If you were
paying attention to the news headlines at all the past two weeks you were aware
of the debate between Ken Ham and Bill Nye (“The Science Guy”). Ken Ham is the founder of Answers In Genesis
(AIG), a Christian ministry that produces resources to support and defend a
young-earth view of creation. AIG holds
the position that the earth is only 10,000 years old and we come to that
conclusion by reading the Bible literally – particularly the first three
chapters of Genesis. Bill Nye is an
engineer who has had popular TV shows where he explains science in
understandable and entertaining ways. He
argued for a naturalistic view of origins.
He believes the universe is billions of years old and what we see today
in plant and animal life is a result of evolutionary processes. There is no God so he obviously wasn’t
involved in anything. Both are smart
people. And they are at polar opposites
when it comes to explaining and understanding the origins and formation of the
universe and everything it contains. And
there you have it – what you have had a sneaking suspicion of all along -
science and faith are incompatible.
If this is
your belief, whichever side you find yourself on, it has shaped how you view
the other side. If you are on the “faith
side” this is the reason we shouldn’t trust science and scientists, you
reason. They are mostly godless people
who are out to undermine faith. If you
are on the “science side” this is the reason we shouldn’t trust Christians, you
reason. They are clearly small-minded
people who are blinded by their religious ideology and twist scientific fact to
fit their belief system.
The media
industry loves extremes and they love a good fight. The 900 tickets to the live performance sold
out in 2 minutes. Seventy media
organizations registered to attend the debate.
Twenty video crews were on hand.
Articles have been written, talk shows have had a field day. And, no doubt, books will be sold making some
people a bit of money.
In all of
this you might have been fooled into believing these are the only two ways of
viewing the Bible, the universe and creation.
But you would be mistaken.
If you are
coming at understanding creation from a Biblical, Christian perspective there
are three non-negotiables: First, God
doesn’t lie, he is completely trustworthy.
Second, God has given us this compilation of writings that we call the
Bible so we can know God, his story and our story. Third, God has given us his creation – the
universe around us – so we might know him and his glory. Psalm 19:1-14 does a wonderful job of pointing us
toward these things. Theologians call
#2 Special Revelation and they call #3 General Revelation. Each of God’s revelation is wholly true and
each requires interpretation. God
designed it so his Special Revelation (the Bible) helps us interpret his
General Revelation (the universe). And,
his General Revelation helps us interpret his Special Revelation.
What does
this mean for faith and science? It
means they are not enemies or incompatible, they are friends. And only by treating them as friends are we
able to continue growing in our understanding of who God is and what God has
done. Many of the greatest scientists
and greatest theologians we have known in history understood this and it opened
new worlds of knowledge.
Truth is
never something we should be afraid of – wherever it comes from - because truth always helps us to know God
more deeply. And ultimately that is what
life is all about.
Peace and grace,
David
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