Issues: Science and Christianity

Can A Christian Believe the Scientific Explanations?

Some Christians claim that if science appears to contradict the Bible, then science must be wrong. They say that the Bible comes from God, and that God cannot be wrong. These Christians believe that if you begin to say that Christians should interpret the accounts of creation as not literally true, where do you draw the line? You could then say that the resurrection of Jesus or the Virgin birth of Jesus isn't literally true. These Christians would state that the world was made in 6 days as it says in the Bible, whatever science says.

This group of Christians is sometimes called Creationists . The name is an unhelpful one because all Christians believe in a Creator God: a more cumbersome, but better title is 'Young Earth Creationists'.

Many Christians believe that the accounts in the Bible are not supposed to be interpreted as scientific or historical accounts of how the world was made. They were written thousands of years ago and were intended to teach things about God and his world in ways accessible to their first readers. These Christians believe that these stories should be interpreted more as poetry than as scientific accounts . These Christians consider the stories to be parables , stories that aren't literally true, but convey important truths. Christians often believe that God used the process of evolution to create the world.

'Evolution is how God made the world make itself', to quote one writer. While they would reject that the world happened by chance, they would accept that God made the world by an evolutionary process. Science is trying to explain 'How' the universe was made; the Biblical accounts are trying to explain 'Why' the universe was made.

Many Christians believe in the 'Big Bang', but would say that God made the Big Bang happen and God carefully ensured that a beautiful well-designed world was the consequence of the initial explosion.

Recognising three things can help us to avoid unnecessary conflict in this area.

1. Our present ideas may not be final truth. That means that sometimes current scientific theories may have to be modified later (Einstein's view of the universe changes Newton 's). It also means that the way Christians interpret the Bible today isn't the last word.
2. Science and the Bible cover different areas of information. Science is about understanding how the universe operates. 'What makes things happen?', 'How does one thing cause another?', 'What is the pattern things follow?', are the questions it asks and answers. The Bible is about God, what he's like, how we can know him. It's interest in the universe is in terms of 'Why is there anything there at all?' 'What was God's aim in bringing the universe into being?'
3. When they do overlap, they are giving different sorts of answers. Both kinds are useful and true. If you look at a flashing neon sign, you can explain it in terms of the electrical things that are happening inside the tube. Or you can read it and see what it's advertising. Both are true ways of saying what it's about. So we can talk about the 'Laws of Nature', and also read in the Bible that Christ is 'sustaining the universe by his powerful word'.(Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3) We can talk about the 'Big Bang', but we can also read in Psalm 33 verse 6 that God 'created the heavens by his command, the sun, moon, and stars by his spoken word'. Both are true, one has to do with 'how?' (science), the other with 'who?' (the Bible).