I attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, for a semester. I only took three courses, because I wanted to get re-acclimated to the academic life, since I had planned to get my doctorate there. Things changed and, with them, my plans, but I had an enjoyable semester there.
One of my professors, teaching philosophy of education, enjoyed reminding us that the Greek language in which most of the New Testament was written had no punctuation. He liked to “quote” 1 Corinthians 12:1 slightly differently from the more accepted version. Instead of saying, “. . . brothers, I would not have you ignorant. . . ,” he would say, “I would not have you, ignorant brothers.” The words are basically the same, but they take on an entirely different meaning with the change in punctuation.
I don’t know why, but lately it seems many Evangelical Christians have taken an adversary view toward science. I don’t remember this dispute when I was in school. Granted, there was the ongoing dispute about creation vs. evolution, but for the most part, it seemed that science wasn’t the enemy it has become today. Today, we question the validity of climate change, genetics, and the ever-popular evolution. There are those who dispute immunization as being a valid means of controlling childhood diseases.
And I have to ask, when did science become the enemy?
Is Science in Conflict with the Bible?
“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make your joy complete” (1 John 1:3-4).
The short answer is, “No.” Here’s why in an overly simplistic explanation.
The greatest questions of life all begin with one word. Some people ask, “Who?” Some ask, “Why?”
Others ask, “What?” or “How?” Some even ask, “When?” When we look at the fundamental questions about life, these words are the ones that really boil down to what we want to know.
The philosopher asks the why questions. For the philosopher, the how and what or when is not so important as is knowing the why of it all. They want to know the reason behind it all.
The historian asks the when questions. They want to know what happened and when did it happen.
The scientist asks the how and what questions. They want to break things down in order to understand the basic functions of the world in which we live.
Religion asks, “Who?” We aren’t concerned so much with the how or the why or the when or the what, as long as we can know who is behind it all.
Now, each of these disciplines are also asking the other questions, some more than others. Ultimately, we all want to know the who’s and the what’s and the why’s, the how’s, the when’s.
When John wrote his first letter, he gave a very specific reason—to have fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And that’s really why the Bible was written, to give us a greater understanding of God and His plan for us. The Bible isn’t written to teach us science, or history, or philosophy. When we try to apply Scripture to those other studies, we are misusing the Word in ways that it was never intended.
As the theologian is looking at the “Who?”, so the scientist is looking at “how” and “what.” The scientist is not as interested as to who created the universe as he or she is in the how was it created. The scientist is focused on the things he can see or touch or hear. A scientist is interested in verifying the data that is available to him or her in order to prove or disprove our understanding of the workings of our world.
So, there really is no conflict between the two schools of thought, just different ways of looking at them.
Let’s Talk about Creation, Shall We?
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.’” (Mark 10:27).
I’ve chosen these two verses together to address the issue of Creation because one must understand the second verse to open one’s eyes to the first.
The quote from Jesus comes from the lesson taught to the disciples after the encounter with the Rich Young Ruler. After the young man walked away from Christ, rejecting His call to surrender all and follow Him, Jesus told the disciples that closeness with God is not measured with material wealth, that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it was for a rich man to inherit the kingdom of God. The disciples were flabbergasted by this proclamation. Jesus then told them that God is able to save anyone and everyone. But, also in His words, He tells us that God cannot and must not be limited. “With God, all things are possible.”
If all things are possible with God, then why should we limit the way He does creation? A quick reading of Genesis 1 will show that God is the star of the show. He’s mentioned over 30 times, or roughly once a verse. It’s not hard to read that chapter and realize that God is trying to tell us in no uncertain words who was behind the creation of our world and of our lives.
“Yes,” you reply, “and it says how He did it. He spoke it into existence.” No dispute there. But what does that mean, “God said . . . and it was so”? There is so much in Genesis 1 that is open to interpretation.
For one thing, the Bible tells us that Jesus is the One who created our world. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God from the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:1-3). In Paul’s description of Jesus to the Colossians, Paul write: “For by Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:15-16). The Word (“. . . and God said . . .”) creating the world and everything in it, things seen and unseen.
“Okay; granted. But what about the world being created in six days?” you ask.
The Hebrew word “yom” is the one we translate into “day,” and surprisingly, both words are very similar. Both words can mean different time frames. For instance, in English, we use “day” to describe that period of time when the sun is shining, or we can mean a 24-hour period. We can use it to refer to an unspecified time (“In my day. . .” or “In days of yore. . .”) or we can refer to an unspecified time in the future—“There will come a day. . .” We use day for a number of things meaning a period of time.
“Yom” is used in the same manner. I did read on the internet that when “yom” is used with a cardinal (1, 2, 3) or an ordinal (first, second, third) number, it designates a specific 24-hour period. I don’t know how accurate that is, because in Genesis 2:2-3, we read about the seventh day, God’s day of rest. With all the other days, the day ends with “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first (or second or third) day.” But with the day of rest, there is no coda of evening and morning. There are those who maintain that God’s rest from creation is on-going—He’s created all the worlds and universes He’s going to create. If that’s so, then the seventh day is much longer than a 24-hour period. It stretches into the millennia.
If we accept that with God all things are possible, then we have acknowledge that it is quite possible that God created the world in six, 24-hour periods. But, if we are going to be honest with ourselves, then we will also have to acknowledge that God could have created the world in six “days” that lasted for millions of years. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8). He could also have created the world in six nano-seconds.
The point I’m making is that we can get caught up in really insignificant things while missing the truth of Genesis—that God, the Creator of all things through the Word, the Sustainer of all that is seen and unseen, is the One who is worthy of praise because of what He did.
It’s also interesting to note that evolution fits nicely into the story of Genesis 1. Consider the days. First, there was light. Second, there was the creation of the sky, of atmosphere, as distinguished from all the water. Third, the creation of land and separation of the land from the seas. With the creation of the land was also the creation of all plant life. Fourth, there is the creation of the sun, moon and stars. Fifth, the creation of living creatures, first in the seas. Sixth, there was the creation of land animals and sky animals, then finally, at the end of the sixth day, the creation of human beings.
Evolution also has the same basic timeline. The first thing created was light. Then secondly there was atmosphere over the planet. Thirdly, the continents rose out of the seas. Evolutionists also believe that the earth was similar to Venus in that the earth was originally encased with clouds. The clouds began to rain, and, as the skies cleared, the sun, moon and stars became visible. As for life, the first forms of life were plants, then sea creatures, land animals, birds and finally, man appeared on the scene.
So, it is possible for science and God to exist together. It’s not of the realm of possibilities—with God all things are possible—that He created the world through an evolutionary process. Science embraces evolution. It’s a plausible and reasonable means of how we got here. But that does not negate God’s divine work in bringing our universe and our world into being.
Climate Change, Anyone?
The vast majority of scientists have come to accept that climate change caused by human influence is a very real phenomenon and a very real danger in our world today. They point to the increasing intensity of storms, droughts, changes in temperatures and oceanic changes as proof that all are due to the greenhouse gases we continue to spew into our atmosphere.
There really is no disputing to any observant person that our world is changing, that it does appear to be warming with each passing year. Whether we want to blame it on greenhouse gases burned by human beings or by the natural cycles of the earth over the ages, we also need to acknowledge that greenhouse gases cannot be good for the earth and it would not harm us to try to use cleaner energy.
When God created our world and placed us in control of it, we were given the task as stewards of His creation. A quick look at Psalm 50:9-12 lets us know that God considers all that is on the earth to be His. If all the animals on the earth are His, and if all that is in the world is His, then it ultimately doesn’t belong to us. Stewardship does not mean a callous disregard for that which we have been given the responsibility, but instead means we have a duty to take care of our world, to husband the very finite resources we have been blessed with. We have a responsibility to be caretakers of a very fragile world.
Science Does Not Claim to be the Final Answer
It doesn’t take much of a read through the annals of science to realize that science is far from perfect, and most scientists will readily agree. Look at medical science, for instance. A doctor may use a leech in today’s practice, but it isn’t to draw out the bad blood making us sick. Not too long ago, dieticians were suggesting we eat a fat-free diet. Now, they know better. Things we thought science had proven beyond a doubt are now quaint reminders that science is an on-going pursuit. It teaches us to question, to challenge and to prove that which we presume to be true. Without science, there would be no metallurgy, no plastics, no increased food production through grafting, no airplanes, no cars, no buses. Without science, plagues would still be rampant. Science benefits us in ways we never think of. Like Scripture, we are foolish to pick and choose the science we wish to believe and that we want to reject simply because it doesn’t fit into our preferred worldview.
Conclusion
In our scientific world, we tend to question everything. And that’s not a bad thing. The questioning of that which we believe to be true is not a bad thing, either. I believe very strongly that truth will always win in the end. Fallacies can be stated, but when confronted with the light of truth, fallacies always falter and fail.
There will be times when science will raise questions challenging our faith. At these times, we need to remember that Christ is the Truth, and since Truth will win in the end, there is no need to fear science and its questions. More often than not, the science will ultimately verify that which we had taken by faith all along.
God or Science? I say both. Worship God, have absolute faith in Him, and use the tool of science to help us better understand our world and ourselves.
© 2017 Glynn Beaty