Do Science and Scripture Agree?
Do Science and Scripture Agree?
Up until the time of Galileo, there was harmony between the church and the scientific community. Galileo’s trial for heresy and condemnation by the Catholic Church began the rift between the philosophy of science called naturalism (everything in the universe can be explained by natural causes) and the philosophy of Scripture (everything in the universe was created by God). The principle point of disagreement is not ‘science’ and ‘Scripture’. It is between the two philosophies that each require faith in its broadest sense – accepting the reports of others on matters we have not personally verified. Science is the study of measuring measurable things using the scientific method – observation, question, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, and conclusion - and then testing it as new information comes to light. Scripture is direct revelation from God as to the nature of man and his relationship with God. These are complementary but exclusively different types of knowledge disclosure. The scientific method is a means to discover the workings of the natural world and rightly so. Scripture, God’s purpose in biblical revelation, is to give us information on things we cannot know by any other means. Most branches of science have no conflict with Scripture. It is only when one begins to deal with the origins of life and the universe that there is conflict with current theories.
In the case of Galileo, the conflict between his discoveries and the Roman Catholic Church was not between science and religion but Aristotelian (sun around the earth) and Copernican science (earth around the sun). Catholic theology equates church tradition to Scripture so attacks on those traditions equal attacks upon Scripture. In defending its authority, the church opened a divide between science and religion. The church used the knowledge of the day to interpret Scripture and placed scientific theory on par with Scripture. The scientists clung to the ‘majority view’ despite evidence based on repeatable scientific observation that it was wrong.
There are limits to each philosophy presented. The limitation of science isthat anything outside the realm of observation that cannot be verified or falsified by experimentation cannot, by its very definition, be rightly considered science. The limitation of Scripture is not of knowledge but purpose and only contradicts man’s philosophy.
At the very heart of the conflict is the origin of the universe and man. There are many theories:
• Naturalistic evolution – all life evolved through natural processes of random mutations through natural selection without the need for God
• Theistic evolution – harmonizing Scripture with evolution; God being the agent behind evolution and reinterpreting time in Genesis; 1 day = 1 age
• Panspermia – abrupt appearance of life coming from elsewhere in the universe
• Intelligent design – life was created by a superior being with which man has no further connection with or relationship to
• Biblical creation – abrupt appearance that does not rely on science for validation (although there is science that supports the belief) but based on the authority of Scripture
The long-held theory of naturalistic evolution is losing popularity as scientific knowledge increases. The theory relies mainly on fossil evidence that has too many discrepancies to be considered solid, scientific proof. Just a few: the geological column has never been found in one continuous series; the dating of rocks and fossils involves circular reasoning; fossils found ‘out of order’ are ignored; there is a sudden appearance of all major branches of life in the fossil record; there are no intermediary forms (missing links) between the species. There is more and more acceptance for the theory of intelligent design, but its philosophical expression still has its roots in a scientific method that cannot be replicated in the lab and relies on the idea that the proof only remains undiscovered at this time. That is the subject for another entire blog.
So, there is a big IF. Is life self-generated? Geology shows earth’s atmosphere has always contained oxygen and none of the evolution scenarios allow for it to be present. With the advent of genetic research and unlocking the human genome, the science of genetics says that it is impossible for the genetic coding of a simple cell to arise by chance. It represents another block in the foundation of scriptural philosophy.
Another question debated vigorously is the age of the planet Earth. Just how old is the ground upon which we tread? Advances in the field of solar astronomy indicate that the sun is much younger than previously thought. New methods of measuring the age of objects in the universe have improved and the only reason for a resistance to the concept that the Earth is younger than once posited is that vast age is necessary for the evolution theory to make sense. It is not necessary for scientific observation.
It all boils down to science and faith. All the theories about the rise of human life on this planet must be accepted based on faith. YOU decide, with your own free will to accept information presented as truth based on your faith in either the author or proof of the data. Of course, you can do the research and weigh your own best case for the origin of life, but ultimately, we must trust the reports of others – the broadest definition of faith.
In conclusion, the ancient Greeks established a distinction between and religion. It simply states that science cannot use supernatural explanations. Shouldn’t the reverse be applied that religion cannot use scientific explanations for supernatural things? When discussing such things, don’t get side-tracked into needless argument about science disproving the Bible. Our objective as believers is to be a witness for Christ. We should want to say enough about any subject to lower the barriers to accepting theGospel of Jesus Christ. It’s not about winning the argument, it’s about winning people. We aren’t preaching creationism – we’re preaching the Gospel of Jesus.
Next week we will discuss why there is evil in the world. Until then, be blessed!
[for more information about scientific discoveries that support the Creation theory, see Is Genesis History? or www.isgenesishistory.com]
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