Doubt in the Scientific World

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

In Albert Einstein’s early days, physicists had scratched their heads for some 50 years over the unexplainable orbit of the planet Mercury. Newton’s theories of gravity had served well for centuries to understand the orbits of all the other planets, but in Mercury’s elliptical orbit, the point nearest the sun drifted by a very small amount. . . .

Astronomers theorized that another small hidden planet, which they named Vulcan, might orbit near the sun and exert gravitational force on Mercury. But Vulcan was never discovered. . . .

Then Einstein formulated his general theory of relativity. When he applied this gravitational formula to the eccentric orbit of Mercury, he had one of the breathtaking moments of his scientific life: the numbers fit. Mercury was a mystery no more.

My life will on occasion have an orbit like Mercury that for a time simply defies my best efforts to explain it. Nonetheless as surely as there is order in the universe, there is a heavenly reason for my circumstances utterly consistent with God’s Word and character. I just cannot understand it yet. We doubt because we don’t have all the facts.

Here we see some doubting even when they see the facts, Know the facts but still doubt. They can not see beyond what they believe.

Vs 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

The following statements are taken from official documents, newspapers and magazines widely read during their day. Listen to what the "authorities" had to say:

1840 - "Anyone traveling at the speed of thirty miles per hour would surely suffocate."

1878 - "Electric lights are unworthy of serious attention."

1901 - "No possible combination can be united into a practical machine by which men shall fly."

1926 - (from a scientist) "This foolish idea of shooting at the moon is basically impossible."

1930 - (another scientist) "To harness the energy locked up in matter is impossible."

(From a sermon by Bob Soulliere, The Power of Doubt, 1/30/2010)