God’s providence through technology
Those who, like me, believe in the existence of God believe that He is a loving and caring being who continually blesses His people by giving them various abilities that enable them better their lives. Mankind has advanced a lot since prehistoric times, through the inventions of some individuals, so enabled by God to make life better than it had previously been.
I will highlight very few, relatively modern inventions in this article and go on to discuss a prevalent view among some religious people on some of these inventions.
The first invention I want to highlight is the motor car. The man credited with making the first combustion engine propelled vehicle is German Karl Fredrich Benz.
After experimenting with Nikolaus Otto’s four-stroke engine, he built a three-wheeled vehicle run on such an engine, which he patented in 1886. Benz founded several car assembly companies. His main company, Benz & Cie. merged with another car manufacturer cofounded by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, Daimler AG, in 1926 to become Daimler Benz AG., manufacturers of the revered Mercedes Benz.
I need to briefly mention another German called Rudolf Diesel, who came up with a compression ignition engine, originally designed to run on peanut oil but later modified to run on what is known today as diesel, named after the inventor.
Next, I must mention Scotsman Alexander Fleming, who, while working on the influenza virus in 1928, discovered a substance that prevented the growth of staphylococci (a type of bacteria).
He called the discovered substance penicillin.
Other scholars later developed penicillin into an antibiotic, which revolutionised the management of bacterial infections. Many antibiotics have been developed since then.
These and a myriad other inventions are supposed to be enjoyed by humans.
I believe that they are God’s blessings to His people. There is popular belief among believers that manna, which dropped from heaven to feed the Israelites as they wandered through the desert, was a blessing. Far from being a blessing, manna was actually God’s SOS to a people that could not fend for themselves. In today’s terms, manna was a handout.
Obviously, God did not intend for his people to live on handouts forever. That is why the moment the Israelites entered the Promised Land, manna ceased.
The real blessings were in store for them in Canaan, where they would let their human ingenuity flourish in agriculture, engineering, architecture, commerce.
They would, for instance, grow their own wheat, barley and grapes and make their own bread and wine.
On the architectural front, King Solomon built a magnificent Temple in Jerusalem with materials from as far afield as Lebanon. In 701 BC,
King Hezekiah constructed an underground channel from Gihon Spring to the pool of Siloam, bringing fresh water into the City of David. This was a remarkable engineering feat even by today’s standards.
All this was possible because of human ingenuity, yes aided by God, but executed by humans. It is the same ingenuity that bred the likes of Karl Benz, Rudolf Diesel and Alexander Fleming.
In Africa, some unknown individual or individuals discovered that maize grain could be ground to powdery flour, which could be turned into nsima. This too was human ingenuity.
They would, for instance, grow their own wheat, barley and grapes and make their own bread and wine.
Now to prevent people from accessing human made, and scientifically proven, medicinal products on the premise that it is ungodly so to do, is sin of the highest order.
For sure, God said he would heal His people, but He also said He would feed them. If the healing should be accessed directly from God only, why not the feeding? —The author is a printing service provider and a social commentator.
