I love science…I have since I was a little kid. It was always my best subject in school. My parents were convinced that I would grow up to be a scientist. I still remember when I got my first telescope for Christmas and how upset I was about the bad weather over the next few days that kept me from using.
I installed the included telescope software on our home computer to study the star charts and constellation diagrams. I read online about declination and right ascension so I could locate the planets, stars, and nebula’s that I wanted to see. I still remember pointing my telescope at the moon and seeing all of it’s craters and mountains. I can recall my first time seeing Jupiter. I could just barely see it’s colorful stripes (My telescope was not very powerful). On both sides of the planet were two little twinkles, which were four of Jupiter’s moons.
But as I grew in Christ, I felt compelled to reject/ignore science. I thought that it was an enemy to my faith…out trying to disprove the Bible. But is that really true? Can a person be into science and still believe God’s Word? Let’s explore a few points before you answer.
The Earth is Round
A round Earth is common knowledge now, but that was not all was the case. Many cultures throughout history thought that the world was flat. This belief was around as late as the 1500′s AD. Yet Isaiah writes: “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers… (Isaiah 40:22).” Isaiah was not a scientist or philosopher, yet he writes about a round Earth in 700 BC! How is that possible? Hold that thought…
Blood = Life
Another common fact is how blood circulation is vital to life. The blood contains the cells. It carries oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body. Without blood, we die. In the Bible, Moses writes: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls…(Leviticus 17:11).”
Ever heard of bloodletting? It’s draining huge amounts of blood to cure diseases. We know now that bloodletting is a terrible idea. Just ask George Washington…that’s how he died…in 1799 AD! Yep, doctors in the 18th Century still didn’t understand that life is in the blood. They should have read Leviticus 17:11…which was written over 3000 years prior!
Number of Stars
How many stars are there? Well, the answer that you get depends on who you ask. Ask Hipparchus around 135 BC and you’ll get 1035 stars. Throughout history, many great astronomers attempted to count the stars. But along came a man named Galileo with this new invention call a “telescope”. He concluded that the stars were too numerous to count in the 1600′s AD. Why is that so amazing?? The Bible says: “I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’ (Jeremiah 33:22)”
As of 2003, the estimated number of stars visible with our modern equipment was about 70 sextillion [1]! That’s Seventy thousand million million million…or 7 followed by 22 zeros! And that’s with today’s best equipment. When we manage to build a stronger telescope…we’ll find even more than that. How did Jeremiah know that the stars were too many to number back in 600 BC?
Conclusion
Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah were not scientists. Yet they described scientific facts centuries before modern science could prove them. How?? Because the Bible is GOD’s WORD! Science isn’t disproving the Bible…but confirming it!
Do scientific theories always support the Bible?? Absolutely not! But imagine if you were to tell Hipparchus that there were more than 1035 stars and quote Jeremiah 33:22 to him. He would probably have laughed in your face. But fast forward to today and we are at 70 sextillion stars and counting! Imagine going back and telling Washington’s doctors not to drain his blood, pointing to Leviticus 17:11. You’d be mocked and ignored for not having a PH.D. My point is that any “science” that conflicts with the Bible just hasn’t caught up to it yet!
The Bible is not a science book….but the science found in it’s pages is totally accurate! And our faith in God’s Word should not be based on what modern science says. Why? Well, science is fickle and always changing…it’s textbooks need to be revised every few years but God’s Word never changes! So faith in God’s Word is not based on scientific proof, but in the witness of the Spirit and the work of Christ.
Yes, I love science…I have since I was a little kid. But now, my heart is no longer burdened by a feeling that I must choose between my telescope and my Bible. There is no choice. God is awesome and His Word is true! The things that I observe through my telescope (the same one I got that Christmas) don’t challenge my faith! Because now I understand that the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of his hands (Ps 19:1). In my life, science has ONE purpose. And that is to explore and expose all of the amazing wonders of God’s creation.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
this was great Carl..one day we will know for sure the wonders of creation that scientists will never know of..i look forward to that day..Heaven where are u?
Carl, after reading this post, I think you might be interested in this website: http://www.scriptureoncreation.org. Dr. Ben Scripture gives awesome presentations on creation science. I recently went to a conference that he gave in my home church, and it was very eye-opening. Touched on some of the points that you brought up in this post and tons more. If nothing else, I’m sure he’d love to dialogue with you on this topic. His contact information is on his website. He’s very passionate about both God and science!
To both Zach and Carl and everyone else. There is a video on youtube about a college professor who taught Philosophy. This professor was a bi time atheist. well check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piuoGb-Nhfw I wish i could have been that kid to stand up.
I checked out that video! Really cool! Thanks for that, man.
Really interesting blog Carl. So many believe that Christians and Scientists are at odds with one another, and when both sides focus ONLY on the facts, both sides come to ONE conclusion…
Amazing Article.
This was an extremely interesting article. All those verses you brought up were amazing and inspiring. Keep up the good work and God bless.
Thanks Zach! That’s really interesting about Darwin…I didn’t know that. Yea, I remember those Bio classes in college. It was tough sometimes…but now I rejoice about it!
Think about this: Let’s say I wanted to show you a card trick. You pull a card from the deck and I fold it and put it back in. Then I turned my back and pull the card with the fold in it back out. I say “Is this your card?!” Would you be impressed?? Of course not! Why…because you know how I did the trick! You figured it out.
Now, what if some unsaved professor was able to sit down with a calculator and totally figure out everything about God and creation? Would that make God look very impressive? No…it would make God look small and the professor look smart.
Our God is HUGE!! He’s too great for our human brains to fully comprehend. So our scientific theories will forever fall short of explaining Him and how He operates…and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Because it just reminds me that there is no one like Him! Thanks Zach.
Really great article.
I’m a sophomore biology major in college right now and it’s hard to always make sense of everything, but I believe and have faith. I know everything has and will happen for a reason.
I was once asked “how can you be christian and a biology major?”
This semester we started learning about Darwin and I began to think I had to ignore everything he said and keep faith. But however I learned that Charles Darwin was going to Christs College at Cambridge and was studying to be a clergy.
Darwin had actually kept his faith up to his son dieing in 1858, while the Origin of Species (which is the book I thought would be completely false) was published in 1859 however Darwin had been working on it since 1844. So in summary, Darwin was not trying to disprove Christianity, and his writing is actually brilliant.
So I really liked this article, Christian science majors can be in hard places sometimes.
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