Creekside Church, April 25, 2021
Isn't Christianity Anti-Science?
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Creekside Church Online
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 11:00 AM
REAL. GOOD. QUESTIONS.
Isn’t Christianity Anti-Science?
FIVE REASONS WHY CHRISTIANITY ISN’T ANTI-SCIENCE
1. THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE ARE FRIENDS
God birthed both of them.
Psalm 19:1-4a tells us Natural Revelation, Nature declares the wonder and design and glory of God.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
Psalm 19:7-11 tells us the Bible also comes from God and declares who he is and how we need to live our lives.
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure, and all of them are righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. 11 By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward
First, both nature and the Bible have their ultimate source in God.
Second, for the most part science and the Bible deal with different realms of reality or truth.
Third, there is a small margin of overlap where the Bible and science speak to the same issues.
Fourth, because God created both, and God is consistent, they cannot be in conflict.
Any contradiction is an interpretation problem. We have misinterpreted the Bible, we have misinterpreted nature or we have misinterpreted both the Bible and nature. So, when we find apparent conflict we need to hold our conclusions with a bit of an open hand.
2. MODERN SCIENCE WAS BIRTHED BY CHRISTIANITY
Christianity celebrates and invites scientific study of the world around us since God himself calls on us in Genesis 1:28 to rule over the earth. Implicit in the command is the responsibility to understand the world around us.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.
Genesis 1:28 NLT
Christians believe that because God ordered the creation of the universe and because God is ordered himself, then the universe is ordered. And because the universe is ordered it can be studied and counted on to act in a logical, predictable, ordered fashion again and again. But that decision to believe it is ordered is a presuppositional act of faith.
3. THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF SCIENCE:
OPERATION SCIENCE or empirical science involves repeatable events that you can observe in real time.
ORIGIN SCIENCE or forensic science. It involves historic events that generally cannot be repeated. You can study certain elements or situations but you cannot repeat all the details of an historical event in the lab.
There Are Two Types Of Causes.
Natural Causes such as gravity or wind or water
Non-natural Causes such as people and God
Natural Causes enabled the Grand Canyon but Non-Natural Causes built the pyramids.
4. MANY SCIENTISTS ARE NOT ATHEISTS
5. SCIENCE HAS ITS LIMITS
Why am I here?
Is there a God?
Where can I find meaning in life?
Isn’t Christianity Anti-Science?
FIVE REASONS WHY CHRISTIANITY ISN’T ANTI-SCIENCE
1. THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE ARE FRIENDS
God birthed both of them.
Psalm 19:1-4a tells us Natural Revelation, Nature declares the wonder and design and glory of God.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
Psalm 19:7-11 tells us the Bible also comes from God and declares who he is and how we need to live our lives.
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure, and all of them are righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. 11 By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward
First, both nature and the Bible have their ultimate source in God.
Second, for the most part science and the Bible deal with different realms of reality or truth.
Third, there is a small margin of overlap where the Bible and science speak to the same issues.
Fourth, because God created both, and God is consistent, they cannot be in conflict.
Any contradiction is an interpretation problem. We have misinterpreted the Bible, we have misinterpreted nature or we have misinterpreted both the Bible and nature. So, when we find apparent conflict we need to hold our conclusions with a bit of an open hand.
2. MODERN SCIENCE WAS BIRTHED BY CHRISTIANITY
Christianity celebrates and invites scientific study of the world around us since God himself calls on us in Genesis 1:28 to rule over the earth. Implicit in the command is the responsibility to understand the world around us.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.
Genesis 1:28 NLT
Christians believe that because God ordered the creation of the universe and because God is ordered himself, then the universe is ordered. And because the universe is ordered it can be studied and counted on to act in a logical, predictable, ordered fashion again and again. But that decision to believe it is ordered is a presuppositional act of faith.
3. THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF SCIENCE:
OPERATION SCIENCE or empirical science involves repeatable events that you can observe in real time.
ORIGIN SCIENCE or forensic science. It involves historic events that generally cannot be repeated. You can study certain elements or situations but you cannot repeat all the details of an historical event in the lab.
There Are Two Types Of Causes.
Natural Causes such as gravity or wind or water
Non-natural Causes such as people and God
Natural Causes enabled the Grand Canyon but Non-Natural Causes built the pyramids.
4. MANY SCIENTISTS ARE NOT ATHEISTS
5. SCIENCE HAS ITS LIMITS
Why am I here?
Is there a God?
Where can I find meaning in life?