Our Universe and Dad’s World: When nature documentaries want to thank someone
BBC documentary series Planet Earth And Planet Earth 2 It featured incredible footage, great storytelling, and David Attenborough’s amazing narration. It also showed a stark contrast between the supposedly materialistic worldview, wonder, awe, and even an attitude of worship inspired by the living creatures they captured on camera. Throughout the series, the writers assumed that everything they showed was “nothing but” an accident. At the same time, the feeling that nature is wondrous, charming, even clever designer It creeps into every line, every shot, and even inside musical score.
In a new nature documentary produced for Netflix in partnership with the BBC, this discrepancy is even more apparent. our universe, Narrated by Morgan Freeman, it has an exciting and daring premise. The story of physics and cosmology – how the universe was created and how it works –It can be said in terms of biology—or the lives of the creatures that depend on that universe.
To do this, the producers combined eye-catching CGI of nebulae smoldering stars, elements being formed at the sun’s core, and molten protoplanets colliding to form our solar system with shots of cheetahs, chimpanzees, bears, sea turtles, elephants, and penguins. The goal is to tell the story, from a secular, secular perspective, of how the origins and constants of the universe make life possible and nourish and sustain every living thing.
Series It explains how energy, time, seasons, the periodic table, the water cycle, and gravity itself are all critical to living things. It shows the deep connections between a vast and seemingly sterile universe and the beautiful, blue, bountiful blob that humans call home. And he does all of this with the same unmistakable sense of awe, respect, and even gratitude as planet earth, All with the assumption that there is no one to thank.
All of the wonders were explained in terms of the Big Bang, billions of years of unguided stellar and biological evolution, and a series of incredibly lucky accidents that led to Earth and its treasury of life. The detachment of the worldview is startling and leads the writers to present conjecture as an established fact, often about events that happened long ago, leaving no meaningful physical evidence. Writers consider the universe even He had a startomitting to mention it It was only in the last century that science accepted this disturbing fact. It also ignores the origin of the first life by saying that water “brought it into being”. It’s nowhere near as simpleas many experts have pointed out.
However, it is almost as if the CGI world in this documentary conspires to produce our world, with random event after random event making things right by accident. Our universe Make no bones about the fact that our own is Featured planetAnd no other place in the known universe is so remotely welcoming to life. The existence of the land is explicit Miracle. Morgan Freeman even uses that word.
Our universe, even Our universe He portrays it, compels us to worship, leaves us with the feeling we need, as a singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson said, “Thank somebody.” In this series, however, the glory created is acknowledged and celebrated through gorgeous animation, wildlife cinematography, and a musical score, all without giving glory to the creator behind it.
In Psalm 19, David announce “The heavens speak of the glory of God, and the heavens above proclaim the work of His hands. Day by day He exclaims the Word, and from night to night He reveals knowledge.” Books like featured planet Written by Guillermo Gonzalez, Guy Richards, and Stephen Myers Back hypothesis of God Explain precisely why the Divine Designer best interprets physical evidence, and why physical attempts to understand our miraculous existence fall flat.
Our universe It ends with a cap “What a wonderful world“ In an animated montage of the cosmic wonders and creation depicted in each episode. As much as he loved Louis Armstrong, a more appropriate ending would have featured Maltbie Babcock’s hymn, “This is my father’s world“:
This is my father’s world, and to my standing ears,
All nature sings, Rings surround me
Music from domains.
This is my Father’s world: comfort me in thought
From rocks and trees from the sky and seas.
Miracles made it with his own hand.
This is my father’s world, the birds raised by their hymns,
morning light, white tulips,
Declare the praise of their maker.
This is my father’s world: he shines in all that is fair.
In the rustle of grass I hear him pass by.
He talks to me everywhere.
May we have listening ears and grateful hearts that acknowledge the Creator RQ Any documentaries like this point, whether they admit it or not.
Today breakpoint Co-authored by Shane Morris. For more resources for living as a Christian in this cultural moment, go to colsoncenter.org.