Question:

I was wondering if science and scripture have any contradictions. I have done a small study on the creation account, and when doing that, I wanted to show how evolution was irrational, not logical, and so on. Even Darwin had doubts in his own theory, people of his day did not accept his theory. But other than this, is there any big problems of science and scripture? Any contradictions at all?

Answer:

As far as I know, and I have studied this carefully for a long time, there is no clear contradiction between positive statement in the Bible about nature and scientific discovery. There are some apparent contradictions between science and religion. For example the Bible talks about the sun setting, but we know, scientifically that the sun does not set. It is the earth spinning, not the sun going around the world. We understand that the biblical statement that the sun sets is not a scientific one, but a normal way of speaking. Even we moderns still say that the sun sets, but we understand that it is not the sun moving, but the earth spinning. So, in this case, the contradiction is apparent not, but in fact there is no contradiction. With this caution (there are apparent but not real contradictions), I believe that science and the Bible are 100% consistent.

As for evolution, you may be investing your time poorly if you are trying to disprove evolution. The theory of evolution is certainly not an irrational theory. Darwin had doubts about his theory, but all good scientists have some doubts about their theories. This is normal in science. Theories are always unproven—they are explanations consistent with the data, but theories literally cannot be proved. The scientist who is sure of his theory is a bad scientist. Period. The fact that Darwin had doubts about his theory does nothing to lessen confidence in the theory of evolution being a valid explanation of the fossil and genetic evidence. It is true that some people of his day did not accept his theory, but the fact is that, over time, and with the collection of more data, scientific acceptance of at least the major points of the theory of evolution have been growing more and more. By now, the theory of evolution is accepted by consensus of virtually all scientists, including me. Personally, I see no direct contradiction between the idea of organic evolution and the Bible. I believe that God conceived of and invented and initiated the process. I also believe that he directs the process, but I do not believe that the Bible teaches that evolution did not happen.

John Oakes