More than 35 Trillion Cells
written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Throughout my life, I’ve tried to affirm human intellect and the blessing of scientific inquiry without allowing rational thought to diminish my faith in our Triune God. Human push-pull between Science and God should not force humanity to choose one or the other. Too many great thinkers limited their argument by forcing a dichotomy between science and religion. Thomas Ward, in his book After Stoicism, clarifies the science-only ideology. Ward describes the science-only stance: “Where science reigns, we risk reducing the human animal, or merely chemical, or merely physical-as longevity entrepreneur Bryan Johnson puts it, “I’m a collection of 35 trillion cells.”
Yes, you and I are 35 trillion cells, but are we nothing more? Our cellular structure alone does not define us. Our cells, alone, do not differentiate our choices, actions, beliefs, and individual uniqueness. We impact one another and expand the multiplicity of our humanness. You do not need to jump from being more than 35 Trillion cells to a demand for the existence of God. Instead, begin with the expectation that we are more than the sum of our cells. Being more than just our cells opens a vast and exciting door.
Being more than our cells opens the door to affirming our ability to influence ourselves and others through knowledge, reason, interpretation, creativity, and so much more. We transform our humanness by asserting that we are more than our biology. We become creators, as well as simply being created. Once we envision ourselves as creators, we recognize our human potential. Now, God can invite God into the conversation, as the one who fashioned the 35 trillion cells but also the one who guides our human potential in the universe.
When scientific inquiry is the only legitimate answer, humanity becomes limited. Humanity is influenced by more than who we are as 35 trillion cells because we are blessed with other forms of discovery. Opening ourselves to human creativity and divine support does not diminish scientific knowledge but acknowledges its place in the vast expanse of being. We should not reduce science’s influence or other forms of analysis that guide human knowledge, including divine inquiry. Two forms of reality can be different and remain authentic.
