Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:7)

O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (Daniel 12:4)

Technological and scientific knowledge have exploded in the past decades. Many can remember the first handheld calculators and the clunky, slow desktop personal computers. My, how knowledge has increased! Chemistry, ecology, engineering, medicine, pharmacology, the Internet--all have produced enormous benefits (and revealed great problems) for the world.

But if the recent raging debates over economic and political issues, healthcare and social calamities give any insight, the "best and brightest" cannot agree on how to use the knowledge gained.

The disagreements center on apparently opposite sets of tensions:

• The poor want more without conditions, while the rich want more without convictions.
• The conservatives want to maintain the status quo, even as the progressives want to control the future.
• The weak want protection and provision without obligations, and the strong want dominance and self-serving freedom without responsibilities.
• The liberal left wants inclusive love without moral restrictions, while the moralistic right wants exclusive law without love's patience and tolerance.

These opposing demands are inextricably tied to the common themes of evolutionary humanism and scientific naturalism. Following are the main presumptive beliefs and the obvious applications of those assumptions:

• God does not exist or is detached and disinterested in the affairs of men. (I and my associates are, therefore, the best qualified to lead.)
• The "fittest" must and will survive. (I and my associates are, obviously, the "fittest.")
• Change is inevitable and can now be directed through better knowledge. (I and my associates are, clearly, the best educated and most experienced.)
• The ability to direct evolutionary change requires "lifting" the downtrodden. (I and my associates are the most "needy" and, therefore, must be "lifted.")

These debates illustrate the classic war of worldviews that has raged since the rebellion in the Garden of Eden. Although each evolutionary-driven assumption has been debated and defused, it may be helpful in this short article to review some of the foundational principles of Scripture that underlie the biblical worldview.

The Creator's Mandate for Human Stewardship of Earth

Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28)

The Creator's Promise to Preserve Earth

The Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake;…neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:21-22)

The Creator's Promise That His Word Is Sufficient for Life and Godliness

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

God has delegated tasks and set boundaries for mankind, as well as provided His promise of preservation and instructions for life. Obviously, the whole of Scripture is "profitable" (2 Timothy 3:16), yet even these three fundamental passages, if truly believed and acted upon, will make a "worldview" of difference--whether in the search for scientific knowledge or in the basic pursuits of life.

* Dr. Morris is Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Creation Research.

Cite this article: Morris III, H. 2010. The Information Age. Acts & Facts. 39 (2): 22.