What Sounds More Reasonable?

An Odd Human Quirk

There is a certain human quality that believes that something which sounds more complicated must be better. While this is perhaps a minor oversimplification, this phenomenon can be seen in the realm of modern technology. When purchasing a new television, for instance, the more expensive or “fancy” models tend to include numerous features (of uncertain reality or usefulness). The more complicated sounding the features are, the more appealing the product.

Enter Science and Philosophy

This phenomenon enters also into the fields of both science and philosophy. For instance, when asking of science an explanation of the origins of the universe, one may be treated to a lengthy discourse on the nature of the universe, physical law, origin theory, etc. Taken further, the atheistic scientist will attempt to prove spontaneous generation through another lengthy exposition (which will not answer the question at all). Ask the Bible about how the universe formed, and you can find the short, but poignant answer: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1, NASU).

In another example, ask a philosopher as to the nature of the soul, and you may receive a long discourse of the various outlooks of man throughout the ages, an examination of the qualities of being, etc. without answering anything at all. Ask a psychologist the same question (whose line of study, “psyche” means “soul”) and the answer will vary between an outright denial and an examination of ego vs. id, etc. Ask the Bible about the nature of the soul, and you can discover that man is unique because we are made in the very “image of God” (Gen. 1:27), and that God breathed into man the “breath of life” (Gen. 2:7).

Man Overcomplicates the Obvious

Now, these comparisons may, again, be oversimplifications, but the general idea remains. Man has gone to great lengths, filling volumes of tomes and scientific journals, attempting to explain the nature of both the universe and man. This voluminous collection of pondering, research, and examination have arrived no closer to explaining anything, yet are considered the most useful for the sole reason that they sound complicated.

Compare man’s rambling with the clear truth that God provided man literally 3500 years ago. Many may dismiss it because it sounds “too simple”. But between man’s offering, and the Bible’s explanation, which is more reasonable?