Science and the Bible Part 2

One of the more controversial claims that a Christian can make is that we exist on a ‘young earth’.   This belief is that God created the universe and all life during a literal six-day period described in the first chapter of Genesis.    Science teachers, politicians and even corporate executives that espouse such a belief have been summarily dismissed as religious simpletons and unintellectual. 

It's not just the scientists and the atheists that can be critical.   Not surprisingly, many well-known Christians including Evangelical pastors, theologians, heads of well-known seminaries and denominations are some of the biggest critics of what is known as “young earth creationism.”

However, like most science and a large portion of theology, we haven’t heard the last word.   Daily there are new discoveries that can either support or frustrate an argument or defense for young-earth creationism.

As Christians, if we agree that God created the heavens and the earth and look to the Bible as the source of truth, we can find some common ground between the relatively short (i.e. thousands of years) taught by ‘young-earth’ creationists vs. the unusually long (i.e. 4.2 billion years) timeframe that commonly is taught in science textbooks.

The Bible, while obviously not a science text book has been proven to be not only accurate in many scientific areas but has actually declared scientific truth long before it was generally accepted by the science and common understanding of the time.

Here are some examples:

1) The Bible declared that the earth is round (Isaiah 40:22) in 700 BC long before Aristotle was thought to be ‘mad’ by claiming the same thing. 

2) Jeremiah 33:22 states that the stars are innumerable, contrary to the common teaching that there were only about 1,100 stars based on what was visible to the naked eye. 

3) The Bible also said that each star was unique and different (1 Cor. 15:41) long before telescopes could confirm the endless variety in size, brilliance and temperature.

4) The book of Job, thought to be possibly the oldest book of the Bible written before Abraham and the patriarchs around 1,500 BC, has many interesting revelations regarding the earth and the cosmos. 

·      The earth floated freely in space (Job 26:7)

·      Light actually moved, i.e. light waves (Job 38:19-20)

·      The oceans contain springs (Job 38:16 Also Genesis 7:11)

·      Job may also have described dinosaurs (Behemoth in Job 40:15-24) and dragons (Leviathan is described as breathing fire in Job 41)

The Bible and Medicine 

Many have taken the Christian and the Bible to task for some medical claims that over the years have actually been proven to be true:

•      The book of Leviticus (written prior to 1400 BC) describes the value of blood and that life itself was in the blood.  Note: Blood letting (based on the need of the menstrual cycle) was ‘scientific’ and popular until the late 1800s
•      Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.”   Modern science agrees! 
•           Regarding the Jewish rite of Circumcision, medical science has only recently discovered that blood-clotting in a newborn reaches its peak on the eighth day, then drops. The Bible consistently says that a baby must be circumcised on the eighth day.

Many of us read the Bible daily for inspiration, guidance and truth.  It is good to know that even in the area of science, we can trust it completely. 

Healthy Church Members

I recently wrote about Pastor Rick Warren, author of the best-selling “Purpose Driven Life," and his saying of how ‘Healthy things grow”.   My article on Healthy Churches identified that church health was related more to the growth in maturity of the members and attendees than the numerical metrics like attendance and giving.

Just as every pastor should be concerned about church health, every true believer should be interested as well in how to be a ‘Healthy Church Member.'  As we focused on the local church in the last article, I thought I would address the topic as well from a local church perspective.

Partnership rather than Membership

A few years ago I had the privilege of being the pastor of a church that had decided to intentionally discontinue talking about  ‘membership’ in favor of encouraging those that were attending to become ‘partners’ in the church ministry.  I found that while there was some misgiving about the change, the idea of partnering in the particular ministry calling with the local pastor and paid staff was refreshing for many as well as challenging.

While ‘membership’ suggests a sense of benefits, ‘partnership’ connotes a supportive relationship that includes responsibilities and obligations.   Each neighborhood church is the unique expression of the local ministry of Jesus Christ and varies in its particular calling and ministry.  While there are unique differences,  every local church has a responsibility to make disciples just as each pastor has the responsibility to lead, teach, equip, protect and admonish the congregation.

No pastor can successfully lead the church without committed Christ-like disciples that come alongside him or her and take on the responsibilities, ministries and assignments that God has uniquely gifted each one.   In Chapter 12 of First Corinthians, the Apostle Paul describes first the gifts and then the offices of the church.  While these are all unique and distributed through the will of God to individuals, they are for the benefit of all as all function collectively as one Body of Christ. 

The Great Commandment and Great Commission

To be a ‘healthy’ part of the local church each individual needs to first understand their relationship with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  They then begin to grow through weekly preaching and the daily reading of the Word of God.  The bible describes this as our 'spiritual food' and necessary for spiritual development.  In time, each healthy church member understands that the Great Commandment (to love one another) and the Great Commission (to make disciples) was not given to the few, but to all believers.    Each healthy church member shares this responsibility knowing that God provides opportunities for us to minister individually as well as corporately.

Sharing in the responsibility by participating financially, being faithful in attendance, volunteering in ministry, leading where appropriate and supporting the local pastor in his or her unique calling is the best way for both the individual as well as the local church to grow. 

Healthy church members create and grow healthy churches!