Engineering in the Great Narrative

About Engineering in the Great Narrative

Abstract

Engineers shape the material world to practical ends. So a Christian perspective on engineering begins with a Biblical understanding of God’s purpose and plan for the material world. We present the view that the purpose of creation is to glorify God through the unfolding of His great redemptive narrative. The role of humankind in this drama has always been--and still is--to labor in our various callings. This role is the same for both the redeemed and the unredeemed, and as such it provides the context in which we glorify God by demonstrating the impact of his redemptive work. Three ways in which we glorify God are identified. First, we glorify God by serving others. For engineers, this service takes the form of developing and bringing to market technologies that effectively meet real human needs. We also glorify God by bearing the fruit of his redemptive work in our labor. This principle can guide choices about career direction as we reflect on what God has done in our lives and how we can best bear the fruit of that work. Our efforts to serve others and bear fruit are often accompanied by suffering, and we can glorify God by the things for which we are willing to suffer. The view of this paper, that our labor is the context in which we glorify God through demonstrating the impact of his redemptive work, is contrasted with other views.