Creation

Creation - Part 2

The Bible & Modern Science

.

A.  Introduction: Historical Overview

1. The Church has disagreed in its views with the findings of science at various times.

2. At times Christian belief in the inerrancy of the Bible has led scientists to the discovery of facts about our world that have changed scientific opinions. Here are some examples of scientists who held firm to their belief in the Bible:           

(a) Isaac Newton - Laws of motion and gravitation; Calculus; Optics; etc.

(b) Johannes Kepler - Laws of Planetary Motion

(c) Robert Boyle - Boyle's Law of Gases

(d) Michael Faraday - Laws of Induction; Laws of electrolysis; electrochemistry; etc.

(e) James Clerk Maxwell - Electromagnetic theory; Maxwell's equation; etc.

3. There were times when theological understanding of what the Bible said also came into major conflict with accepted scientific opinion e.g.  Flat earth view.

4. Scientific investigations have helped the Church to re-evaluate its understanding of the Bible e.g. Galileo's verification of the theories of the Polish astronomer Copernicus forced the church to eventually reject the geocentric doctrine of the universe.

5. In the last few centuries some have argued that views of modern science are not coherent with the teachings of the Bible with respect to the origins of the universe.

(a) For example: Oxford biologist, Dr. Richard Dawkin, referred to the teachings of the Bible on creation as "a preposterous, mind-shrinking falsehood."

(b) These arguments may be due to the view that the Bible teaches that the earth was created approximately 6,000 years ago. However, the Bible does not give the date of creation.

6. At present the accepted views of the scientific community is: -

(a) The universe is 11 to 15 billion years old and the earth is about 4.5 billion years old.

(b) Life appeared on earth about 2.5 billion years ago.

(c) There is a common primordial origin of all living things.

7. The relationship between the views of modern science and the biblical creation account may be reconciled using Francis Schaeffer's principle of "no final conflict."

(a) "When all the facts are rightly understood there will be no final conflict between Scripture and natural science." Since God knows all facts His Word cannot be in conflict with the facts of the universe which He created.

(b) We will always have limited understanding. (I Corinthians 13:12) Conflicts arise due to our limited understanding of either the facts of the Bible or the facts of the universe!

.

B.  Origin Models and Theories

1. Various origin (creation) models and theories have been proposed to resolve the alleged conflicts between biblical creation and modern science. These include:

(a) Naturalistic Evolution Theory

(b) Theistic Evolution Theory

(c) Double Revelation Theory

(d) Framework Hypothesis

(e) Day-Age Theory

(f) Gap Theory (Also the Modified Gap and Multiple Gaps theories)

(g) Apparent Age (or Omphalos) Hypothesis

(h) Young Earth Flood Theory

2. Some of these theories are clearly incompatible with the obvious teachings of Scripture. These include: Naturalistic Evolution; Theistic Evolution; Double Revelation Theory.

3. These may also be further grouped into either Old Earth or Young Earth theories.

(a) Old Earth Creationism agrees with the accepted views of science as given in A.6 above.

(b) Young Earth Creationism holds the view that the findings of the scientific community are influenced by modernism and humanistic thought and are therefore not reliable.

4. The major elements/questions that make up an origin model include:

(a) Source - How did the universe begin?

(b) Age - When did the universe start?

(c) Development - What caused the universe to be the way it is now?

(d) Life - How did life begin?

(e) Fossils - How can the fossil records be accounted for?

(f) Deluge - How is Noah's Flood viewed?

(g) Humans - How did humans originate?

(h) Genealogies - When did the first man appear on the earth?

5. The most popular theories among born-again Christians are: the Apparent Age Theory; the Gap Theory; the Day-Age Theory and the Flood Theory.

(a) Most of these theories are supported by very well respected theologians and scientists.

(b) It should be noted that the proponents of these theories refine their position from time to time in order to ensure coherency with new scientific findings.

6. Note: Each of these models is either a theory or merely a hypothesis. We should therefore refrain from being dogmatic about any of them.

7. We must also refuse to compromise the FACT that the word of God "is true from the beginning," it "endures forever" and it is forever "settled in heaven." (Psalms 119:89, 160; I Peter 1:25; Isaiah 40:8).

.

C.  A General Comparison of the various Models