Bible Question: What does the Bible have to say about astronomical subjects? Can the Bible's "science" be trusted? |
Bible Answer: Michele 20: The Bible says a great deal about astronomical subjects, and it says it with an economy of words that is truly one of the greatest marvels in all literature. In Genesis 1:16 we read this remarkable statement: "He (God) made the stars also." In five words, five words and no more, the Genesis account tells of an event about which untold numbers of books have been written, to which scientific thought has been directed for centuries, and of which the counting is still going on. You ask, "Can the Bible's 'science' be trusted?" I see no need to place the word "science" in quotation marks in this context, as though the Bible's scientific statements constitute some sort of pseudo-science that is inferior to mankind's "true" science! While the Bible is not and is not meant to be a scientific treatise or textbook, it does indeed contain a number of facts which one could rightly call scientific. Both Job and the Psalms, as well as Genesis, are replete with various references to God the Creator and could be considered, I believe, to be in the category of what we could call scientific truth without stretching the point. But back to your question, "Can the Bible's 'science' be trusted?" Well, if it cannot be, and if the Bible is the inerrant word of God, then we are really asking, "Can God be trusted?" aren't we? .... But let's consider man's science too: can it be trusted? Are the scientific "truths" of yesteryear still valid today? We know that many of them are not. Yesterday's scientific "truths" -- many of them -- are today's myth and fable. And is it not likely that many of today's scientific "truths" will become passe, outdated and considered false in years to come? Yet God's "science" that is contained in Scripture has never changed and it never will. Many of the Bible's scientifically oriented statements that were once scoffed at by the secular scientific community are now seen in a new light by the contemporary scientists and accepted as true. In reality, therefore, secular science is not the trailblazer but the follower; secular science is only now beginning to catch up with the scientific truth revealed in the book that has been written by Him who created all things. Even science. And even the scientists themselves. --Hank |