Science is reliable, right? So, working at the Museum of Natural Sciences, things come up that I am not sure what to do with. Like yesterday. I was sitting in a meeting and someone expressed how important it is to have an exhibit that explains how we know how old things are. This comment followed: "yeah! we have these baptists coming in thinking the world is only 5000 years old!" I shot out of my chair and whipped out my reformation study Bible and started yelling Genesis... sike.
haha.
Now, I knew this would be a part of my job. Being surrounded by evolutionists. I am ok with that. I go back and forth though. I mean, God is sovereign and that is so much more important than how he created earth. Why would there be so much evidence of a really old earth if its not true? I thought Jesus was the stumbling block, not the age of the earth. I guess it is all connected. This is what was running through my head yesterday as the people around me so matter-of-factly wrote off creationists as deceived or uninformed. I think the hardest part is that the scientists I work with know much more than I do about archeology, etc. I know all about salvation through Christ alone, who is the way the truth and the life (halleluia!) But all I know about dating the earth is what people tell me, so how do I know what to believe? It also hit me that I need to be careful that I don't conclude that the whole creation story is symbolic and not literal. Perhaps, it is often misinterpreted, perhaps not, but it is truth. And if I let myself believe that one part of the Bible is symbolic, what about the rest?... I am weak and my heart and mind are prone to wander from the Truth and the One who stustains me and keeps me in His grace.
Then there is Mary Schweitzer who was also at this meeting. I think Mary is a Christian. She discovered soft tissue on a T-rex bone. Creationists said "you see! the world is only 5000 years old!" Mary and evolutionists said "That's amazing that the soft tissue survived millions of years!" .. sigh.. So, one goal I have for the next 12 months is to have a conversation with Mary Schweitzer. I appreciate that she looks at whats seems to be evidence of evolution and she sees the hand of an all powerful God and gives Him glory for it. It would also be good to talk to some creationist scientists.
Science is not God. God is completely sovereign and He created the universe by speaking words. He is over all and in all. I love these truths! I love God that He understands how all of this fits together. I love that as smart as we think we are, we still can't grasp the concept of a three person God, or a good God who allows/ordains evil, or an earth that seems to be billions of years old, but smashed into 5000 years. Our minds are limited. I am thankful that God is infinately smarter than us.
Yes! Please comment! I would love to hear your thoughts.
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4 comments:
Mara, did anyone ever tell you that radioactive dating is flawed? Mark and I have spent the last several years researching and developing many presentations for children and adults on creation science. We have found that evolution and the big bang are accepted, not because they are scientifically valid, but because there is no other option for unbelievers. When inconsistencies with the big bang are seen (which happens almost daily, Mark keeps up with the latest physics news) the researchers create an explanation for which there is no evidence whatsoever, but only solves a mathematical problem with the big bang. Dark matter for instance.
One example of how inaccurate radiometric dating can be is the potassium-argon dating of a newly-formed rock from the lava dome of Mount St. Helens (newly-formed because the volcano erupted in 1986). It's radioactive dating gave ages between 0.5 and 2.8 million years even though we know it to be less than 20 years old. There are many more examples including samples from the moon and from various volcanoes from around the earth.
We have several different presentations on biology, astronomy, geology, and paleontology.
Here is a link about radiometric dating if you want to read it. It's a little technical so don't feel like you have to, but Mark and I love this kind of stuff http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/does-radiometric-dating-prove
We get our information from various sources, three creation websites, news articles both for layman and scientists, and from research published by secular scientists.
There are also several creation scientists working as professors on NC State's campus and there is a group in Raleigh called TASC where many creation scientists meet together. I used to attend TASC, you might be interested in going and asking some questions. Not all of them are scientists, I suggest talking to Dan Reynolds. I can contact them and let them know (they would love it, they are very friendly). We used to go out to eat at Fat Daddy's after every meeting.
It's a struggle Mara, but there is so much information about the subject you can learn. Mark and I have been studying this for years so if there's anything we can help you with, please ask. We want God's Word to be known and to have any arguments against it destroyed as in 2 Corinthians 10:5.
We're hopefully coming to visit in October near the end of the month. Will you be there?
We love you,
Michelle
Mara, you may want to check out "The Language of God" by Francis Collins. He's the guy who ran the Human Genome Project for the federal government and is a scientist who moved from atheism to faith. It's a good read on the topic.
My personal thought? It's a false dichotomy. Faith and science are not mutually incompatible unless you take an extremist position in either one. I'm a geneticist. I know that we've been here a while and that everything has changed over time. And I believe God has directed every last step of it.
MAra,
I like how you allow people to see your point view and your convictions working itself out. The Lord is sovereign and he knows all and created all. The earth is full of His glory. You have it right when you say science is not God. He is so much more than that, thankfully.
Keep blogging!
You are right. Our minds are limited. That's a good thing, because if we knew as much as God, we know our brains would explode. I wouldn't let myself be concerned over details like how old the earth is...what is more important is how we treat others in the moment of today and do not judge others based on their beliefs, unless of course their beliefs deliberately hurt you like saying "my religion says I must sacrifice a baby to the god Shadivagong every week"--then you can say sorry, that's wrong. Science isn't perfect, but without it we wouldn't have the medical advances and life span we do today. Some may argue that even having advances in medicine is a mistake...
Kristy is right. Faith and science are not mutually exclusive...unless you want them to be :)
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