What We Know

Our last several posts highlighted some of the challenges with synthesizing our faith and our science.  The specific topic has been the process of creation.  When I said last post that Genesis is not a science textbook, it may have raised the hair on the back of your neck since for years that quote has been code for joining “the other side” in the creation/evolution debate.  With the baggage that comes with the term “evolution” and the contentious history of the debate, it behooves me to make sure some points are clear.

• I believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and everything recorded in it is true, including where it touches science and nature.
• I personally do not have a firm opinion on the length of God’s creative process, but join with all Christian scientists and Old Testament scholars who believe that no matter the length, it is not a naturalistic, random, unguided process.  We affirm the God of the Bible is the Creator.
• I believe God created the world out of nothing.
• I believe God created man and woman in His image, distinct and separate from the rest of His creation.
• Theological humility is not, “We can’t know anything.”  It is recognizing that there is more to God than He has chosen to reveal.  It is recognizing He has given us everything we need for “life and godliness.”  It is using sound interpretation principles to expound God’s Word without addition or deletion.
• In case anyone thinks that even my consideration of a long, progressive creation is somehow caving in to peer pressure within the scientific community or an attempt to “accommodate” our culture, you don’t know me very well.  I am at that magic age where I have no interest in letting what people think of me sway my opinion.

I guess what I have been trying to say is that as Bible-believing followers of Christ, we have plenty of issues that separate us from the cultural norm (Our appropriate insistence that Jesus is the only way to eternal life with God, the Father, comes to mind).  So why add unnecessary conflicts that only confuse young believers and unbelievers alike.  Let’s stick to the things we know – of which there are plenty – and let the pursuit of science continue to unlock the mysteries of this incredible world God has created.  There are no guarantees, but I believe this path is true to the faith and in answering our young people’s questions with this kind of theological humility, we may move them one step closer to embracing for good the faith of their childhood.