Well Bob, I guess it goes with everything, God has to grant us the understanding of any of the things that we learn.... that has been the case all along. When you think about back through history as far as we can see, there knowledge of even this very earth was filled with conjecture and much of it wrong. So what happened to change what we understand? God has a plan and He had determined from the beginning when it was time for technology. Now not only do we have microscopes that can look into the tiny details of a cell, but also telescopes that search into the far reaches of outer space.
That has made a big difference, now it's not just conjecture, but study of real things as they are happening and seeing things we didn't know about before. Now we only have a very narrow view of these things, and a person is limited on how much they can learn, by the actual length of their life. It's a slow process of gathering information, but this is information of actual real things or events that is being gathered and built on from one generation to the next. Over time this information has began to produce results. Now with the internet and information is shared pretty much instantly, this makes it possible to share and learn even more. That makes me think of what God said about those people building the tower of Babel...
Gen 11:6 And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
We no longer believe the earth is flat, that's something that was learned... and those telescopes are picking up real images of other planets. Having so many planets to view and what does take a very long time to unfold as they develop, but now with telescopes they can actual evaluate to different stages in different planets and learn how they develop through the stages that can take millions of years.
Sure there is many problems with the way things are done in this world, corruption is everywhere, so no we cannot just latch onto everything as true that we hear. But if we become so jaded that we cannot believe anything at, well isn't that like throwing out the baby with the bathwater, so to speak. Scientist require big money to operate, that's true, but if it is so corrupted that it disrupts the real honest work of science to the degree that it is not productive at all and there is no truth in it, won't that defeat the purpose of it? We have to believe that some of the information is true and that is bared out over time and observation and lots of trial and error.
I really think we are living in unprecedented times, growth of knowledge in every direction is incredible.
Dan 12:4 "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
mercy, peace and love
Kat