Science vs Faith

so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Corinthians 2:5 NIV)

I have written on my views about this on other occasions. This adversarial relationship between science and faith is ridiculous. I love science. I love the pursuit of knowledge. I love the pursuit of God! I can love science and love God and not compromise my faith. I completed a study from Dr. Sproals that helped me clarify some of my own thoughts. I'm by no means an expert in any of these areas of faith or science. BUT, I DO HAVE AN OPINION based on my limited knowledge!

The controversy between science and faith really centers around two main theories, although there are others. The Big Bang Theory and Evolution seem to be huge battleground topics. The Bible  does not say how God created the Earth, it's great to pursue the knowledge of that process. I think the pursuit helps prove the existence God. If you believe in the theory of the Big Bang, that created the existence of life, what is it that blew up? Where did that come from. We can not prove the creation of something from nothing. Science hasn't and can't prove HOW THE STUFF THAT BLEW UP CAME INTO EXISTENCE, it has no answer for this thought. I do -- it's God!

I believe in Evolution! I know my conservative Christian friends are cringing. What I don't believe is that we descended from Apes. I do believe that the outward appearance of man has changed over the history of humanity, I can call that evolution. I don't dispute the existence of Neanderthal man or prehistoric man. I may disagree with some of the theories we attribute to our prehistoric brothers and sisters, but our thoughts, our appearances, our skills, our entire existence has changed over the years. Did we have an ape like appearance? Yes, and who cares. I think we look like apes right now! I don't think that's a game changer. That is indisputable. But, we did not descend from Apes and there is no proof of it. The theory takes the information we have as fact and extrapolates that to the origin of man. It's a theory. But, we can't dispute the human race has evolved in many different ways over the centuries. Our skin color, height, over all appearance, and our intelligence has changed, evolved. Why are we so threatened by this. Could God have designed it this way? Could God have designed the evolution of birds, fish, and other animals? Why not? I am not intimidated by evolution. A big part of evolution is the age of the Earth. Somebody is right and somebody is wrong. I, again, don't see this as a game changer. It doesn't change the Bible. It doesn't change my belief in the infalible word of God and the truth of Christ. 

We get so caught up in minutiae. I want my science friends to pursue the truth in science, in evolution, in creation of the universe. They are going to be wrong sometimes and will be right as well. My faith friends also need to pursue the truth through their relationships with Christ. I hope that I have friends that are pursuing both at the same time!

God created the universe and the mysteries it holds. He designed it this way on purpose. He designed us to be curious, to seek truth, to have an insatiable desire for knowledge. He wants us to pursue it with all of our being, because eventually it will lead us to him. That is the real goal. He just wants to be with us. It's exciting to read a great mystery novel. It's just as exciting to try to unravel the mysteries of our existence. Life is exciting because God designed it that way. Praise God!

Time is in a full sprint!

He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. (Daniel 2:21, 22 NIV)

It was great wearing a short sleeve shirt yesterday, farmers were busy planting fields, and thunderstorms dotted the area. The season is changing. The devastating cold and snow for this winter are still strong memories, but they are starting to fade. Life moves on. 

Stephanie and I were talking about how fast this school year has gone. We are only 13 school days away from another year complete. Time is sprinting by us all and the older I get, the faster time moves. Wisdom also increases with age. It happens for people and it happens for our planet. When we finally realized our planet was not the center of the universe, religious leaders were panicked. When evolution burst on the scene, battle lines were drawn. Why? As Christians we know very little about our creator. We know very little about our universe. Christians and Scientists are both going to be wrong about what we "know" and that's ok. We all need to grow. We can't let life's "discoveries" divide us. As Christians, we can accept "science" without abandoning our faith. We can accept new discoveries as movement toward the real truths of God. Science can not destroy my God and it can't prove him either. Faith is much more personal than any scientific fact.

Time is advancing and fleeting. We need to spend less time fighting about what divides us. We need to grow closer and build relationships with each other. More importantly we need to grow closer to the God, who created us! Time is sprinting closer and closer to the finish line. Seasons are changing. There  is a light in the darkness, things will be revealed in Gods time! Praise God for this wondeful life!

We don't know it all!

There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12 NIV)

A few weeks ago there was a very public debate between Ken Ham of the Creation Museum and Bill Nye "the science guy". I knew how this was going to end. The mainstream media claimed unequivocal victory for Nye. Being an educator is not easy for a Christian. Being a science teacher would be nearly impossible. I'll stick to Math! But if you want to hear my theory, here it is:

God created the heavens and the earth. He created all creatures and he created man, period. He did it in seven days, period. The Bible is the infallible word of God, period.

So where's the debate? It's when we look at the details, the proof, that it SEEMS we Christians lose.

 Not so fast! 

First of all I have to confess, I'm not a scientist. I can't debate Bill Nye's scientific knowledge or the knowledge of nearly any other scientist. What I can debate is the presence of Jesus Christ in my life and the indesputable evidence that there is a God. I don't pretend to know about the Big Bang, or the evidence of evolution. I agree that all of our centuries of knowledge dispute the existence of my God. All of our technology, our planet full of science experts ALL agree that the bible is wrong. I can tell you I don't care! I might even venture to ask a question:

"Have Scientists ever been wrong before? Has the world scientific community ever been wrong?

Have we ever been convinced, with science, a theory was indisputable, only to find out later it was wrong? 

The answer is definitely yes. We are sinful, imperfect humans. To think we have this all figured out is crazy. We use to believe the world was flat. We use to believe the sun circled the earth. We use to believe in the impossibility of flight. We are not always right. How can we claim with absolute certainty we're right now? Are we saying we know everything and nothing could possibly change in that knowledge from this point forward? Not even Bill Nye would claim we know everything we're going to know!

Bill Nye's evidence is so convincing. He is convinced of it from all the things we have observed and what we know. From Kepler to Galileo, to Einstein, to Bill Nye, our knowledge of the universe seems so vast and perfect. The problem, our knowledge is so very minute compared to the vastness and power of God. We don't understand some of the most basic concepts and are learning new things every day. Why can't we cure the common cold? Because we don't know everything. Why can't we cure cancer, diabetes, aging, or any number of human defects? Our knowledge is limited. WE DONT KNOW EVERYTHING! Our knowledge is growing and changing all the time. But, just when we think we have it all figured out, something new comes along. We don't know everything. I don't know everything. So how can we say we know this without any doubt? Simply, we can't!

I wonder why God doesn't reveal the truth to us. Why does he let this debate continue? 

I'll give you two more cents worth!

God doesn't want us to come to him because of some scientific formula that proves his existence. God wants us to come to him by faith. He wants us to take a step beyond the accepted theory. He wants us to believe with our hearts first. When we spend time with him, we see all thenproof necessary. Sure, it would be much easier to be able to share some secret proof of the truths in the Bible. It would be great to discover Noah's Ark, the Tower of Babel, or the garden of Eden. It would be indisputable if we could see the Red Sea open and swallow the Egyptians. God wants us to believe in his indisputable love which is seen when we accept Jesus as our savior. The proof is in our changed lives after that leap of faith. I love science and the excitement of discovery. I love the search for the perfect wisdom of our creator. That love doesn't come anywhere near the perfect love of Christ I see in my life everyday. Praise God for that love and grace. Praise God for the wonderful mysteries of his universe.