The Bible or Science: Why Choose?

A good crowd gathered to welcome Philip Robinson, of Creation Outreach Ministries and Creation Ministries International, to Listooder for the first time. Introducing this fascinating topic, Philip encouraged the young people to "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15)

Not all 'science' is considered to be the same. For example, unlike Operational Science, which is observable, testable and repeatable, the creation and evolution debate falls into Origin Science, where such events cannot and were not observed, tested or repeated. A fossil which exists in the present was formed in the past. Its formation was a one-off event, neither observable, testable or repeatable and so, the role of Origin Science is to attempt to explain how the fossil was formed and how we now have it.

As we know, the Bible speaks much of moral and spiritual matters, but it also deals in matters of history and origin, such as the formation of the earth, universe, fossils, life and the age-old question: where did I come from? The Biblical foundation for all of this rest in the Genesis account of the six days of God's creation. The world will, of course, disagree, but to destroy the foundation is to destroy everything, and so we must also ignore the moral and spiritual guidance given in Scripture. To accept the guidance of the Word God, however, is to accept it as a whole. He is to be not only the Lord of our spiritual lives but Lord of everything - of time, space, matter. He is Creator and Lord over the entire physical world we now live in. "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." (Psalm 24:1).

The matter is often considered to be a battle between religion and science. It is, rather, the battle between two varying religions: Christianity and Materialism - both of which have very different stories about where we came from. The evidence is the same, the tools are the same and the scientific processes are the same, yet how can the answers be so different. Well, for Christians, the Bible acts as an internal filter, processing the evidence through a Biblical lens, seeing, for example, a fossil as further proof of a worldwide flood about 4,500 years ago. For a materialist, one who rejects the existence of God, the evidence is processed differently, believing that such things are only possible with the passing of unimaginable lengths of time. Both positions require faith. For one, it is faith in a superior Being who meticulously designed and created a universe of order, precision and perfection. For the other, it is faith in a chaotic event from which developed the world in which we live, and us as products of it. The world portrays evolution as the answer, but in reality, the Bible is by far the most logical, rational and believable of the two options.

The authority of the Bible must be accepted from the beginning to the end. We cannot pick and choose, keeping all the promises while turning our backs on creation. Scripture stands, in its entirety, as a declaration of the God of Heaven - of who He is, of what He has done and of that great love wherewith He loved us.

So God created the world in six days, each one lasting 24 hours. This shows us something of His character. God was active in His creation: "God said", "God made", "God saw". God is active in His creation today, maintaining the perfect balance of the Universe around us. He is active in the life of  every Christian, ordering our every movement to bring about good for us.

On the sixth day of creation, God made mankind. This was the pinnacle. God formed Adam from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). Today we know that the elements in the breakdown of the atomic composition of the human body are the same as those found in dust. Of course, the key is putting all of those components together in the right way and at the right time to form a living, breathing body. Who could do that but God?

The first woman, Eve, was formed when God took a rib from Adam (Genesis 2:21-22). The perfect man, with one less rib, would not have been perfect, yet God declared His creation was 'very good'. In very recent medical history it has been discovered that there is one bone in the body which can entirely regenerate if carefully removed - the rib.

It has also been found, from extensive DNA analysis, that every person that has ever lived can be traced back to only three women, and can then be traced further back to one man, and one woman. The Bible teaches that God created Adam and Eve (the mother of all the living) and that from them came all mankind. We also learn that, after the flood, only Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, remained alive. Noah and his wife had no further children, and so his three daughters-in-law became our descendants.

But why does all of this matter? Well, it matters what you believe. In the Bible we read that God gave Adam and Eve one command in the Garden of Eden: not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They disobeyed that command and chose to eat from the tree. Despite their sin, God graciously clothed them with animal skins showing, for the first time, that the shedding of blood was a requirement for the forgiveness of sins. The whole of creation was affected. "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" (Romans 8:22).

When people no longer believe in the real history of creation, in the real history of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and in the real history of sin and death entering the world, then they no longer see their need for Jesus Christ to be the Saviour for their sins.

"Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

If you would be interested in more information on the subject of creation, please visit www.creation.com.