Comment:

After reading your reply to the question regarding the geology of Hawaii could you explain to me why anyone should believe the Bible? 2 Timothy 3:16 states that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God" and Titus 1:2 says that God cannot lie. Now, the question arises, what does one believe? Is it the Holy Scriptures, for whom thousands upon thousands of people were butchered and burnt in order that those same scriptures would be available to all people and for whom people suffer today in order the Word of God may be spread in all the world as Christ commanded. Or, what you say which is that God is a liar.  If God’s word about creation cannot be believed, why should anyone believe anything that the bible or Christ says. 

You say that it is "impossible" to justify scientific geological evidence with the scientific young earth view, but as Luke 1:37 says, NOTHING is impossible with God. God does not have to justify anything, and if the bible is read without making into analogy, even a child can understand it. So far as the Old Testament not being a book of science is concerned, perhaps you should reread among others, the book of Job. Much early science was discovered from the Old Testament. God is not a god of disorder but of order.

Annie:

I believe people should believe in the Bible because of all the evidence it is inspired.  There is a fantastic amount of evidence that the Bible is inspired, including the scientific accuracy of the Bible. Obviously, I am in complete agreement with you and with Timothy that all scripture is inspired by God.  We have no disagreement about that!  For some reason you seem to be accusing me of calling God a liar.  I assume you are a Christian, so I am very surprised that you would use such unloving and ungracious words toward a fellow believer, accusing me of calling God a liar.  I certainly did NOT call God a liar.  In fact, I believe everything God has said is literally true.  The Golden Rule, as stated by Jesus is that we should treat others as we would want to be treated.  I believe you owe me an apology, but I will leave that up to you.

I said that it is not possible to justify scientific geological evidence with the scientific young earth view.  I said this because it is a fact. All the scientific evidence we have available to us implies that the earth is old.  You may not like this fact, but it is true nevertheless.  I am not sure if you are a trained scientist and are fully understanding of the scientific evidence for the age of the earth and of the universe.  You ought to do a careful study of this evidence.  You can catch a glimpse of this evidence in a power point titled "Science and Christian Apologetics" at my web site.  

You are right that God can do anything consistent with his nature and he certainly does not need to justify any of his actions.  However, that does not prove that one person’s interpretation is better than another’s.  It also does not decide what the scientific evidence says.  The question for us is how to interpret certain passages of the Bible and what the evidence from science says.  I am thinking that you are not a trained scientist and also that you are not a trained theologian or Bible scholar.  My suggestion is that you read books on these topics, both by those with whom you agree and those with whom you do not agree.  Let the evidence speak for itself, both with regard to the best biblical interpretation and with regard to the scientific evidence.  But in the mean time, I want to ask you to consider being a bit more gentle with those with whom you disagree.  That is what Jesus would do.

I have read the book of Job many times.  It is true that there is some material in Job which is consistent with scientific ideas, but Job is poetry and it certainly was not intended to be read as a scientific text.  In fact, Job uses imagery and symbolism, as does the writer or writers of Genesis.  I will stick to my statement that Genesis 1-4 is principally a treatise on theology, not science.  There is some scientifically relevant material here, no doubt, but as to whether one ought to take the "days" literally or not, there is legitimate question about this among serious, dedicated Christian believers.  My advice to you is to take a less judgmental and divisive attitude about this important but debatable topic.  When Christians have acrimonious debates over debatable matters it does not bring honor to God.  This is the advice God gives us in Titus 3:9.

Respectfully,

John Oakes, PhD