cause for dismissal, we shall go further to claim that such a
distinction between natural and supernatural as is delineated
in ID (and for that matter, New Atheism) was a concept alien to
the society from which the biblical creation narratives sprung.
Adam’s creation and fall from grace in the book of Genesis is
not a claim of supernatural intervention in the natural world
nor is it merely a poetic description of a natural process. It is a
literary statement conveying profound underlying truth about
the experienced world—that something in our relationship to
the divine has been broken beyond repair. We have no need of
a pseudo-scientific argument to force religion to accomodate
a modern framework with which it was never in conflict in its
source texts.
This may be unsatisfying to some, but we must understand that
fixating on “what role God plays in biology” is fundamentally
the wrong question to ask of the Scriptures. The distinction
between God and nature is not as clear in the Bible as we
would like it to be because no society pre-Enlightenment
(early 18th century) had such a distinction at all. 11,16 While this
view still differs from pantheism in an important way (namely,
that the Christian God is transcendent above creation as well
as working in it and through it), it’s also closer than we may
be comfortable with. Ultimately, this is not a call for us to stop
trying to find answers about the interplay between God and
natural processes—but it should stop us from expecting to find
them written out plainly in the Bible.
All this is to say that any scientific explanation of the origin of
the cosmos and the human race does not preclude any truth
from biblical creation narratives, or the biblical message as
a whole. Plainly, accepting science does not require rejecting
the Bible. Let us then swiftly denounce any attempt to base
scientific theories on biblical texts. And let us rejoice in doing
so, because when we cease trying to force science to validate or
disprove the Bible and instead consider them as equally valid
but distinct lenses for interpreting the world, we can see that
they render strikingly beautiful parallels. A biblical worldview
Questions.” BioLogos, biologos.org/common-questions/what-is-the-
evidence-for-evolution.
16
“Deep Space and the Dome of Heaven” BioLogos,
biologos.org/articles/deep-space-and-the-dome-of-heaven.
says that God created a good and ordered world ex nihilo, but
it is always and forever decaying away from perfection; a
scientific worldview may say that from the moment of the Big
Bang, the universe has been rapidly expanding—by the law of
entropy growing in chaos every second. Painfully fitting, then,
is the Bible’s saga of a humanity relentlessly searching for
permanence and perfection in a cosmos bound to decay. 17 Far
from granting credence to claims of scientific enlightenment
in biblical texts, these parallels should compel us to stand in
amazement at how masterfully God has wrought all things
in the world and in His written word to draw us to Himself.
Therefore, let us approach the Scriptures in the way that
Augustine begged of his fellow Christians—with humility. We
know that the Spirit of God moves even through imperfect
people with flawed understandings in order to bring revelation.
If I have left the reader with the impression that the framework
I have presented here is the only correct reconciliation of
Christianity and science, then my point has been sorely
missed. Indeed, if there is one thing I can claim with certainty,
it is that some of the beliefs I hold today will be refuted and
remolded by the knowledge I gain tomorrow. But just as
certainly, there are things that our current understanding
of science has gotten wrong and, dare I say, things that our
practice of religion has also gotten wrong. The apostle Paul
has said: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then
face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as
also I am known” (1st Cor 13:12, KJV). Thank goodness that
the hope of our salvation doesn’t lie in the orthodoxy of our
beliefs but in the person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, if we want
to take seriously the claims of our Christian faith, we must
be willing to sacrifice the idol of our perfect interpretations.
For now, we see but a murky reflection of Reality as we peer
through a thousand different lenses, but let us long for the day
when we will see clearly.
Hope McGovern is a senior concentrating in Engineering Physics.
17
Hope McGovern, “A Lesson in Thermodynamics,”
Cornerstone Magazine, Spring 2017, Volume V, Issue 1
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