Stories: An Avenue To Truth

We live in a the “era of science.” How many times have you heard someone say, “show me the science?” Science has become the determiner of truth for many people.

Science is NOT a determiner of Truth. It is a process in which we seek it.

We have taken the process, which includes our reason along with empirical data, and made it into an idol. By lifting “science” so far above its station, we seemingly forsaken another path to Truth, stories.

Let’s begin with our “science” framework. We believe something to be true because we can measure it and it is logical. Measuring something is to experience it. Logic is to understand it. When we interact with something new, say fire, we see it, hear it, feel it. Some places are hotter, some are cooler. Then we understand that fire and can then harness it to create ovens and engines.

Story gives us much of the same things, except we do not have to experience or measure it ourselves or build upon the last discovery. Story allows us to take in the entirety of the experience all at once. In scientific discovery, we are often progressing step by step. Story takes us through the entire journey of experience and understanding all at once (depending on how fast you read, or how long the movie is).

This is why story is so important to faith. It is human to experience everything one at a time. Our limited minds are not capable of taking in everything all at once, so we compartmentalize. With God, he is all things at once. An experience with God is overwhelming as we simply cannot process that information at once. I believe Jesus taught in parables for this reason (one of the reasons). Stories are onions…I mean parfaits (not everyone likes onions…parfaits are possible the most delicious thing on the whole planet), there is a new truth the deeper you dig. There is not just a single fact (2+2=4). There are layers of truth wrapped on top of each other that allows us to experience all at once and then separate and process later.

My hope is that we will return the former glory of Story and remember that there is more than just the scientific method for discovering truth.

(10 points if you get the movie reference)