The Verdict of Reason
I’m going to interrupt this series…..for a little help. Not being a ‘science guy’ myself, I sometimes feel out of my realm when discussing this subject. Soooo…I’ve gone for help to the ‘SCIENCE GUY’ from our church, Jerry Zeis. Jerry will be giving his much-more expert, first-hand take on some of the questions involving science and the Bible. This will include the very dicey one that I’ve been dancing around for a bit now-the Age of the Earth. [We’ll let Jerry carry the discussion for the next several weeks….and then when I return – we’ll be talking about some other aspect that ISN’T science.] So…… without further ado – ‘Heeeere’s Jerry, the ’SCIENCE GUY’…….Da da da da da da da da da da DAAAAHHH
SCIENCE & THE BIBLE
Jerry Zeis
There are often conflicts between science and the bible, but I will show you that the two are not the same thing. They are like comparing apples to oranges. They are similar in some ways, but there can be no direct comparison. My first premise is that science is based on fact, and that the bible is based on truth. The two can often be confused. I will start with a simple comparison involving money, and then take it into the realm of science.
Assume that I make about $50,000 / year. My general expenses break down as $10,000 goes to my government. I cannot avoid taxes. $10,000 goes to my daughter’s education. $10,000 gets donated to charity. $7,000 goes to food. $13,000 is split between utilities, retirement savings, and gas for car, health / car insurance. This totals $50,000. I have no money spent to enjoy life yet. The above are scientific facts. They cannot be questioned. A scientist’s job is to interpret the available facts and make conclusions. Some of the possible conclusions that could be drawn: “I have no money left for entertainment”; “I am in debt”. “If I live this way for several years I am deeply in debt”. “I cannot afford $12,000 for my roof replacement”. “My wife should get a job”. “I need to drastically alter my lifestyle.”
I would agree with those conclusions based on the facts, but I am a Christian. I have a different world view. The bible teaches me truth, not facts. John 10:10 promises me an abundant life. Matthew 6:31-33 promises me that seek first the kingdom of God, and he shall supply all my needs. Romans 8:28 has God work everything together for good. The truth of the bible is still truth; it cannot be altered by man, it is truth for all time, in all situations. There are no exceptions. Facts are facts. The way the facts are interpreted, no matter how much you try to distance yourself and remain objective, will still be based partly on your world view.
Here is another example of worldviews clouding science. I am a chemistry professor; I have a renowned colleague, in the world of paleontology. We have often spoken about soft tissue discoveries found among dinosaurs, but often other creatures, think Jurassic Park! Here is the story in layman’s terms. Tissues decay, rot, gets eaten, and so on. A dead rabbit will be fur and bones in a few weeks after death. That is the case for almost all of life. Natural things can be done to slow the breakdown of tissues. It can be buried in mud with little to no air, and then it can last months, even years. Mummy tissue has been found to be 3,000 years old. DNA fragments can be recovered and analyzed. These tissues had great preservation techniques. What is the time limit of DNA, or any recovered protein of perfectly preserved sample? The number ranges from several thousand, to nearly 1 million years according to secular scientists. It averages around 100,000 years. At that point heat, pressure, oxygen, water would destroy any organic matter. It becomes coal, gas, oil, and so on.
There are reports of T-Rex soft tissue1 found at around 60,000,000 years old! That is six hundred times longer than possible. My colleague and I are faced with these two facts; how long soft tissue lasts and a T-Rex sample. This is how they can be interpreted differently. He is excited, proof of evolution. Extract DNA, see how mutations have added up, the link between dinosaurs and birds can be confirmed, many more thoughts, this is great for science. My interpretation is this dinosaur must be more recent. Soft tissue finds are adding up, some soft tissue has been found even at ½ a billion years old. Dinosaur soft tissue points to a recent creation, just as the bible said happened 6,000 years ago with Adam and Eve. Dinosaurs walked the Earth with people according to the bible. This great scientific discovery proves the bible yet again. The entire dating system that has been established over the last 150 years has one more gust of wind in its house of cards. As you can see, two different worldviews can read the same facts completely differently, obviously only one can be right. Facts point to the truth of the bible, when facts point away from the truth; there are errors in some of the assumptions. The errors can’t be with the bible, so it must be in the interpretation.
In the upcoming weeks, I will endeavor to write in areas of astronomy, chemistry, physics, biology, and more and try to point out that the facts that are stated to insist on a 14 billion year universe can also be interpreted just as easily as a recent 6,000 year creation. It all depends on assumptions based on worldviews. The light of the word of God is great at dividing truth from falsehood. I will never state that a 6,000 year creation is dependent on your salvation, but I will make it clear, if you believe every word of the bible, you should have this viewpoint. One thought to stimulate your mind until next time I am writing. If you believe in long billions of years, and you believe the bible where it says Rom5:12 “that death came into the world when man fell.” How do you reconcile that? Is it true that nothing died before man’s sin? What did animals eat for billions of years? Was there disease? Was there suffering? Do you really believe that on day 6, man was made, or Adam and Eve, were the first ‘conscience primates?’ Proverbs 1, right after King Solomon goes through the introductory paragraph is the first nugget of wisdom. “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge.” Knowledge if it was translated to Greek reads “science.” Therefor Proverbs 1:7 could read as “The beginning of science is fear of the Lord.” Watch how your worldview reads the facts.
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