This past weekend I had the opportunity to speak in one of the our adult Sunday School classes. They were beginning a new series on the book of Genesis. Of course any discussion on the book of Genesis has to begin with a look at the Creation account and the creation/evolution debate. It has been a while since I have done much fresh research on this topic. What a blast it was to get back into this issue. I was reminded once again of what a critical, foundational issue this is.
Most Christians simple say "Well I don't know all the details, and I really don't know how or when it happened, but I guess God did create everything since thats what the Bible says". Or some Christians might even say, "The Bible is not a textbook but a religious book and should be seperate from science". Now I agree, none of us were there in the week of creation, we did not see it with our own eyes, and certainly none of us can even come close to fully understanding the mind and workings of God (Isaiah 40:28). However, that does not mean we throw our hands in the air and say "oh well". In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we are told "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work". Is science for some reason not included in the word "every". I think this passage means that all of scripture is useful for the equipping of EVERY good work, even scientific work.
God has given us a tremendous amount of information on the topic of origins. There is a tremendous amount of scientific data out there that we can look at to give us clues about God's creation and how and when He did it. More importantly there is a tremendous amount of data right there in Scripture.
So why do we think that science and the ideas and concepts of scientist are so authoritative? What makes these guys so special that they can't be mistaken in some of there understanding and theories? Why does our culture want to take their word over God's Word? I think too many of us have lost perspective of what science really is and what the Bible really is. Philosophers of science have always said that by definition, science can never be tool for revealing absolute truth. This is one of the key foundations of true science. Science always has to be open to potentially new data. Scripture however makes the exact opposite claim. By definition God's Word is perfect and completely free from error, thus it is perfectly suitable for revealing absolute truth. Does it make more sense to try and take God's Word as authoritative and look at science through the filter of scripture or to take science as authoritative and look at scripture through the filter of science? As a fallible scientist and child of Jesus Christ, I will place my trust in the authority of God and his perfect Word revealed in the Bible and then interpret the findings of science from that vantage point!
