Claiming To Be Wise They Became Fools ...

 

Hawaii is an incredible place.  Rising from the depths of the Pacific ocean are eight volcanic islands that make up this wonderful island state.  Actually these are just the visible parts of a chain of undersea mountains that stretch for 1500 miles across the mid-Pacific.  

When measured from their true foundations below the ocean, these are the tallest mountains in the world.  At the bottom of the island chain is the island of Hawaii and the shield volcanos Mauna Loa (13,677) and Moana Kea (13,796).  When measured from it's base, Mauna Loa reaches 3/4 a mile above Mt. Everest and covers nearly 10,000 cubic miles of mass.  No wonder they call it the "Big Island".  

The island of Maui, Hawaii's northern neighbor boasts two mountains, the massive Haleakala "House of the Sun" (11,500) and the west Maui mountains known to Hawaiians as Komohana, also called Mauna Kahalawai.  These two are connected by a broad valley thus earning Maui the name "The Valley Isle".  Each of the other islands have similar mountains though not as high or large as those on Maui or Hawaii.  (Sorry Kauai, you do have the dramatic Waimea Canyon aka "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific")

The islands of Hawaii are the most isolated land mass on earth, situated approximately 2500 miles from land in any direction.  Free from atmospheric pollution (well, there is the VOG from Kilauea), and with little to no ambient light, the mountains of Hawaii are considered some of the best places to observe the stars anywhere on earth. The night air is clear and dry.  As a result, both on the island of Hawaii and here on Maui you find leading observatories built above one third of the earth's atmosphere.  

At the summit of Haleakala is Maui's "Science City", home to the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.  Partnering with NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Pan-STARRS consortium, the Space Telescope Science Institute, Tohoku University (Japan), the US Air Force and other agencies, the Institute for Astronomy shares some of the worlds most powerful telescopes.  These and other scientific organizations are researching such subjects as astrobiology, the sun and solar systems, the stars and galaxies and cosmology.

Ever wonder what they do with all those millions of research grants?  Take a moment to review those research subjects.  Astrobiology.  Cosmology.  Astrobiology from astron "constellation, star" and bios "life" is defined as the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe.  Cosmology from kosmos "universe" and logia "study" is the study of the universe in it's totality and by extension humanity in it's place.  Historically cosmology included science, philosophy, esotericism and religion.  The very names of the research subjects gives you a clue.  

The Institute for Astronomy's own website has this to say about Cosmology ...

"There is now nearly universal agreement that the universe began in a hot Big Bang more than 13 billion years ago and has expanded from a nearly uniform early state of very hot gas and radiation. One of the most compelling problems of modern astrophysics is to understand the evolution from this early uniform state to our current structured universe of stars and galaxies. When and how did galaxies form? When and where did the first stars form? Will galaxy formation go on forever, or are we at a special time in the history of the universe?"

The actual course description for Astrobiology 281 in part reads ...

"One theme of the course is the quest for an understanding of the origin and cosmic distribution of life. This topic embraces the search for life on Mars, efforts to find planets around other stars, an evaluation of the UFO phenomenon, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence."

Academics and scientists across the globe continue on their endless search for the answers to man's origin.  Occupying the combined minds and efforts of some of the world's most intelligent people is the attempt to find purpose and meaning apart from God.  

In the opening chapter of the book of Romans, the apostle Paul tells us that God's anger comes to those who suppress the truth by their wickedness.  Paul writes, 

"¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."  

He continues to tell us that men could know God, but they chose not to acknowledge and glorify Him as God.  As a result,  

"their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles."

It's just as true today, intelligent people continue to exchange the truth of God for a lie.  In cathedrals of education and science across the globe people would rather worship and serve the things God has  created than the Creator Himself.  The scientific community continues to rage against what is easily recognizable to those less educated.  Clearly the amazing design of the universe requires a designer.  Job says of God,

 Job 9

 ⁸ He alone stretches out the heavens

       and treads on the waves of the sea.

 ⁹ He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
       the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

 ¹⁰ He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
       miracles that cannot be counted.

When you look at the stars at night are you humbled by the immensity of the world God has created, or are you still searching for meaning without Him? 

Psalm 8

 ³ When I consider your heavens,

       the work of your fingers,

       the moon and the stars,

       which you have set in place,

 ⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him,
       the son of man that you care for him?

 ⁵ You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
       and crowned him with glory and honor.

In the mid-1400s Thomas À Kempis wrote, 

"Every man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars."

And it's still true today!