Physician-scientist Francis Collins is known for his Christian faithfulness — and being one of the better voices for navigating issues of faith and science.
Collins, who discovered the genes associated with a number of diseases and led the Human Genome Project, is the author of a new book, The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith and Trust (Little, Brown and Company).
In a recent TV interview, the former director of the National Institutes of Health was asked about the disinformation that led to so many preventable deaths from COVID 19.
His soft-spoken response was chilling: “Politics became more important than truth.”
Addressing widespread conspiracies — for which so many Americanized Christians have a strong appetite — is now the job of top scientists beyond making life-saving discoveries and communicating science-based realities to the public.
Less than a decade ago, one of Collins statements in the recent interview would have been greeted with a corporate “Duh,” because of its obvious reality. But it is now necessary for him to say it — and, sadly, will not be as widely accepted as before.
“There is such a thing as objective truth,” said Collins. “There are facts out there.”
For many today, truth has been redefined as what one wants to be true. That is, what makes one comfortable by fitting into their preferred ideology — regardless of whether it is rooted in reality.
One wonders how well society in general — and the Christian church in particular — can function when such denials of reality are socially acceptable as alternatives to truth.
Indeed, truth (as it has been rightly described) is a mixture of wisdom and facts. But it is not free of facts.
I am less concerned that some of what the church taught me was untrue than I am that the essential truths church leaders taught me — like telling the truth; being kind to others; being unselfish; not fearing the future; and following Jesus as the highest priority — are what they have so easily traded in pursuit of fact-less and fear-driven political privilege.
Fear, of course, is the enemy of truth. It is what allows purveyors of untruths to create imaginary enemies and advance falsehoods — all in exchange for one-sided loyalty.
I don’t recall Jesus saying that made-up truth sets you free. In fact, it is what holds many — including a large slice of professing Christians — in captivity.
An added frustration with the prevalence of untruths is that truth is not an antidote. Those who already reject facts will certainly reject facts about their non-factual but supposed truths.
There is mounting evidence that this current period of American history will be largely defined by an unwillingness to accept truth as truth.
Unsurprising, the Oxford Dictionary selected “post-truth” as its word of the year in 2016. And Merriam-Webster chose “gaslighting” as its 2022 word of year. (I’ll let you smart people connect the dots.)
Evidence is useless when truth gets defined as something apart from what truth has long meant.
Decades ago in my studies, I learned that the biblical Proverbs are better understood as probabilities than as promises. The wisdom and probability of Proverbs 12:19 tells us: “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”
This moment is lasting much too long — propped up by those who claim allegiance to the one who said: “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
Spiritual truth, of course, is more than mere facts. But it is not rooted in fear-driven falsehoods.
We’ll never get to facts, however, until we rid ourselves of fear.
The late Baptist minister, civil rights advocate and national leader John Lewis said it well in his book, Across That Bridge:
“Know that the truth always leads to love and the perpetuation of peace. Its products are never bitterness and strife.”
Dear God, grant us that kind of truth.
John D. Pierce is director of the Jesus Worldview Initiative (jesusworldview.org), part of Belmont University’s Rev. Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership.