Day 22 – Understand
Thought I would touch on something that seems to confound some people. How I can be both a fully committed follower of Christ and still hold strong views of scientific Theories.
This is how. God is all powerful. The Bible is His Word. Some of the Bible is meant to read at face value and some not. The Bible is not a scientific text.
If we look at the history of the Bible we can see that the Creation accounts should probably be read as allegorical. They appear to borrow elements from more ancient creation accounts (Dobson, 2005) and were a way for people in biblical times to make sense of a world where science as a discipline didn’t exist. And in many ways, the actual point of the Creation story was to explain why God Created, not how. Not in the scientific sense. Therefore, it doesn’t negate the possibility of God using the mechanisms of the world He Created to cause life to expand on the earth.
The Big Bang Theory (an unfortunate moniker as it wasn’t an explosion in the literal sense) is another one that seems to stump people; however is one that most Christian’s accept now as we all believe that there was a definite beginning (Genesis 1:1). It’s what was before that beginning which is debated by science, but not by Christians. For us, God was and is.
I find it fascinating that when I talk of people who don’t understand where I’m coming from, I get confusion from both believers and non-believers. I even found myself defending evolution against an atheist…strange, I guess that just proves there are sceptics of all types.
There is something else that is often misunderstood about where I’m coming from. Science and faith are not mutually exclusive. The pursuit of science in some ways was due to “religious” people being in awe of the natural world and wanting to know how the world works. That’s pure science. Little children “understand” that. They may not realise, but they are constantly engaging in science.
In this way, science can’t possibly be contrary to faith. My belief in God doesn’t mean that I will suspend logic and reality. Because my faith is a relationship with a person, and that person happens to be Jesus. You can’t have a relationship with science. Science is something that you do.
So, in conclusion. I am happy to debate both sides, for faith and science. I’ve experienced all the verbal jousting possible when it comes to both.
I’ve had people tell me I can’t possibly be a Christian because I “believe” in evolution. And I’ve had people ask me how I can be a Christian even though I’ve studied science and taken it seriously. Or the flip side. It’s all part and parcel of who I am. Some of my views on other articles of faith are also maybe a little different to others, but…hey, I believe in the main doctrines so that’s all that counts, right? And that I say that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour.
Marly's World 