Texas Baptist Forum

Posted: 12/14/07

Texas Baptist Forum

God & science

Too often, Christians believe science is an enemy of the Bible. On the contrary, the sciences magnify the glory of God.

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“The coldest of seasons, winter is like the 4-year-old crashing a birthday party. No matter if it’s his or not, all of him says, ‘I’m here, and I’m taking over.’” Don Newbury President emeritus of Howard Payne University “I had a wedding or a funeral, I can’t remember which. Anyway, I don’t pre-empt a wedding or a funeral for a presidential candidate. Because I’m a pastor.” Leith Anderson President of the National Association of Evangelicals, describing how he reacted when contacted by a presidential campaign to meet with a candidate (Associated Press/RNS) “Health care should be part of foreign policy; it makes friends. Does God have favorites? Yes he does; he loves the poor.” Rick Warren Pastor/author/poverty advocate (RNS)

In the Old Testament, Joshua 10:12-14 can be explained through science. Astronomy tells us Earth revolves around the sun. Physics tells us that if Earth were to stop turning, it would be the end of all life on earth. Phenomenology tells us we experience physical life through the phenomenological perceptions of our senses; therefore, we can understand this Scripture reference was inspired in the terms of the writer’s phenomenological understanding. Through science, we know the sun did not actually stop, but Earth stopped turning for about a full day, and the moon held its place. The magnitude of this miracle demonstrates the awesome power of God.

This is a compact example of how the church can—from behind the pulpit and in Sunday school classes—make Holy Scripture relevant in today’s culture. “The very core of the secular culture in the United States today is their view of knowledge through the senses … they see any thing outside the realm of the senses as a matter of how one feels about it … a dangerous philosophy,” notes J.P. Moreland of Biola University.

The sciences are a door opener that we should all know how to use and how to follow up with an introduction of our knowledge of faith in Jesus Christ, which does in fact produce empirical evidence to its validity, both individually and collectively.

Larry Judd

Dickinson

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