For the scientist who has lived by faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.-Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers
After staying a while to share some stories with the theologians, the scientist begins to explore the surrounding area. Soon he realizes that the mountain goes much higher, but the path is poorly marked and obscured in fog. He points it out to the theologians, but they cannot see the markings.
"How did you get this far?"
"God guided us here."
"Can God guide you further?"
They cannot agree amongst themselves. Some declare they are already at the peak. Others speculate that there is no peak, and thus no reason to continue. Still others say, "Yes, God will guide us," and begin to wander in the direction pointed out by the scientist, to become forever obscured in the mist.
The scientist prepares to leave, bringing only a few theologians with him. He slowly continues to scale the mountain, meticulously checking every rock, and occasionally backtracking for days at a time.
Those would not be the last theologians he would pass by.
[Incidentally, Robert Jastrow died shortly before I wrote this, but I didn't hear about it until afterwards.]
