The Crux, Chapter 2: Too smart for our own good?

     This week we'll be discussing chapter 2 in The Crux.  The chapter talks about how we got "here" and where things seem to be headed, along with a look at the diversity that's developing in our society as a whole, and our church in particular.  The first part of the chapter talks about the evolution from pre-modern to modern philosophy.  The point is made that in the "dark-ages," knowledge and religion and therefore power was really centralized in the elite.  This included nobility and the clergy, making up mostly the educated, governing bodies in society.  The nobility owned the land and the clergy owned God's word.  This is illustrated by the fact that most Catholic masses were performed entirely in latin, a language not understood by the lay people.  This elitism was not limited to the Catholic tradition and parishioners of most churches believed that only the clergy were capable of interpreting God's word.  However, over many centuries as scientific knowledge grew and the world became more understandable, so too did the word of God.  Inspired by a shift in culture, church members began to believe that they could have a personal relationship with God and began searching the scriptures themselves.  No longer did the clergy hold the keys but each individual need only open his or her Bible to find God's truths.  As the modern era issued in a new level of understanding of our natural world through science, Christians, especially in our tradition, began to be convinced that the Bible too could be proven through the scientific process.  The modern mindset was responsible in no small part for taking out the mystery and providing the Everyman with a means of understanding and accessing his God.  This is a tremendous blessing for every follower of faith, but is there a flip side?  As we begin to believe that we can explain everything, that we can figure it all out, that the scientific method is the method by which truth is found... is there a danger?