early 15c — a story about something that has recently taken place

The key to understanding any story is only found by going back to the beginning. Aristotle taught this and that, by doing so, we will see that the story is, by necessity, good ... good news.

There must be from the first a cause which, being unmoved itself, will move things and bring them together. ... The first mover, then, exists of necessity; and in so far as it exists by necessity, its mode of being is good. ... And to seek this is to seek ... that from which comes the beginning of the movement.

By failing to go back far enough, the story we hear can often appear to be bad ... bad news. And we often settle for bad news, because going back to the beginning is complex in two ways:

1. It involves the arduous work of reducing complexity by unraveling and retracing myriad unfolded [even broken] threads of movement of things which, although once vitally and obviously connected, may appear discrete and unrelated ... this is the realm of science.
   
2. But, even as science succeeds, there are obstacles [including ultimately the unmoved mover] which remain [temporarily or permanently] irreducibly complex and require the use of narrative to bridge gaps in understanding ... this is the realm of religion.
   

Thus mankind has always needed the complementary capacities of both science and religion working together in the quest to understand and retell the good [albeit complex] story in which we find ourselves. Both disciplines are performing the same function ... the uniting of all things by reconciling all the elements of the story ... and they do it by using different methods.

But is the human story just too complex for the human brain?

"It's like knowing about our home."

God — "that from which comes the beginning of movement"
Wisdom is to know the thought by which all things are steered through all things. DK B41
Men that love wisdom must be inquirers into very many things indeed. DK B35

In a remarkable example of scientific analysis and religious synthesis working together, Nate Hagens and Johan Rockstrom recount an intriguing story presenting very good news that we can at least understand [and potentially do] more about the existential complexities impacting life on earth today ... news that simultaneously and irresistibly draws us [both backwards and forwards] to God.

    Is this too complex for a human brain to understand?
    I would, adamantly with all my heart, say no, it's not too complex. Admittedly, it is complex, but we have to learn many complex things in life. Just tax regulation in any country is quite a complex matter, and we have laws and regulations we have to learn and try to follow.
    So I would say that understanding the fundamentals of why the oceans and the land systems and the ice sheets function as cooling systems on planet Earth that can buffer stress and help us to keep temperatures at a livable level [is something] everyone should know.
    It's like knowing about our home. It's like knowing about our body and our health. You want to know something about how to avoid a heart attack. Everyone has an interest in understanding how your lungs and your liver and your heart [work]. ... Well, think of planet Earth as the organs of your body. [22:00 minutes]

Housekeeping: overcoming ignorance and resistance

unwise — "Fools do not know what they do is evil." Ecc 5:1
unfaithful —"Sinners do not do what they know is good." James 4

"Who is the wise and faithful servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household? ... Therefore keep watch because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come." Matt 24

Now, every successful house-keeper must overcome ignorance [via science] and resistance [via religion]. Hagens and Rockstrom explain.

"We are in a deep crisis situation with regards to the overall health of the planet. How can a vast majority of humans alive today not know this? The scientific community has not been able to communicate [that we] have now come to the end of the road [and] need to transform the entire logic and structure of the global economy. But there are many vested interests ... resisting change." [5:00 minutes]

These are the twin dilemmas faced by prophets/seers of doomed cultures throughout the ages. The difference is that today it is not only the culture that is doomed but much more of the planet's household than at any time in previous human history.

• Science without religion is purposeless power.
• Religion without science is powerless purpose.

Any attempt to use one without the other must be either fatal or futile.

Is it of the very essence of truth to be impotent and of the very essence of power to be deceitful? And what kind of reality does truth possess if it is powerless in the public realm, which more than any other sphere of human life guarantees reality of existence to natal and mortal men – that is, to beings who know they have appeared out of non-being and will, after a short while, again disappear into it? Finally, is not impotent truth just as despicable as power that gives no heed to truth? These are uncomfortable questions, but they arise necessarily out of our current convictions in this matter. — Arendt

Boundaries: where power and purpose meet

tēréō – keep, hold in custody, maintain, guard, observe, preserve, protect
"teach them to observe all things" ... Matt 28

Ancient religion tells us that mankind was commissioned to serve as the keepers [teros] of God's household [oikos]. This involves using the power given to us for the purposes entrusted to us. Modern science tells us what we have done, where we are headed and what we can do.

If we would fulfill our great commission, we need religion and science working together to systematically discover and keep the boundaries within which to exercise our power so the house holds everything together. Anything less is dereliction of duty.

The modern notion that religion and science ... Church and State ... can be engaged and conducted separately assures that the resulting story each produces will be no more than a half-truth ... and that is not sufficient for a good ending.