How Can We Reconcile the Book of Genesis and Science?

Introduction

Science Experiment?

In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus published Revolutions of the Celestial Orbs, a treatise that put forth his revolutionary idea that the Sun was at the center of the universe and that the Earth--rotating on an axis--orbited around the sun once a year. Copernicus' theory was a challenge to the accepted notion contained in the natural philosophy of Aristotle, the astronomy of Ptolemy and the teachings of the Church that the sun and all the stars revolved around a stationary Earth.

Sometime in the mid-1590s, a man named Galileo concluded that Copernicus got it right.

The Catholic Church, in the 1600’s, was an important aspect of European life. It had the ability to prevent anything that threatened it to never do so again. The Protestant Reformation had caused the Church to become especially fragile in the views that people promoted that may have a negative effect against them. This prompted them to set up the Holy Office, more commonly know as the Inquisition. The Holy Office had a branch in all catholic dominated countries to investigate potentially dangerous teaching. Another reason for the Church's venerability was its struggle with its European budget and influence. Galileo was not only committing blasphemy but irritating the Church by repeating an idea that had already been put forward by another scientist called Copernicus. The Catholic Church stated that Galileo could not be a devoted Catholic and a scientist at the same time.

Galileo's theory was that the Earth revolved around the Sun. He had a reason to believe this was true - he had developed a telescope so that he could look at the stars in more detail, and had conducted experiments to prove his theory. He was sure he was right, and wanted the whole world to know about it.

But there was a problem: the Church. The Catholic Church believed that the Earth did not move and was the centre of the universe. The Church thought of Galileo as a heretic but this did not stop him writing letters to explain his theory. The Inquisition found these letters and it was very angry.

The Pope summoned Galileo to a court hearing. Galileo protested against this stating he was too old and ill to travel to Rome but the Church insisted. The inquisition pledged that they would torture Galileo unless he admitted he was wrong. So Galileo was forced to ``confess'' that it was a mistake and he had made the theory up. He did not want to at first but when it was explained to him that he would be saving his life he quickly agreed to confess.

Galileo expected the telescope to quickly make believers in the Copernican system out of all educated persons, but he was disappointed. It became clear that the Copernican theory had its enemies.

As Galileo was escorted out of the courtroom, he could not resist muttering under his breath, ``but the Earth does move''. Luckily for him the judge did not hear.

In 1613, just as Galileo published his Letters on the Solar Spots, an openly Copernican writing, the first attack came from a Dominican friar and professor of ecclesiastical history in Florence, Father Lorini. Preaching on All Soul's Day, Lorini said that Copernican doctrine violated Scripture, which clearly places Earth, and not the Sun at the center of the universe. What, if Copernicus were right, would be the sense of which says "So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven" or that speaks of "the heavens stretched out as a curtain" above "the circle of the earth"? Pressured later to apologize for his attack, Lorini later said that he "said a couple of words to the effect that the doctrine of Ipernicus [sic], or whatever his name is, was against Holy Scripture."

As a punishment for the publication of a book named ``Dialogue on the Great World Systems'' which spoke of Galileo's blasphemous theories, Galileo was now guarded at all times and was not allowed to leave the country. He remained living in his house just outside Florence in this way until he died of ill health in 1642.

Galileo responded to criticism of his Copernican views in a December 1613 Letter to Castelli. In his letter, Galileo argued that the Scripture--although truth itself--must be understood sometimes in a figurative sense. A reference, for example, to "the hand of God" is not meant to be interpreted as referring to a five-fingered appendage, but rather to His presence in human lives. Given that the Bible should not be interpreted literally in every case, Galileo contended, it is senseless to see it as supporting one view of the physical universe over another. "Who," Galileo asked, "would dare assert that we know all there is to be known?"

Galileo hoped that his Letter to Castelli might foster a reconciliation of faith and science, but it only served to increase the heat. His enemies accused him of attacking Scripture and meddling in theological affairs. One among them, Father Lorini, raised the stakes for the battle when, on February 7, 1615, he sent to the Roman Inquisition a modified copy of Galileo's Letter to Castelli.

In fact, Lorini's letter appears more charitable than he in fact was. He would stop at almost nothing to destroy the "Galileists," as is shown from his alteration--in certain key places--of the text of Galileo's Letter to Castelli. For example, where Galileo had written: "There are in Scripture words which, taken in the strict literal meaning, look as if they differed from the truth," Lorini substituted: "which are false in their literal meaning." However unscrupulous his methods, Lorini's denunciation succeeded in setting the machinery of the Catholic Church in motion.

And this was the moment in modern history wherein there became a dichotomy between the church and science. I would suggest that this is a false dichotomy because, after all, it was the church, in an effort to defend political and academic power, that created the divide in the first place.

Today, in our culture, we accept the false premise that science and the Bible ultimately cannot coexist, and if we do believe that science and the Bible are both true, we do not know how to reconcile them because, again, we have accepted the belief that a person cannot ultimately believe that both can be true at the same time.

And this false dichotomy has a continuing tragic legacy because, in an effort to make things make sense, human beings have drawn party lines and taken sides, dismissing one account or the other, and in so doing, abandoning a pursuit of honest truth for the affirmation of their opinions being seen by others as correct, even if they are not.

Teachings like this can tend to become defensive and argumentative instead of probing and seeking truth.

Truth is the ultimate goal in all pursuits.

Truth is the most valuable thing in all the world.

Winston Churchill said that “truth is the most valuable thing in all the world. It is so valuable that it is often protected by a bodyguard of lies.”

The brilliant apologist, philosopher, and theologian Ravi Zacharias explains very simply what is necessary to ascertain if truth is to be discovered.

He starts with that very goal:

Truth is the ultimate goal in all pursuits

But how do we test the truth? Truth is determined by its fidelity in two categories:

2 Categories:

a. Correspondence - Does the truth that I am asserting logically correspond with previously determined and/or revealed truth?

b. Coherence - Is the truth that I am asserting coherent, is it consistent with previously revealed truth?

For example, in court, the attorney making their case are looking for two broad categorical theories: 1; do the answers correspond to what is already known (reality), and 2, when all the answers are seen together, is there a coherence to these answers.

So, we have 1 goal; truth, and 2 categories; correspondence and coherence.

To determine if truth meets those categorical criteria there are 3 tests:

3 Tests:

a. logical consistency b. empirical adequacy c. experiential relevancy

Is it logically consistent?

Is there any way to verify or discredit the assertion, or is it just an imagination?

Does it have any grounding in relational reality?

From this point, there are four questions that must be dealt with:

4 Questions:

Origin - Where did we come from?

Meaning - What is our purpose?

Morality - How do I tell between good and evil

Destiny - What happens to a human being when he or she dies?

Every worldview is made up of the answers to these four questions. And to know if the answers that we adhere to are accurate, the answers must meet the above and aforementioned criteria in order to be true.

Now to get to these questions, there are 5 research disciplines that must be pulled together, especially for worldview that claims to have all the answers for origin, meaning, morality, and destiny.

God - Theology

Knowledge - Epistemology

Reality - Metaphysics/Sciences - Concerning metaphysics, what is the relationship between mind and matter, and concerning the sciences, how do things work and why are things the way that they are?

Man - Anthropology

Morality - Ethics

Now, today, what I am endeavoring to show you is the Christian worldview, as demonstrated through God’s Word, is a complete worldview, and is coherent and consistent with science, logic, philosophy, reason, and so on. So there is no reason that science and Scripture, and particularly the book of Genesis, cannot be reconciled.

In fact, I would suggest that science and the Bible are reconciled already, and that we are discovering through the various research disciplines how they are reconciled, not if they are reconciled.

If you are, then, going to counter the claim that the Christian worldview is indeed a sufficient worldview, then you must put your worldview to the same test.

We received a variety of questions concerning science and Genesis. Most of the questions had to do with the timing of creation, are the days in Genesis literal 24 hour days or not, and the how of the population of the world, did God use evolution in any way as a part of His creating work?

Further question can be summarized as follows:

Why does the earth look so old?

What does the scientific evidence have to say about how life began on this earth?

And finally, what impact does our view of creation vs. evolution have on our everyday lives?

Here are the key teaching themes from God’s Word:

* Jesus was a co-creator with God, Life originated with Him (, John 1:1-5)

* God (the full Trinity) created the heavens and the earth. People are made in the image of God which is what gives each person an enormous worth. (Genesis 1:27)

* Science is not in conflict with God or the Bible, rather, creation reveals the attributes of God. ( and 2, )

Remember a few minutes ago I claimed that the premise that science and Genesis, and science and the Bible is a false dichotomy? Here’s why.

Because to say that science can somehow replace the Bible as the source and explanation of all truth is not only a pipe dream, it is false.

This is called scientific single-vision.

Scientific single-vision is the idea that I can explain everything through the scientific discipline.

Here again, remember, science is one discipline, of five, that we use to discover truth.

Science alone is not enough. We must engage with each discipline of truth seeking if we are to have a fully rounded and consistent worldview.

To be sure, the same can be said about theology and the Bible. The Bible is totally true. There is no lie in Scripture. The Bible contains truth. But not all truth is contained in the Bible.

For example. The Bible claims that Jesus is the only way and means of salvation. The Bible is all true. Therefore, it is true that Jesus is the way and means of salvation. So any other means of salvation are necessarily not true, because this truth is already revealed.

At the same time, the Bible does not explain what is happening biologically in the process of photosynthesis. (how plants use sunlight to get nutrients from carbon dioxide and water)

The Bible is totally true. The Bible contains truth. The Bible does not contain all truth. There is truth that we can discover from other parts of creation.

The Bible contains some world history, but not all world history. The Vietnam War is not in the Bible. 9/11 is not in the Bible. Yet that does not make the history contained in the Bible not true.

To start from a single vision, from any of the disciplines, is to set yourself up for an incomplete journey, and an inconsistent and likely incoherent finding.

The pursuit of truth will always lead us to God, either directly to Him, or the pursuit of truth will demand His existence and direct involvement.

And the 5 disciplines are pathways that God has opened for us. And on those pathways He has left clues, footprints, fingerprints, and the echo of His voice, all of which that we can discover, put together, and in so doing, see and experience more and more of the truth and the glory of God. Every method that we have to test and prove truth was given to us by God and is subject to His authority. There is no truth that is contrary to God’s revealed nature, character, or Word, because whatever is contrary to God is itself not true.

I know that was a long introduction but it is important we set up our context for our discussion and investigation objectively. We need to know where this conflict between science and the Bible began, and we need to know the necessary hurdles that truth must breach in order for said truth to be, in fact, true.

Let’s pray now as we come to God’s Word.

Colossians 1:15–23 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Colossians 1:13–23 ESV

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Colossians

Paul is writing to the church at Colosse, which has been influenced by errant thinking that asserted that Christ was not actually, and that angels took His place in sovereignty and supremacy over and before all things. So Paul is correcting this errant understanding.

In his writing, Paul shows Christ’s relation to deity (v.15), creation (v. 15-17), and to the church (v. 18).

“He is the image of the invisible God”

Christ is the exact likeness of God (i.e., Christ is God), and Christ is the manifestation of God, meaning that Christ is the image of God in the sense that the nature and being of God are perfectly revealed in Him.

“(He is) the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created...”

The word, firstborn, means supreme, or, Lord. Jesus is Lord over all creation because He made creation.

Paul goes on and lists that all things in creation are under Christ’s supremacy and they only exist because He created them in the first place (v. 16).

“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (v.17)

That Christ is before all things means two things:

That Christ preceded all things in existence.

That Christ is Lord over all things, which effectively restates the meaning of v. 16.

That in Christ all things hold together (some translations say that Christ is the sustainer of all things) means that Christ is the one that keeps the order of the universe steady.

For example, the reason we can perform scientific experiments concerning the makeup of matter, or the workings of the universe is because Christ keeps those measurements constant. If Christ were to change that order, we would all (die) fall into chaos.

Christ is the cohesion of the universe, and He is the reason that the universe is a cosmos and not a chaos.

Consider gravity. Gravity’s force has been approximated to be 9.8 meters per second per second. That means that a falling object increases in velocity at 9.8 meters per second, every second until it reaches its terminal velocity, or, maximum falling speed.

The truth pathway of Theology tells us that Jesus Christ is the one who keeps gravity’s measurement constant. That’s why that measurement doesn’t change, has never changed, and will not change as long as the earth remains.

The truth pathway of science showed us that there was such a force called gravity, and was able to measure its force on earth.

Imagine if God changed gravity’s force measurement?

First of all, we would all die.

But more importantly, that would make God out to be a liar in that He wouldn’t be sustaining all things, He would be changing all things.

Or how about the assertion that God doesn’t exist and order came from chaos over time.

Here again, this is not consistent with theology, or even science itself.

Nothing plus nothing equals nothing. Long ago there was nothing and nothing happened, but then something happened and everything became what it is today over time.

This is an example of a scientific single view.

First of all, to remove God, means that you are left with chaos, that is, for the sake of argument, saying that matter could exist without God. If matter existed and God didn’t, it would be in chaos.

Theology tells us that God created matter and put that matter into order, and that He sustains that order.

But if God did not exist, where would order come from?

And how could that order possibly be sustained long enough to be able to measured and counted upon?

And that is not even to begin to ask the necessary question, well, if God doesn’t exist, and if science alone can explain everything, what is the scientific equation for love?

Joy?

Fear?

Frustration?

Peace?

Or, how can I find the purpose of life?

Science alone cannot explain morality, theology, or knowledge. But to be sure, just because science cannot explain those things, does not mean that science is not reconciled to the Bible

Remember, science is already reconciled to Genesis. Jesus ensured that when He created everything.

The question is not if science is reconciled to Scripture, but how is it reconciled to Scripture.

Again, all five pathways are cohesive together in discovering God’s revealed truths.

Multicolored balls experiment

The bag, in this case, represents Christ holding all things together in order.

And that order is critical because it makes God and His truths knowable.

Does anyone remember paper maps?

Did you ever follow a paper map once and unbeknownst to you, the roads had changed since that map was printed and you ended up stuck or lost?

That’s what it would be like if the Bible wasn’t true and Jesus was not the sustainer of all things. We would never know when our maps to life were out of date.

I would suggest that one of the biggest hurdles we face when discovering God and His truth through science, or any other discipline, is that it becomes easy to begin to worship the discipline rather than the Designer.

I am an intellectual and my primary discipline is theology. When I was first discovering theology, I thought that theology could answer everything. And as a result, I was a little Christian jerk. I was making everything fit into my theology, and if it didn’t, I dismissed it, and whomever might disagree with me. And I must admit, I even tried to make God fit into my theology, instead of allowing His truth to bend and shape my study and knowledge of Him.

Thomas Sowell is an intellectual and social thinker, and he wrote this in his book, Intellectuals & Society:

“The fatal misstep of intellectuals is assuming that superior ability within a particular realm can be generalized to superior wisdom or morality overall.”

Look back at your handout (or screen).

What Sowell is saying here is that it is fatal mistake to think that just because you are passionate and knowledgeable in one discipline, that does not automatically make that discipline sufficient to replace all other disciplines. All are needed, and, when honestly pursued, all will lead to truth, and that truth will lead directly to God, or demand His existence.

The late Steven Hawking wrote in his book, The Grand Design, boldly declared that “philosophy is dead.” And presumed that science had rendered philosophy obsolete.

The Chairman of the Philosophy Dept at Cambridge responded by saying that, “perhaps the (great) Steven Hawking has not kept up with our discipline as much as we have kept up with his.”

Another hurdle, which seems to be particular to science is the assumption that all science is necessarily atheistic, or anti-God.

I would suggest to you, that science does not become anti-God until it leaves its own perview and ventures in arrogance to explain things that it cannot explain for the purposes for proving God’s non-existence.

There is a famed physicist named David Berlinski who wrote a book entitled, The Devil’s Delusion, and this book was in response to Richard Dawkins famous book, The God Delusion. Now, you need to know that Berlinski is not a Christian, he is an agnostic. He was raised Jewish, but claims nothing. In the flap on Berlinski’s book, he wrote this:

“Has anyone provided a proof of God’s inexistence - not even close.

Has quantum cosmology explained the emergence of the universe or why it is here - not even close.

Have the sciences been able to explain why our universe seems to be fine tuned to allow for the existence of life? - Not even close.

Are physicists and biologists willing to believe in anything, so long as it is not religious thought? - Close enough.

Has rationalism and moral thought provided us with an understanding of what is good, what is right, and what is moral? - Not close enough.

Has secularism in the terrible 20th century been a force for the good? - Not even close to being close.

Is there a narrow and oppressive orthodoxy of thought and opinion within the sciences? - Close enough.

Does anything in the sciences or in their philosophy justify the claim that religious belief is irrational? - Not even in the ballpark.

Is scientific atheism a frivolous exercise in intellectual contempt? Dead on.”

This is an agnostic scientist refuting an atheist scientist because he believes the atheist is not being consistent because the atheist is making claims for science that science cannot actually make.

Again, just because science has limits, just as theology, philosophy, anthropology and so on, does not mean that it is opposed, or not reconciled to, God’s Word.

Well, I know this alot of information. And I know its a weighty and heavy subject.

I want to give us some application for today and hopefully tie all this that we’ve looked at together.

Practical Apps:

Remember that Jesus Christ has already reconciled all things to Himself, and that includes science.

Its not if science and Genesis are reconciled, its how they are reconciled.

Look back at

Colossians 1:19–20 ESV

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:20–23 ESV

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Colossians 1:19–23 ESV

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

In saying that Christ has reconciled all things, this does not mean that everything is reconciled in terms of salvation. What it does mean that is that all things are held in order by Jesus Christ and He has made them fully compatible with Himself. Jesus created science as a one of the ways that we can discover more about His truth. Jesus created theology as another one of the ways that we might discover His truth. Likewise, Jesus created philosophy, anthropology, ethics, metaphysics, and more, again so that He could be made known to His creation through His creation.

2. Remember that Jesus Christ is the one who reconciles truth with truth, not you.

Colossians 1:21–22 ESV

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

Just as in the preceding verses, Paul points out again that Jesus Christ is the reconciler. That means when it comes to trying make science fit into Genesis, you can relax, and ask questions, and investigate, and discover, because Jesus has done the reconciling, and He continues to sustain it. And to the specific point of this particular verse, if we are not the ones who reconcile ourselves with Christ eternally, why we be the ones to reconcile the truths of the universe instead of Him?

3. Discover God’s Truth through all available means of research and discovery.

Colossians 1:23 ESV

23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

All of creation proclaims the truth of Christ as God, Creator, and Savior.

And Christ has left for us a variety of pathways and disciplines with which to use to investigate and discover Him.

Make no mistake this does not mean that all paths lead to God eternally speaking.

John 6:68–69 ESV

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Salvation is found only in Jesus Christ, where else can we go?

And in the same way, truth comes only from Jesus Christ, where else can you find it?

Where else could any evidence possibly lead?

4. Understand that we are to echo God’s Word, not edit God’s Word

Colossians 1:23 ESV

23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

And therefore, our search for truth should not require fundamental alterations of God’s Word.

And therefore, our search for truth should not require fundamental alterations of God’s Word.

We need to be careful when the truth journey we are taking tempts us to wonder if God really meant what He meant, or if He really said what He said. That’s the same lie that Satan used in the Garden, and I pray that we will recognize that as we are seeking to know God more and more.

5. Have the humility to recognize that the supposed inconsistencies we may find are really evidences of our intellectual insufficiency.

Isaiah 55:8–9 ESV

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We need to understand that every discipline of truth research is limited, and that we will come upon supposed inconsistencies between the disciplines. Here again, assuming that we are honestly seeking truth and not trying pervert a discipline to disprove what God has revealed, we should acknowledge that our finite understanding will only go so far and that my finite mind is incapable of fully grasping the infinite truths of God.

So when I come to a point where I cannot draw a straight line between theology and science, I cannot accuse God of giving me faulty information. Rather, I need to see that I am at the end of my current ability to understand this any further, and I must trust that God really does have this reconciled, and its ok. I don’t have to do the reconciling for God, He has already done it, and He did it at creation.

Bring band up here.

And quickly, its important to note that, because we are finite, we will come to the end of revealed knowledge, and no one’s brain has the capacity to hold all available knowledge, let alone that which God has not revealed. And we need to trust that if God wants to make something make full sense to us, He will, and if He doesn’t, He doesn’t have to. He is the Creator, He is the Savior, He knows what we need to know, and when we need to know it.

He is pleased to have all authority in Him.

He is the Lord of Creation. He is your Creator. He is your Savior.

Science will never change that.

Philosophy will never change that.

Theology will never change that.

Time will never change that.

So you don’t have to be afraid of science because science will reveal God if you are seeking the truth. And when you discover the truth, you will find that it is fully reconciled to God.

Let’s stand and as His Creation let’s proclaim His supremacy and reconciliation of all things together.