–– Tim Cantrell

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Last Sunday, 7 September, was a rare treat for a few billion people, including us here in Johannesburg, as we witnessed a beautiful blood moon resulting from a total lunar eclipse, painting the night sky with hues of fiery red.  The cause was the moon reflecting the earth’s dusty atmosphere, scattering shorter wavelengths (the usual blue and green light of the moon), while the longer red and orange light reached the moon, making it glow a coppery-red. As NASA stated, it was like seeing “all of the earth’s sunsets and sunrises projected on the moon”.  “The heavens declare the glory of God!” (Ps. 19:1).  “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8).

Worship or Worry?

But wait?!  Should we be worshipping the Creator, or worrying about such a celestial sign and apocalyptic omen?  Hindu temples across India were shut down during the blood moon for fear of the negative energies and ritual impurity imposed by this phenomenon.  African traditional leaders explained how this could signal strong winds and sickness, or indicate the death of a king.  Even Christians panic over a red moon, since Scripture mentions this as one of the signs of God’s judgment upon the world near the end.

However, the biblical references to a blood moon must not be read in isolation, but in their full context of the seven-year Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord and many other accompanying indicators of God’s final judgment before Christ returns (Rev. 9-16).  As for the Hindu and animistic paranoia about red moons, this brings us to my overarching question:  What is a correct, biblical view of all of nature?

Biblical Worldview

Pagan worldviews see the universe as capricious, chaotic and unpredictable. The Christian position proclaims the opposite – that the universe is governed by natural laws, is orderly and predictable.  For example, full lunar eclipses occur about every 2.5 years, but not always with a blood moon, depending on the earth’s atmosphere at the time.  

Nature’s regularity became the entire basis of scientific observation.  One writer sums it well:

Learning more about the way God constructed our universe helps all of mankind appreciate the wonder of creation. Expanding our knowledge helps us to combat disease, ignorance, and misunderstanding. 

…As modern science discovers more about the universe, we find more evidence of creation. The amazing complexity and replication of DNA, the intricate and interlocking laws of physics, and the absolute harmony of conditions and chemistry here on earth all serve to support the message of the Bible. A Christian should embrace science that seeks the truth, but reject the ‘priests of science’ who put human knowledge above God.

Calvin’s Contribution

One of the finest fruits of the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago was the flourishing of scientific inquiry, much of which has been traced back to John Calvin’s writings and educational institutions in Geneva, Switzerland.  Just look at the list of Christians who were famous scientists, to whom we owe an immense debt in our modern world for their many discoveries and advances: Kepler, Copernicus, Pascal, Bacon (‘Father of the Scientific Method’), Boyle, Newton, Farad, Galileo, and more. 

As Answer in Genesis states, “It should not surprise us that modern science was not only born out of Christianity, but especially out of a Puritan context in 17th century England (heirs of Calvin). This Christian orientation persisted almost into the 20th century.”  Today, secular humanism and evolutionary science reign supreme with their naturalistic, unbelieving and godless worldview.

My Father’s World

J.M. Boice writes: 

To know creation is to know God, and to know God is to know everything in His creation is open to investigation. The Christian dedication to science is grounded in the knowledge that we are living in our Father’s world. This world is neither divine (as some Eastern religions would have it) or despicable (as the pagans thought), but derives its worth from its display of God’s handiwork. 

If nature were divine, science would be sacrilege; if it were despicable, science could be dismissed. But the Christian believes that nature is created by God, and therefore knows that scientific investigation can give glory to the Creator. 

…It is the orderliness of the cosmos that makes scientific investigation possible. As Kuyper stated, “The Calvinistic doctrine of predestination is the strongest motive for the cultivation of science.” 

There is a providential purpose and order to all of nature; nothing is chaotic, random, or disorderly – even blood moons!  Rightly do we sing, “This is my Father’s world!” 

Common Grace

Christians must recover a robust doctrine of God’s common grace to all – that the Creator is sovereign over all human life and thought.  Despite total depravity, brilliant medical discoveries, scientific breakthroughs, and technological advances can still be made.  Nature is not inherently evil, but is a perverted good instead.  Despite the Fall, God’s common grace preserves the pursuit of knowledge and discovery.  As Francis Bacon himself stated: 

Man, by the Fall, fell at the same time from his state of innocence and from his dominion over nature. Both of these losses, however, can even in this life be in some part repaired; the former [lost innocence] by religion and faith, the latter [cultural mandate] by the arts and sciences. 

What a blessing it was recently for my family to visit the Ark and the Creation Museum where they take God’s Word seriously as the foundation for all study of the natural world.  May we raise up many more leaders in research, science, medicine and technology.  May we develop and use our skills under the Lordship of Christ for the good of our neighbours.  And in the meantime, may we celebrate a gorgeous red moon by exclaiming with the angels, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa. 6:3).