The challenge of Science on the Bible’s teaching in Genesis 1 and 2.
(will need PPT slides).
Today we are doing something a bit different.
1. what’s at stake? (PPT)
Origins of the world, our beginnings… what happened…. It fascinates us.
Important to us because if you know your origins, and why you were created, you know your purpose…
We understand ourselves.
Archeology, Genealogies,…
But what’s at stake here?
i. our confidence in the Bible. (PPT)
Because there appears to be tension points…
ii. evangelism. (PPT)
If we cut ourselves off, bury our heads in the sand,… we lose credibility
If we haven’t got good answers for people… they’ll look elsewhere for their answers.
So we need to engage with this stuff.
(pause)
2. Three friction points
Now the issues with Genesis are 3 fold….
- the earth’s age.
(1656 yrs from the time of Adam to the flood, or multiple billions of years)
- evolution.
(instantaneous, or slow transformation of the species….)
- what happened to Adam.
(how did the world become populated. Did we all descend biologically from one person?)
Let me outline some approaches to Genesis.
(pause)
3. Approaches to easing the friction with Genesis.
Reading Genesis, given what we know about the beginning of the world from science, has created at least 3 different approaches for Christians.
Here are 3.
i. “Never the twain shall meet.” Genesis and science are on about totally different questions.
“faith”, and science are not meant to be reconciled.
“doctrine” and “history” are opposites.
‘ Now they are right to make a distinction, but distinguish is not the same as separate.
They say the Bible is not a Scientific textbook.
That’s true,
but that does not meant that the Bible has NOTHING to say about science, or the world.
In fact theology has to do with everything… it touches everywhere, because God created everything.
- One of the things that Genesis tells us is that “God did it!!!” Whether it’s by evolution or instantaneous creation, it’s God that did it.
God brought the world into existence by his word.
- And the other thing is, faith rests on facts, things that happened, history.
They are not separate.
We see that in the gospel. The gospel is not separate from history… it is history. It is the turning point of all history.
If the resurrection wasn’t an historical event then- our faith is futile (1 Cor 15).
ii. Anti-Science.
Science and the Bible are talking about the same thing, but it’s a different science.
These guys invent their own science.
“Anti” as in, “against”, and “in the place of”.
Call themselves- “Creationists”. Or “Catastrophists” (because of the importance of the flood in its theory of the beginning).
Big in the United States.
Society in the US called the “Creation Research Society” today.
Before this, it was very popular amongst the Fundamentalists in the late 1920’s.
(pause)
(PPT)
And they read Genesis 1 literalistically. 6 days are 6 “24 hour” days.
(pause)
They have a …
High view of Scripture. Good +++++
They challenge science. That’s a helpful thing. It’s a great myth that science is always right.
(pause)
But the problem with the anti-scientists, is that they don’t acknowledge that there is lots of really good science, and some pretty persuasive evidence, for say an old- earth.
Scientists don’t come to their decisions by conspiracy or chance.
But there is openesss, and questioning that goes on all the time.
And some of their findings about the earth have come from independent methods.
And the other thing, the big problem I have is that they read Genesis wrongly, when it isn’t meant to be read that way.
So they are not really reading the Bible properly.
The person who respects the current science.
And believes the Bible is the word of God…
And looks to find evidence in the Bible that supports the …
This is where most of us would fit.
So the 7 days, is 7 periods of time.
4. The voice of Science.
What does Science say?
What’s some of the evidenc.
a. the age of the earth.
Geology:
4 ? billion years old.
Universe 13 billion years old.
On the basis of the sedimentation of the rocks, and radiometric dating (they measure the passage of time by the speed at which radioactive elements breakdown).
(pause)
It is the consensus amongst scientists (and scientists who are Christian!) that is that it is old.
Radiometric dating is getting more precise, and more reliable.
b. evolution
This is a theory…. There are many dissenters, who are not Christian.
That life began from a single simple chemical, then organism, it became more complex, there were branches…’ tree of life.
- So we are all related to one another in origins. – we evolved from earlier species….
(pause)
Unlike the age of the earth, Scientists disagree on this one.
Dr Phil is definitely one who is not convinced ON THE SCIENCE ALONE.
The evidence in favour of evolution-
Study of fossils.
Arranging fossils and noticing changes in the skeletons.
The fact that mutations do occur in genes.
And thirdly, rudimentary organs. Organs that are found not to be of any use in an animal, like baby teeth in a whale embryo which disappear before they break through.
(pause)
But there is evidence against:
And this is what we don’t hear on the discovery channel, and I’m not sure our kids at school hear it either.
“ The mutations of genes, have only ever been observed on a minute scale, and they are usually lethal (so cause cancer, or severe abnormalities).
“ Mutations have never been capable of giving rise to complex organs.
“ There are millions of fossils found, but there are huge gaps between the species.
And thirdly…
“ The calculation of the probabilities:
A combination of 100 elements into a unit of being (which is much much simpler than a cell), could be formed by a chance of 10158 to 1.
With the cosmos, even with a billion attempts per second, it would need billions and billions times more time than the billions of years it took the cosmos to form.
‘ “You might as well say that the Concorde assembled itself all on its own, thanks to a succession of chance events, starting from the minerals dissolved” p 226- Blocher..
So IF EVOLUTION DID HAPPEN’ there is a natural force, not yet discovered by scientists, that meant this was possible.
Or, someone did it. God.
He miraculously overrode the natural laws.
(pause)
The third issue is Adam.
c. Where is Adam?
Most scientists think:
(Time, 7 Nov 1977, 48-54).
1. “Our” humanity is that of Neolithic man, the era of civilization involving cattle, agriculture and later metal work, which began about 10, 000 years ago.
2. Before this was Cro- Magnon man (of which there were various types), Homo sapiens fossilis, about 30,000 years earlier.
3. From 150,000 to 40,000 yrs ago lived Neanderthal man.
4. Pithecanthropic men lived roughly a million year ago. Known as Homo erectus. Eg. Peking man, plus a skull found in Java.
Somewhere between anthropoid apes and homo sapiens.
5. Others.
Homo habilis 1.8 million years.
(pause)
This pattern is an evolutionary line.
But it spreads out like a bush.
But the evidence for this is slimmer still.
(pause)
So what do we do?
Where to from here…
3. Responding to the challenge.
i. the authority of Scripture over science.
The Christian will not dodge the challenge of harmonizing the Bible with his extra-biblical knowledge about the beginning.
But the Bible stands above experience, experiments, traditions, theories of cosmogony.
It is above them all.
Jesus treats the Scriptures constantly as the truth.
It is the authority which settles all arguments, and which no-one may break (John 10:35).
And if the Bible is the WOG, no authority, even one at the apex of the scientific world, should undermine this.
(pause)
‘ This is the point I made earlier… it is one of the positives of the “anti-scientists”… they have the courage to stand up against the science as religion movement.
Historically, Christians have made the mistake of believing the Scientists, and including the latest scientific theory into their reading of the Bible,… later to find out that the Science has changed.
And guess who looks the fool when the science is overturned?
Christians, and the Bible.
The famous example of this is the Aristotle and Galileo.
Aristotle wasn’t Christian.
But his theory of earth was the current science of the day. For centuries people believed the earth was the centre of the universe.
Aristotle said that “earth” was one of the elements. And the earth doesn’t move…. Unlike the heavenly bodies, the suns, planets, and stars, they are of an entirely different matter… they move in circles…. So there was no place for a moving earth.
Galileo, the new scientist challenged all that.
And the church was brought into the conflict.
His opponents accused him of contradicting the Bible… and that’s when all the trouble started.
(pause)
So we need to make sure, that we read the Bible humbly. God speaks through his word, clearly, and it is more authoritative than science.
(pause)
But we need to remember too, that through the Scriptures….
Humans spoke.
It is…
ii. a human and divine word (PPT)
The personalities and reflections, the education and thought world of the author have influenced the text.
God spoke in various ways Heb 1:1. (PPT)
(pause)
‘ If we are going to understand the text, we need to take into account
- the knowledge of the author. – the issues of the day.
- As well, in our comprehension of the text, in the case of Genesis, the study of the genre, and the structure of language.
In Genesis there are metaphors and alliteration, word plays for Genesis 1 is full of them.
(pause)
iii. Science is a helpful check to the reader.
‘ It isn’t our master.
‘ It isn’t the grid through which we read Scripture… and we must not impose science questions on the Bible if that’s not what it is answering.
But we don’t have to stick our heads in the sand like ostriches either.
Experience, science, even tradition and each other…. should stimulates us… and drives us back to the text. To check our understanding. Maybe we are reading this the wrong way.
It does that with Genesis.
It has done that for many Christians.
‘ … we’ve got this evidence about the earth being billions of years old… and Genesis says 7 days.
Maybe I need to read Genesis again.
(pause)
4. Understanding Genesis 1 and 2
Is it figurative? Is it allegory?
I’m going to stick my neck out…and say-
a. It is figurative
( but hear me out before you burn me!!).
If you read it carefully.
It is very structured.
There is repetition, rhythm,….
There are play on words…
‘ This is isn’t written by someone who was just asked… “how was the world created?”
‘ there has been great care go into writing this.
(pause)
This is written by someone who has reflected on the events of creation.
Meditated…
A mature thinker.
(I believe that person is Moses.
Moses, was a WISE MAN,
Acts 7:22
Dt 34:9.)
If you wanted to label THIS TYPE OF LITERATURE, I would call it “wisdom literature”.
(pause)
But it is still true!.
We need to get rid of the idea that figurative language is in any way inferior to literal language too. Or that it is less worthy of God.
Would we say that about the book of Revelation?
(pause)
b. What about the SEVEN DAYS?
Within the narrative….it is a 24 hour period.
I don’t think you can say otherwise!
Why?
- Because there is evening and morning…. V 8, v 13, v 19… etc.
These are clearly defined days.
- and secondly… that’s what the human author would most likely be thinking.
He is not embroiled in debates about cosmology or paleontology. He’s not thinking 7 periods of time….
He is not concerned taking into account current geological studies on the age of the earth..
(pause)
But the whole passage is figurative.
So it’s not saying that the world was made in that amount of time.
(pause)
There is more evidence:
There are differences with chapter 1 and 2.
In chapter 2, everything happens on ONE DAY- chapter 2:4 (read). And the man is created before the plants in chapter 2.
(pause)
There is the Science check:
When we bring Science into the equation.
As the servant (not master!).
Trees (day 3) come before marine organisms (day 5), and birds (day 5) come before insects (day 6).
That is not the right order… you need insects before birds.
Also, … the creation of the sun and stars on the fourth day, come after the creation of the earth and its vegetation.
(pause)
7. Now….. here is our dilemma!
If Moses isn’t explaining the days in their literal order, we still should know why he wrote it that way.
If it isn’t how it happened, then why use such a sequence. 6 days plus 1.
I think there is a good reason…(not scientific reason, but a literary and theological reason)
i. Firstly, there is a literary reason.
The way it is structured, is describing the forming and filling of the world.
This is how the whole sequence is introduced and summed up at the end.
Verse 1- the earth was without form, and void.
…and God made morning and night.
God gives form to the formlessness.
(Form)
Day 1- day and night.
Day 2- the sky and the waters
Day 3- dry land and vegetation
(Filling)
Day 4- sun and stars.
Day 5- the birds and the fish
Day 6- land animals including mankind, together with the gift of food.
So there is a forming and filling…
Day 1 corresponds to day 4
Day 2 to day 5
Day 3 to day 6.
The numbering gives the structure to this.
And then chapter 2:1-
The heavens and the earth were finished (the forms),
And all the host of them (filling)
The hosts are the great crowds that filled the heavens and earth.
So it’s saying (in a very beautiful and artistic way), God created the world, and filled the world with life.
It’s a hymn of praise.
(pause)
But also….it teaches us something theological. The literary reason leads to a theological lesson.
It teaches us something about God (PPT).
ii. That God is not a God of disorder, but of order. (theological)
Do you have a messy bedroom?
Stuff everywhere? Old dirty clothes under the bed.
God’s bedroom is not like that :.
In fact there is distinction and order (and unity) within God himself.
God is three persons, one God.
God is not a God of chaos, chance or confusion,…
To the Corinthians whose church services were chaotic (there are ecstatic prophecies, and people speaking in tongues without any interpretation of the tongues…the apostle Paul says “God is not a God of disorder but of order”. (1 Cor 14:33)
In Genesis we see this in God’s creative work. God leaves his imprint on creation:
(PPT)
The host of creature in 2:1 is literally an “army”. The image is of an army on parade, like the angels and the stars. They are models of perfect obedience.
There is the repetition of the phrase “according to their kinds”. There are categories.
Everything is in its place. Job 38:10f, Ps 104:9.God assigns the lights in the sky their exact function.
And there is the separations of the days- the days are classified,… day 1, 2,….and so on. Day 7 is especially important.
(pause)
‘
The law of Israel makes distinctions. There are categories- categories of clean and unclean.
In fact the ploughing of two different kinds of animals is forbidden- an ox and and ass.
The ploughing of 2 different kinds of seeds, or wearing hybrid cloths such as wool and linen.
(pause)
This is very different to non-biblical religions.
Where there is a constant fascination with intermixture.
Mystical religions, like Buddism or Hinduism strive for a synthesis of the human and divine, and ultimately good and evil.
There is a blurring of boundaries…. a confusion of categories.
When we die we all go back into the one cosmic divine being, of which we are just an extension of. And are reincarnated as something else.
“Liber” for which comes the word “liberty”, was the Roman god of chaos.
In God, and in his good creation there is order,… and law.
We talk about “law and order”… , well you need order for law to work….that’s based in creation…. And beyond that based in God.
(pause)
‘ Now I was talking to Alex and Gordon
One person’s chaos is another person’s order… so we thought it was okay to have a messy bedroom.
(pause)
‘ One of the possibilities that flows out of this orderliness, and categorization, is…. SCIENCE.
Science depends on order- repeatablility, separation, classification.
Now historically, modern science followed the reformation. They had the foundations re-set for them.
“ Imagine if there was chaos.
And one day you measured 5 grams of zinc, and it was this much, and the next day it was “THIS MUCH”.
“ Or someone proved that Penicillin cured Syphillis, but no order,… no repeatability, then no
(pause)
Wisdom assumes a stable world too.
The book of Proverbs, and parts of Ecclesiastes.
Deliberation would be pointless without order.
Generalizations about life would be futile.
(((But we can observe creation and learn…
Prov 30:24.
There are trends and similarities…
Proverbs 26:2.
26:3.
27:8.
Or I love…
Ecclesiastes 3.)))
(pause)
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly….
iii. Moses is teaching us about the Sabbath.
What’s he saying about the Sabbath?
The Sabbath is the supreme goal of the creation.
Mankind crowns the work but the Sabbath is the supreme goal.
Moses wants to give us a theology of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was VERY VERY important in Israel’s law. It was the 4th commandment.
And it attracted the highest penalty.
Because- to not keep the Sabbath was to reject relationship with God.
It was holy time.
(pause)
The sabbath taught them, and us that life is ultimately NOT about work.
Or life in the world.
(pause)
We’ll only find our true humanity if we look beyond our relationship to the world, but when we raise our eyes above, in the blessed, holy moment of fellowship with the creator.
The Shorter Catechism (Presbyterians) is spot on- “the chief end” of mankind is “to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever”.
‘ As long as we are in the image of God, we are firstly related to God (not our work).
(pause)
This is under great attack today.
There is a blurring of the working week with family time. A loss of community because of that.
And a breakdown in relationships.
And a breakdown in relationships with God… because people can’t come to church.
We’ve got a real battle ahead for us.
Fortunately we still have choice. We can say no to working on Sundays…
(pause)
In summary.
1. Genesis is figurative literature.
‘ Jesus summarized the history of the OT in a parable.
Luke 20:9-18, the wicked tenants.
I think Genesis is like that….
- teaching us very important truths about God and the world… but it’s not concerned with the science of how the world began.
(pause)
This means that lots of possible friction points aren’t friction points anymore.
- the age of the earth.
- evolution.
- even whether we came from Neanderthal man.
I don’t see any reason why God at some point in evolution, chosen to create human in the image of God.
With the capacity for relationship- and relationship with God.
And who would rule the world.
(pause)
2. God is to be praised.
He made the world…. any theory that said is was by chance… is profoundly wrong.
It is deliberate.
Revelation 4:11.
The creation is so intricately and carefully made.
Pictures (Phil).
Examples of the balance in creation. (Phil).
3. There is no clash with science.
Science is OK
Let’s not be scared of it.
Science is possible because of the faithful order of God’s creation.
(pause)
‘ So when talking to our non-Christian friends
Be confident in the Bible.
If your friends says “I don’t believe in Christianity, I’m a Science person”, you might want to say- I am too.
God invented science.