Timothy Foster

Let us look at how we view the bible and science. I believe that we need to understand that our thinking about the world around us affects our walk with Jesus. The bible says to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. I suspect that wrong thinking, or thinking full of error, produces results in our lives that are not the fruit that our Lord desires. If our minds are filled with incorrect ideas about the world that we live in we will not be able to have dominion over it.

We should understand that the writings that were inspired by the Holy Spirit - scripture - proclaim truth. Our understandings, interpretations and translations of the original words may not always perfectly align with this truth. Nevertheless, in relation to these words, our purpose is to know more clearly and abide by the original meaning of God’s inspiration.

It has been said that the bible is not a scientific book. The bible does not make this statement about itself. It has been said that the bible is not a history book but merely contains myths, allegories and other tales to illustrate its truths. Evidence has been found to confirm the historical accuracy of various biblical stories. The stories were obviously true before we had found the archaeological and other evidences. The bible does not say of itself that it is not historical. Whatever scripture - I am not saying the bible - declares, we can rely on it to be fact even when we have no external evidences. When proper study of the bible has brought us to what our God has actually spoken then we must set aside any of our thinking that is contrary.

The bible says that scripture is profitable for correction, reproof and doctrine. I believe this applies to our thinking about history and science - not just religious values. It is important that all our knowledge is subjected to scriptural verification and that we are not attempting to interpret Scripture according to our own understanding of external evidence.

A particularly important scientific topic is creation. (Whether there has yet been formulated a scientific framework within which the creation proposal can be adequately studied is a related topic.) My statements will hopefully, whatever your current understanding and belief, direct you to a clearer knowledge of God’s word. I would like to say specifically that in relation to the Genesis story there is no scientific proof that contradicts a literal six-day creation. There really is no direct evidence at all that opposes such a literal interpretation of the Genesis account. If God’s original word means something other than a literal six-day creation then by all means believe it by faith despite there being no visible evidence to support that belief. You cannot justify such a belief by any scientific proof, as none exists. You may not believe there to be any scientific proof of a six-day creation but there is certainly no scientific disproof.

I have seen attempts to reconcile scripture with various interpretations of scientific data. Whatever your beliefs are, be sure that they are grounded in scripture not theory. However you are persuaded, be sure it is not by arguments that rely upon interpretation of external evidence.

A consequence of a distorted view of the beginning of things is a distorted view of the end of things. Sometimes we don’t get Revelations right because we haven’t got Genesis right. The end of a matter is more important than the beginning therefore how we ultimately train our minds to see things is more important than our present first attempts. Today we can begin to set aside our preconceived ideas and rely on the Spirit of Truth to lead us into all Truth. This includes the realm of science.

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