The Bible and Science
Introduction
Let me make it clear that I am not a scientist, although, there was a time that I wanted to be. I am intrigued, if not disillusioned, by science.
Much of what we considered to be absolute scientific truth while I was in school has since been proven to be false. This has caused me to become somewhat jaded toward unproven scientific claims, theories, and hypotheses set forth by scientists. I figure that there must be some sort of standard for truth, since scientific truth does not change, yet the teachings of scientists constantly change, and are often contradictory to other scientists.
Although we would like to believe that most scientists are very honest, sincere, and factual, I have come to question the publications of ANY scientist, be they Christian or atheist, because of my mistrust of the research of scientists, and the many hoaxes set forth by researchers such as Paleontologist who have repeatedly manufactured evidences of “missing links” to “prove” their baseless beliefs of origins. I enjoy the study of true science immensely and share a few of my thoughts on this subject in this booklet.
Dinosaur tracks have been found fossilized in the rocks in the Paluxy River Valley near Glenn Rose Texas. There are, actually, thousands more dinosaur footprints preserved in the rocks than there are fossilized dinosaur bones. This is a very interesting thing, because it, supposedly, takes hundreds or thousands of years or more to make a fossil. Yet, many fossilized dinosaur footprints can be found in stone in various locations.
Let us think about this for a minute. If you wanted to preserve your footprints in fossilized rock, what would you have to do? First of all, you would have to walk in a very special kind of mud, much like cement, but since there was nobody around that knew about cement back before the mud turned to rock, you would have to rely on nature. In nature, mud must come from rain, rising water, or running water. Rain or moving water such as in a river or stream would wash the footprints away before the hundreds of years needed to fossilize the footprints. If the footprints were found in rising water, there would have to be a large amount of silt to fill the footprints or they would soon wear away from tides, surf, or vegetation in salt water; and in fresh water vegetation, and disturbance by animals seeking water would obliterate the footprints before they could become fossilized. Silt is seldom deposited in still water in sufficient amounts to fill and preserve footprints and to cause sufficient weigh and pressure to cause mud to turn to stone. For this to happen in various areas you would have to have a huge flood with no running water to destroy the footprints, yet you would have to have a massive amount of silt that usually comes from running water and rain. There could be no rain or moving water before the footprints were filled, covered with silt, and then protected by deep water. There could be little rain before the rising of the water could cover the footprints, and the water that would cover the footprints could not be running so that the footprints would be washed away before the silt could turn to stone and the footprints be fossilized. All this sounds like a near impossible task, but under the perfect conditions, it could happen.
In actuality, the only plausible explanation is a huge flood, such as the Noahic flood where the fountains of the deep were broken up[1] causing the water to rise without running, and then the windows of heaven were opened which would cause silt to be washed into the lower areas already covered by water.
An even more amazing thing about these hundreds of dinosaur footprints is the fact that among these dinosaur footprints were human footprints identical to footprints of modern man. There were also giant human footprints, and footprints of humans wearing moccasins. At least one such footprint was made inside a dinosaur footprint proving that they were made within a very short period of time, probably within minutes or a few hours, from one another. I have seen many photographs of these in books and on the computer.
More recently I found a site on line that tried to debunk these facts. It is interesting that the illustrations used in that article trying to deny these facts were drawn rather than photographed. In fact I read a quote by an evolutionist in an article years ago shortly after the findings of the footprints were published that stated that, if these findings were authentic, then evolution was wrong. What is so surprising about this response was that the evolutionist then refused to even investigate the footprints. What does that tell about the honest quest for scientific truth by such scientific philosophers?
Whether the footprints were some sort of hoax is very doubtful considering the research that has gone into them, but, whether they are or not, the point of all this is science is not always accurate or beneficial. It all depends on how accurate and thorough the testing and research is and how unprejudiced the researchers are. Much of what claims to be scientific is not scientific at all. It would fall more accurately under the categories of philosophy and religion and is, actually, “science falsely so called.”
In I Timothy 6:20 God says, “Oh Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called.”
In this verse we see some things that God says to avoid, but first He tells us something to keep. “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust.” What has been committed our trust?
In I Thessalonians 2:4 God tells us what has been committed to our trust. He says “As we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.” What has God placed in our trust? God has trusted us with the gospel, and He tells us in I Timothy 6:20 to keep that which has been committed to our trust.
What is the Gospel that we are commanded to keep? We need to know what the gospel is if we are going to know what we are to be speaking. I Corinthians 15:3 tells us what the gospel is in five words when God said, “I deliver unto you the gospel how that (five words) Christ died for our sins.”
The word, “Christ” shows the deity of Jesus. We must believe that Jesus is God the Father who took on flesh and “Died for our sins.”
Next, we must believe that Christ “died.” The work of Jesus was His death on the cross. Why did Christ have to die? He died, because the wages of sin is death.
“He died FOR.” He did not die by happenstance. He came for that very purpose. There was a purpose in his death. He knew what He had to do to pay for sins, and that was to pay for our sins by His own death. So He chose to die.
“Died for OUR…” It is personal. WE MUST PERSONALLY RESPOND to what He did by trusting who He is and what He did to get us to heaven.
“Christ died for our SINS,” because “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), so Christ died, and paid the penalty for sin (Romans 5:8[2]). That is the gospel.
Why is the gospel so important? We have all done things wrong. The payment for sin is death. We have got to be perfect to get to heaven, because sin causes death. If one sin were to enter heaven, then there would be death in heaven. But nobody is perfect. So there is nothing we can do to get ourselves to heaven. However, Jesus came to the Earth, and He took our sins off of us onto Himself. Then he died and paid for them. The only thing He requires of us is that we trust Him and His death payment to get us to heaven. We must simply trust Who He is and what He has done. Trust that He is God and that He has done what it takes to get us to heaven. If we believe that, then we can know we have eternal life. God says in I John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God ye may know that ye have eternal life.”
That is the message that has been committed to our trust. That is what we are supposed to speak. We are not really supposed to waste our time on the Bible and science that much, but we do need to increase our faith in the Word of God. That is not wasting time. Furthermore, we need to learn how to have an answer for every man. That is not wasting our time. So, it is important that we see the scientific accuracy of the Bible.
In I Timothy 6:20 we have seen the things that we should keep. There are also some things God tells us to avoid. The verse says “avoiding.” What are we supposed to avoid? We are commanded to avoid “Profane and vain babblings.” Vain means meaningless while profane basically means common. If it is meaningless and common, babbling is a good word for it.
Notice what else God says of which to beware: “Oppositions of science falsely so called.” Those are actually two different things. “Oppositions” means: “opposing theories,” and in the phrase “science falsely so called,” the word “science” simply refers to knowledge. That is what science is supposed to be. Science is not supposed to be speculative. Those things are called hypotheses, theory, philosophy, and religion. Science is supposed to rely on research and interpretation of knowledge. There are 22 aspects of observation and experimentation[3]. There are several steps to consider as you observe phenomenon. Then you begin to experiment on what you have observed, and all the experiments have got to come out the same way before you can come up with your theory.
Now, to say that something took place which you did not observe, or you cannot repeat, is not scientific. That is religion, philosophy, hypothetical, or at best theoretical, but it is not scientific. Theory does have a place in science. Science involves observable phenomena and repeatable experimentation where the results of the experimentation always turns out the same way. The interpretation of the repeated results is hypothetical, theoretical, philosophical, or religious.
This is the definition of “Science” according to Webster’s dictionary[4]. “Science: the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and…” I emphasize the word “and,” because it is not “or.” If it is scientific it must include all of these: observation, scientific experimental investigation, and then “theoretical explanation of natural
phenomena.” If you can observe it, and you can repeat it, and it always comes out same way; then (and only then) you can come up with a theory.
For example, there was this idea that life originated from lightning striking the ooze in the Nile Delta, and life spontaneously generated from that. Well, nobody observed that. So some so called scientists tried to experiment and repeat the process. So they provided the perfect environment, all of the materials and chemicals, as well as the electricity. They even provided some compounds and building blocks of living things that do not occur naturally, but they never could make the experiment work. Needless to say they were unsuccessful. However, for some reason the theory has not gone away.
Many times “scientists” will embrace some theory for which there is no proof, and then they will interpret something they can observe by their unproven theory. So the interpretation becomes the “proof” of the theory. One problem with that kind of circular reasoning is there are usually other feasible explanations to these phenomena. The practice is to ignore and ridicule the other evidence and explanations rather than honestly considering them. When researchers do that, they have moved away from science, and, having left science behind, they have moved into the area of religion and philosophy. They have now created a religion. When you believe something of which you do not have proof, it has become a religion. If they are going to take their theories by faith, why not have faith in what God has said about it?
In Colossians 2:8 God says to beware. Here are some things of which God wants us to beware. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit.”
According to Dr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theology is not merely another branch of philosophy, but something else entirely. Philosophy is man’s search for truth apart from God[5]. The point of Colossians 2:8 is that philosophy is largely used to deceive people so that men can “spoil” you. Spoil is what is taken from a defeated people after they have been conquered.
We must also beware of deceit which is “after the tradition of men.” Be careful. Just because some educated men say that certain things are true does not mean they are true. Ladies ought to know that. However, some traditions are good as long as they are biblical traditions of God, but traditions of men-not so much.
“After the rudiments of the world…” What are the rudiments of the world? Let me share with you what “rudiment” means. A rudiment is a fundamental element, principal, or skill of field of learning. Rudimentary is an elemental foundation. It is that on which our belief systems are founded. Of what kind of a foundation are we supposed to beware? We are to beware of the foundational beliefs of the world, because the rudiments of the world or the foundational beliefs of the world are opposite or different from the foundational truths in the Bible.
So, which is true? Jesus said in John 17:17, “Thy Word is truth.” He said “Sanctify them (set them..us.. apart) by Thy Word. Thy Word is truth.” So that is where we find truth. It is like they say in Christian education: “All truth is God’s truth.” So if it is truth, it is God’s truth. If it is true, then it is not going to contradict what God has to say. We are supposed to beware of philosophy, vain deceit, traditions of men, rudiments of the world, and things which are not after Christ. We are to adhere to the teachings of Christ.
Let us consider the superiority of God’s thoughts. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, “’My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways.’ saith the Lord, ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” God, obviously, has a different viewpoint than we do. Since He is omnipresent, He’s viewing the earth kind of like the way Bette Midler sang in the song “From a Distance.” In one sense that is true, because He can view the earth and its inhabitants from an eternal view, also. He can view it from an omnipresent view. He can view the earth from and omniscient view, but he is not really viewing the earth from a distance. He is intimately close to each one of us, so that we can have a personal relationship with Him. We cannot know God’s ways, and we cannot know the ways of His universe by our own reason, because his ways are not our ways and our ways are not His ways. We have figured out and discovered many things about the physical world, but there is no way for us to know anything about the spiritual realm apart from God’s revelation. Like the words of the song go:
“The world’s wise men seek for knowledge in search of truth for humanity.
Though they’ve broken many barriers they have overlooked the key:
The true that sets men free.
He is the Way. Without Him there’s no going.
He is the truth. Without Him there’s no knowing.
He is the life-now and eternally.”
We cannot know the truths of the universe outside of God, because they are rudimentarily opposite of the foundations of human tradition and philosophy.
So how are we going to know the truth? God says, “Come now. Let us reason together saith Lord.” Here is the deal. We cannot know the truth of the why’s and purposes of the world around us by our own reasoning, but God wants to share His reasons with us. His ways are reasonable, so He says, “‘Come now, and let us reason together.’ saith the Lord: ‘though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool,'” (Isaiah 1:18). His ways are reasonable, but He uses a higher reasoning. It is not a ridiculous thing. It is just higher than ours. It is different. He views things from a completely different perspective.
Every religion that man comes up with always has our salvation or eternal destiny depend upon us. Entrance into heaven depends on how good we are or how hard we work.
“It is a type of Barth’s ‘religion,’ in which man himself tried to reach heaven, or truth, or God. Theology begins and ends with faith in Christ, who reveals Himself to man; apart from such revelation, there could be no such thing as truth. Thus the philosopher-and the theologian-who operates on the philosopher’s assumptions-chases his own tail and gazes at his own navel. He cannot break out of that cycle, but God via revelation, can break in,[6]” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).
God’s way of salvation has nothing to do with how good we are or how hard we work. It depends solely on the goodness of God and the work of God. This is, actually, very reasonable. The whole book of Romans shows how reasonable it is. It is much more reasonable than our doing good works for salvation, because we would have no way of knowing just how much work we would have to do or how good we would have to be.
That is the reason eternal salvation does not depend on us. It depends on Jesus Christ alone and completely for our salvation. That is really reasonable. God’s way is the only reasonable way to deal with the sins of mankind.
So God says, “Though your sins be ask scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they be red like crimson they shall as wool.” He is talking about dealing with our sins, and if we do not have our sins taken care of, that would keep us out of heaven. Jesus took care of them for us, but we have to accept what He did.
Romans 1:16-23 begins, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Remember when we talked about the gospel? The gospel is the truth that “Christ died for our sins.” This is that for which we are supposed to stand. Romans 1:16 tells us how to receive the gospel. This is how we receive the benefit of Christ dying for our sins.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel.” In other words “I am going to share the gospel. I am not ashamed to be called a Christian.”
There are some people who believe in Christ and are on their way to heaven, but their friends do not even know that they are a Christian. They are ashamed of Jesus Christ. There are other believers who let people know they are a Christian, but they are ashamed to share the plan of salvation. They are afraid to try to share the gospel, because they are afraid they will not know how. They are afraid they will be put to shame.
But Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for is a power of God unto salvation to everyone that…” does what? “Believeth!” So we must simply believe it. We believe that Christ died for our sins. We believe that He gives us eternal life, and we can know we are going to heaven. We believe it. That Is the only thing that is required of us. We simply trust the fact that Jesus is God the Father who became a man to die on the cross to pay for our sins so that we can go to heaven. The difference between a person who goes to heaven and the person who goes to hell is not how good they are or how hard they work. It is whether or not they believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplished everything necessary to get them to heaven. That is all there is to it.
But there is something else revealed in the gospel. In verse 17 God says, “For therein (in the gospel) is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.”
That means starting with faith and ending with faith. When you race from here to there, you start from here and you race to there. The only thing that is required for us to receive eternal salvation is “from faith to faith.” That means “starting and ending with faith.” “As it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith.'”
What attribute of God is revealed by the fact that our eternal salvation starts and ends with faith? “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed.”
How does salvation reveal the righteousness of God? In Romans 3:24 God explains: “Being justified.” Justified means: “declared righteous” at the judgment of God. How? “Freely!” We do not have to pay anything or do anything. It is “By His grace.” Grace is something that is undeserved. He gives us that which we do not deserve.
“Through the redemption…” There is the payment. He paid the fine or penalty.
“That is in Christ Jesus.” So the reason that we are justified is because the fine has been paid. The reason we are declared not guilty at the bar of God is because the penalty has been paid. Jesus Christ Himself paid the fine or penalty.
But that does not sound fair. Why should somebody else pay my fine, and I get off Scott free? Does that sound righteous? That may be legal, but it does not sound righteous. That does not sound just, does it?
But there is something else that goes on here. God explains that in chapter 4. It is called imputation[7]. All of our unrighteousness was removed from us. All of our guilt was removed from us, and we became without guilt and without sin. Our sin and guilt were placed on Jesus Christ. He became sin for us. So the guilty person died on the cross. He was not guilty by action. He was not guilty because of anything that He did, but He was guilty by imputation. All of our sin was placed upon him. So when God looks at us He sees no sin. Therefore, He would be unrighteous to send us to hell, because Jesus paid for our sins when He died with our sins placed on Him. “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation,” (the satisfactory payment) “through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,” (the Old Testament believers) “through the forbearance (patience) of God;” (as He was waiting for the debt payment to come). “To declare, I say, at this time,” (in the present) “His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26)
So, He can deliver us. He can justify us, who have sinned, justly, without breaking the law and, therefore, He remains righteous.
There is still something else that is, also, revealed about God through the gospel. In Romans 1:18: God says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold (hold back) the truth in unrighteousness.”
In view of what has just been said about the gospel, what God is literally talking about here is: the wrath that was poured out on Jesus Christ shows the wrath of God against sin. That is scary, when we realize that we all have sinned, but the gospel shows that the wrath of God was all poured out on Jesus Christ. Why was that a big deal? It is because sin caused death to pass on all mankind[8]. Not only death, but sickness, sorrow, problems, dissension, fighting, bickering, and misery was also passed to all men. All of this came about because of man’s sin, and that grieves God, so He is angry-not at man-but at sin. Sin causes all this, so he destroyed sin in His body on the cross. All the sin was laid on him, and He did what it takes to destroy it, but the thing we have to do for this to be placed to our account (imputed) is trust that fact. He is not going to force you to go to heaven. He gives you that choice. He says in effect, “Do you want to go to heaven? Trust me. That is the way it is. I did all this for you. Trust me. Do you want to go? Trust me.” If you do not trust Him, you will not go to heaven. He has already done everything it takes to get you to heaven. There is only one requirement. That is to trust what He did to get you to heaven.
Verse 19 says, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.” To those people who held back or held down the truth God says that He has revealed Himself in man by a God consciousness and unto man through nature.
Nature reveals many things to us about God. The Bible says In Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.”
A creator is always greater than that which he creates. Since the universe, which God created, has no known boundary, He must be bigger than the universe, so He must be omnipresent. Since there is no knowledge of anything outside of our universe, God is greater than that which He created, so He must be omniscient. If he created the beginning and the end of time He is greater than that which He created, so He must be eternal. All energy of which we have any knowledge is within the universe. God is greater than that which He created so He must be omnipotent.
God has revealed many things about His attributes through His creation, but man cannot know the love, mercy, and righteousness of God through nature, because nature is not loving, merciful or righteous. Nature has been corrupted by man’s sin. So God gave us the law to demonstrate his perfection, but He had to come Himself and die on the cross to demonstrate his love, mercy and grace. Observing nature will lead man to belief in God, but it will not be a religion that saves.
Within man God has placed a God consciousness. Atheism has to be taught. God has revealed Himself through nature, but He has revealed things we cannot see through a God consciousness.
In verse 20 God says, “For the invisible things of Him from (or by) the creation are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
One problem with falsely so-called scientists is they do not want to consider the possibility that there is a God. God does not fit into their philosophy. In view of the first two laws of thermodynamics[9] which states that nothing is still being created, yet all things are deteriorating, the laws of nature and logic demand that everything that is, came from something greater or more complex. Yet, those who will not consider the existence of God refuse to call the beginning source of the universe “God.” So what would you call this all powerful, all knowing, everywhere present, eternal thing? Why not call it God? Those that reject God do so contrary to evidence in nature and revelation within them, so they are without excuse.
Verse 21 says, “Because that, when they knew God.”
There was a time, possibly in their childhood, when they knew about God.
“They glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations.”
They began to imagine some other way to explain the origins of the universe, and “became vain in their imaginations.”
Then what happened? “Their foolish heart was darkened. And, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”
In II Timothy 3:7 God says they were, “Ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of truth.”
They have several degrees, and they may have eight or ten doctorates, but God says they are ever learning, but never able to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Why is that? From where does truth come? Jesus said, “Thy Word is truth.”
So God describes them thusly: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.”
You see, we know within ourselves that the origin of all that is, is God.
There was a man some years ago that wrote a book called Origin of Species. His name was Charles Darwin[10]. Charles Darwin taught that all the species came from less complex life forms. That is called evolution. The idea of evolution is the idea that things evolve and get more and more complex until, finally, you end up with the most complex life form, which is man. So the god of evolution is, actually, the end result of evolution, which is man. Man is greater than a worm, he is greater than a bacterium, and he is greater than the simplest life form, which is the virus. So they worship man, which is a creation of God, rather than worshipping God as the creator. All of this goes completely against the laws of nature which state that things are getting simpler rather than more complex. Then they arbitrarily claim that these laws of nature do not apply to evolution, because these natural laws go against their philosophy.
God says in verse 23, that they, “Changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like unto man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”
It says they, “Changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.”
Have you ever noticed that in books that teach evolution, there are no photographs of evolution taking place either by observation or experimentation? What you will find are charts,
illustrations, and drawings. Why? It is because they have no proof of the existence of their philosophy of origins.
In verses 23 through 25 it says that God, being “Made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” This is vain imagination. This is talking about science falsely so-called. True science agrees in every case with the Bible. We do not believe in evolution. We believe in the creation.
In Hebrews 11:3 God tells us: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made with things which do appear.” Is that scientific? Are we made up of things which do not appear? Can you see an electron? Can you see a molecule? Can you see a proton or a Neutron? They have, actually, photographed some of those, now, but we cannot see them with the naked eye. And now we have found out that those building blocks of the elements are made up of even smaller things that cannot be photographed. Ultimately, according to the theory of relativity put forth by Albert Einstein, we believe that all things are basically made up of energy, which of course cannot be seen except as light.
There are certain aspects of the theory of relativity of which we are not sure are true, but we do know that if you split one of those atoms there is an amazing amount of energy released. We call that an atomic blast. There is obviously quite a bit of energy inside of an atom.
The particles that make up an atom are electrically charged. Interestingly enough, the laws of nature tell us that like charges repel and opposite charges attract. What is in the nucleus of an atom? All atoms except the hydrogen atom have at least two protons. All protons have positive charges which are repulsed by the other protons, yet they are hooked together in the center of the atom. Consequently, they are repelling each other with such a huge amount of energy that, should you split one, you would have an atomic blast from just the splitting of the atom and the reaction that would follow. What in the world is holding those things together? Scientists have not come up with the answer, but they have given a name to whatever it is. They call it nuclear glue.
In Colossians 1:17 God tells us what is holding everything together. God says in Colossians 1:16-17, “By Him, (Jesus Christ) were all things created,…all things were created by Him, and for him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.”
He is the one holding everything together. There does not have to be any act of God to bring about the destruction of the universe. All He has to do is let go, because He is holding it together. All He has to do is take away His power and it will destroy itself.
In II Peter 3:3 God says, “Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers.”
Are there scoffers scoffing at Christianity today? Are there those who scoff at creation? Or are there those that scoff at the flood?
“Walking after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
These false scientists will teach that they do not believe in catastrophism. They do not believe there was a universal flood[11]. They believe that everything has always been the same. That is what they will teach, and they will teach that except when it suits them to believe that a comet hit the Earth and caused the dinosaurs to die. That would be a catastrophe would it not? Then there is the belief that a comet turned into the planet, Venus, after coming close enough to the Earth to cause the earth’s rotation to be temporarily interrupted causing the mountains to be formed. They have come up with all kinds of weird catastrophes, as long as it fits their philosophy, but they do not talk about a catastrophe like the universal flood.
“And saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.’ For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the Word of God the heavens were of old.”
They are willingly ignorant of the fact “That by the Word God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same Word.” that He used to create a universe, “By the same Word are kept in-store.”
Our salvation is also kept by the power of God. God says in I Peter 1:4-5 “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
So we are kept, spiritually, and the creation is kept physically by His power as long as the Lord chooses.
“But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same Word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness.” II Peter 3:7-9.
Why is it that He has not brought the judgment that He promised? Why does it appear that man is getting away with their scoffing and ridicule of godly Christians, while it appears that wickedness goes unpunished? “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
God wants to give even those people who are shaking their fist in the His face the chance to trust Christ. He wants them to trust Him, also. He is a merciful God. We only see God’s mercy by looking in the Bible.
However, God says in verse 10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” The word for “melt” can also be translated “destroyed.” What is the smallest form of an element? An atom. The reason the word “melt” is used here is because back when the King James was translated, scientists did not believe that an element could be destroyed or split apart. Here, it literally is talking about being split. The day of the Lord will come when the atoms are split. That is when Jesus will let go and the atoms fly apart. Then what happens? It says, “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt (or literally be split) with fervent heat, the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that these things shall be dissolved, what manner persons of ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?”
What kind of person should we be? We ought to be one who is “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new Earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”
So in conclusion we have absolute confidence and assurance that, when talking to those who doubt the scientific accuracy of the Bible, we hold the high ground.
If for some reason you have not trusted the God of the Bible, Jesus Christ, to give you eternal life in heaven, consider this: God says in the words of His Bible in I John 5:13 “These things have I written unto them to believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that you have eternal life.” He says you can know it. You have it right now if you believe, and it is eternal so you can never lose it. What do you have to do to get it? God says, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God.” If you will believe that Jesus is God the Father who chose to become a man so He could take our sin onto His body and then die and pay for and destroy sin in His body; if you believe that He has done what it takes to get you to heaven, then you will go to heaven.
Science and the Bible
Introduction: Discovery of dinosaur footprints with man’s
I-I Timothy 6:20-Science falsely so called
A-Things to keep
1-I Thessalonians 2:4-The gospel
2-I Corinthians 15:3-What is the gospel?
B-Things to avoid
1-Babblings-Meaningless words and sounds
2-Opposing theories
3-False science (Knowledge) Science: “The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of natural phenomena.”
II-Colossians 2:8-Things of which we must beware
A-Philosophy
B-Vain deceit
C-Traditions of men
D-Rudiments of the world “Rudiment-A fundamental element, principle, or skill of a field of learning.”
III-The superiority of God’s ways
A-Isaiah 55:8-9-Not by human reason
B-Isaiah 1:18-God’s ways are reasonable
IV-Romans 1:16-25
A-V16-How to receive the gospel benefit
B-V17-Gospel reveals the righteousness of God
C-V18-Wrath of God revealed through the gospel
D-V19-God’s duel revelation of Himself to man
1-In man (God consciousness)
2-Unto man (Through nature)
E-V20-What is reveal
1-Invisible things
2-By the creation
3-About God
a-The eternity of God
b-Omniscience (power) of God
c-Deity (Godhead) of God
4-Man without excuse
F-V21-22-Worthlessness and wickedness of our imagination
1-II Timothy 3:7-Ever learning
2-II Peter 3:3-6
a-V3-They scoff at the truth
b-V4-the scoff at catastrophic interpretation
c-V5-They are willingly ignorant
d-V6-What they overlook
G-V23-Man imagined evolution in place of truth
1-Origin is believed to be creeping things
2-We are the highest form of all living things
H-V25-They worship creation instead of the creator
V-Creation
A-Hebrews 11:3-Matter created out of that which is invisible
B-Jeremiah 10:17-Matter is made up of energy
C-Colossians 1:16-17-Matter is sustained by His power cf. I Peter 1:5
D-II Peter 3:7-10
1-V7-Their ignorance will not void their judgment
2-V8-9-God is delaying judgment for their sake
3-V10-But judgment is certain
Conclusion
We can have confident assurance, when talking to those who doubt the scientific accuracy of the Bible, that we hold the high ground.
[1] Genesis 7:11 “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.”
[2] Romans 5:8 “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
[3] Berube, Margery, S., The American Heritage Dictionary, p.1099
[4] Guralnik, David B., Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, p. 1275.
[5] Metaxas, Eric, Bonhoffer, p. 89
[6] Metaxas, Eric, Bonhoffer, p.62
[7] Romans 4:20-25 “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”
[8] Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
[9] Morris, Henry M., Studies in the Bible and Science, p. 70
[10] Columbia Encyclopedia, Volume 6, p. 1827
[11] Morris, Henry M., Studies in the Bible and Science, p. 39The Bibleand Science