Question:
What role does science have in how you interpret the Bible or understand God?
anonymous
2010-07-26 09:05:15 UTC
Some say that they are different domains, but most Christians have understood certain passages of the bible as being metaphorical only because of what science has discovered. For example, there are references to the earth being flat and having corners, but if we believe the bible to be true and we accept the scientific discovery that the world is round, only then can we be sure that the bible is being figurative when it says the world has corners.

Likewise, many christians take genesis to be figurative because science has discovered that life, the earth, and the universe are much older than what a literal interpretation of the bible reveals.
Nineteen answers:
chemical_alternative
2010-07-26 09:06:29 UTC
Science has provided answers about our Earth's history. Bibles should be recycled to make science books.
anonymous
2010-07-26 09:20:25 UTC
Wow. Let me make some corrections to your claims, and then let the remainder deal with the real questions remaining...



1) most Christians have understood certain passages of the bible as being metaphorical only because of what science has discovered



Inaccurate, as we will see below.





2) For example, there are references to the earth being flat



False. It is - practically speaking - impossible for someone to conceive the notion that the Earth is "flat". Certainly the Bible makes no such indication in any passage. There is ONE Biblical passage that indicates that the speaker - a speaker who was recorded by the author, a speaker who was not a prophet - had an incorrect concept of the shape of the Earth. Never does any author of any Biblical book, any prophet or God - in the Bible - indicate that the Earth has a shape other than its actual shape.





3) and having corners



A metaphor that has been in use *ever since* the true shape of the Earth was discovered. There is no historical evidence that the ancient discovery of the true shape of the Earth suddenly turned this common phrase into a metaphor - but if it did, it certainly did so long before any Christian existed.





4) but if we believe the bible to be true and we accept the scientific discovery that the world is round, only then can we be sure that the bible is being figurative when it says the world has corners.



The World *does* have corners! However, I get your point, and this one at least is a valid one. Without knowing that the Earth is not quadrahedral in profile, we would not be **certain** if the Bible were speaking metaphorically when using that common, ages-old metaphor. However, for most if not all of the history of that phrase, it *has* been known to be a metaphor.





5) Likewise, many christians take genesis to be figurative because science has discovered that life, the earth, and the universe are much older than what a literal interpretation of the bible reveals.



Inaccurate. A very literal interpretation of the Bible agrees wholly with science. What you are mistaking is Young Earth Creationism - which relies on a whole series of very specific literal interpretations of dozens of Bible passages - with "a literal interpretation of the Bible". For any given phrase or sentence, normally there are multiple very literal interpretations. To arrive at the interpretation "the Earth is only 6,000 years old", you MUST adopt a VERY specific series of literal interpretations and apply them to a wide range of Biblical passages. If you apply even ONE other literal interpretation to any of those many, many Biblical passages, you *cannot* arrive at the conclusion that the Earth must be 6,000 years old.



Jim, http://www.bible-reviews.com/
sunshine
2010-07-26 09:38:41 UTC
Surely you know the four corners are , North, East, South , West.

Unfortunately the many christians you speak of are not well grounded in the Bible , or their faith in God to take such a position.

Not all who profess christianity " walk with God " They are caught up in a religion", rather than walk in the Spirit of the Living Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible is complete and needs no other book to go along with it.

God is perfect in all He does, and also in His use of the 40 some individuals that God entrusted to write the 66 books in the Bible.



Science is not nearly a match for GOD.

Science is merely a tool man uses to try and disclaim God.

Man is truly a curious creature, and thank God He created us as we are.

FLESH, with a spirit, and a soul.



What is man if he dies, if at all ?

He is dust, but in the transformation coming at Jesus calling, all in Him will not see death.

What say science to this fact, Promise of God Himself ?



I tell you that the many believers who will disappear will be explained away as " The Aliens took them "



Check it out ! The internet is full of the New Age, and Mother earth followers.

This is " The Lie " that God speaks about in Revelation.

And is what the Bible says that the last days will be " as in the days of Noah.

All Flesh was corrupt; save for Noah and his generations.



Aliens are none more than the Fallen Angels , those 1/3 the Bible speaks of in Genesis 6.

Where do you think the Nephelim came from ?
anonymous
2010-07-26 09:35:35 UTC
The earth is not literally flat nor does it have literal corners. If however, you are God and viewing it directly from above (or rather a prophet led in the spirit to heaven allowed to view earth as God does), how does the world beneath you look? Where would the angels be positioned then? But I digress, we have directions North South East and West. Those are the four corners of the earth. So, you can substitute the word direction for the word corner if that makes you feel like it is logical...but the thing about God is that he does not want us to lean on our own understanding. God does not work through man's logic. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways are higher than our ways. When we depend on our own feeble "knowledge", we are lost. They (scientists) are only now finding many errors in some of the dates that they state as "fact". Many "facts" have been debunked recently. And I'm sorry, we have not found a cure for the common cold.......has anyone else thought about how such a common occurrence has not been eradicated? God proves how feeble mankind is through the forms of viruses....earthquakes........hurricanes......and other phenomena that we cannot overcome, predict, or prevent.



We all know how hurricanes form or have some idea so why is it that hurricane Katrina took the toll that it did? Since we know so much, shouldn't we know that a hurricane is coming a year before since we can clearly date things back to millions of years based on carbon........ Why can't meteorologists predict the weather? Why is it that EMP threatens our whole way of life, in fact, if or rather when the sun is active enough, we will lose all communication due to the electromagnetic pulse. A blackout wreaked havoc in the recent past....but yet we really think that we can prove God wrong with our limited knowledge of what occurs around us. How foolish and pompous is that?



We can only state how elements behave since we have observed them. We have not observed any anatomical aspect of the world for any more than 200 years or so, so based on this scientific evidence is anecdotal at best. It is based on what we see around us NOW and many things change over time. I mean, does Aunt B look like Aunt B 20 years ago? And haven't Aunt B's around the world been aging forever so why can't we stop that process? It's only been happening since the dawn of time. I have another one, the theory of plate tectonics is only a theory bc only NOW are the plates moving at the pace that they are........who can definitively state that they have always moved at the same rate? But as humans..or rather scientists....we look at the globe, the pace at which the plates are moving and say...well they are like a puzzle and fit together and since they move so slowly, it follows that they must have always moved at this rate and thus it took them x amount of years to get to the current configuration. Only in recent history have people been able to trek the globe....only to find Native Americans......wonder how they got there if all life originated in Africa? It must have been that isthmus bc that is the only thing that makes sense.......there may be an alternative explanation.



All I'm saying is this, all theories have an alternative explanation and we can only theorize as humans.....we don't really have any "facts".



True wisdom knowledge and understanding come only from God.
Knowledge + Application = Wisdom
2010-07-26 09:37:48 UTC
I can see from what others have told you how you can come to the concusions you now have. But with all due respect, there are somethings that are mistaken.



First Science and the Bible are in harmony.



Some 3,500 years ago, the Bible stated that the earth is hanging “upon nothing.” (Job 26:7) In the eighth century B.C.E., Isaiah clearly referred to “the circle [or, sphere] of the earth.” (Isaiah 40:22) A spherical earth held in empty space without any visible or physical means of support—does not that description sound remarkably modern?



What about the understanding that the Bible says the "earth is flat and has four corners"?

Here is one scripture that shows that it was just a misunderstanding by some who have read the Bible.

(Jeremiah 49:36) 36 And I will bring in upon E′lam the four winds from the four extremities of the heavens.. . .

As you can see in Jeremiah it mentions 4 winds. We know that this is speaking about the four directions (north, east, south and west). So if the Wind is said to be four beacuse of their incoming direction, are we to conclude that these are the only winds acording to the Bible? Obviously not...this just means that the wind would come from all sides. It also mentions the four corners of heaven. Are we to conclude that the heavens is something that can be measured? Again the answer is no because this just means from the whole expanse of the heavens. So we do have to use common sence when reading the Bible.



Another one...

(Genesis 1:4-5) After that God saw that the light was good, and God brought about a division between the light and the darkness. 5 And God began calling the light Day, but the darkness he called Night. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a first day.



Here the word “Day” refers to the daylight hours in contrast with the nighttime. However, the record thereafter goes on to use the word “day” to refer to other units of time of varying length. In both the Hebrew and the Greek Scriptures, the word “day” (Heb., yohm; Gr., he‧me′ra) is used in a literal and in a figurative or even symbolic sense.



The inspired Record tells of six creative periods called “days,” and of a seventh period or “seventh day” in which time God desisted from earthly creative works and proceeded to rest. (Ge 2:1-3) While the Genesis account of creative activity relating to the earth does not set forth detailed botanical and zoological distinctions such as those current today, the terms employed therein adequately cover the major divisions of life and show that these were created and made so that they reproduce only according to their respective “kinds.”—Ge 1:11, 12, 21, 24, 25



That a day can be longer than 24 hours is indicated by Genesis 2:4, which speaks of all the creative periods as one “day.” Also indicative of this is Peter’s inspired observation that “one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” (2Pe 3:8) Ascribing not just 24 hours but a longer period of time, thousands of years, to each of the creative days better harmonizes with the evidence found in the earth itself.



Regarding the lenght of creative days, I would love to share with you more detail. It was too much to put in my answer here, but feel free to email me and I will share with you.



===========================



If you would like to know more about this and other themes, next time Jehovah's Witness come to your door, ask them for a free Bible study at your convenience. You will never regret all the knowledge you will acquire and remember that what you do with that knowledge is your choice.



Knowledge + Application = Wisdom
Superfuzz
2010-07-26 09:13:28 UTC
Why would people THEN have to reinterpret these things figuratively, when the bible was written by men at a time when it was quite acceptable to make such assumptions (flat/young earth)?



Why not accept that there are mistakes in the bible?



In the context of your question, the progression of science simply means that christians are having to go back and reinterpret different aspects of the bible, seemingly to justify it's continued prominence in society (obviously every time a new scientific discovery is made that contradicts the bible)
Djapi
2010-07-26 09:39:16 UTC
Very important will be to recognize Religion as an Entire Science which is quite different from others and even seems to be the mother of any Sciences. Hence the Science itself only try to Comprehend and Understand Creation which is Religious issues. Hower Religion is matter of Faith which is even that differentiates Religious Sciences from others. What is then Faith (Q:6:158)?



Behold! As concerning the Interpretation of things, shall ye but Comprehend and Understand that it is a matter of "Gifts" which is not given to any person or every person.



(Q:55:4) He has taught him

An intelligent speech.*



An intelligent speech: Bayan: Intelligent speech: Power of expression: Capacity to Understand Clearly the RELATIONS between of things and to Explain them. Allah has GIVEN this to man, and besides this Revelation in man's own heart, has aided him with Revelation in NATURE and Revelation through Prophets and Messengers.



Backing Divine Words unto Divine Actions-There has been Provided for ye the Austrian Repentance Providence wherein "intelligent speech" for ye to Learn and Study the "Interpretation of that which ye have into ye spiritual life". We shall all the same know that it may be that every person Dreams or has Inner Vision and the Problem is then how to Really and Truly Interpret them. For if it were to be something teaching by other sciences, this won't have been Trouble nor Problem to none, but they are. Where are then the other sciences to Teach them thereof? . It is but not to be left aside

the Falsifications brought into the Holy Bible by men which make its Understanding impossible for no more Genuine (Q:57:27)
shady sunshine
2010-07-26 09:13:14 UTC
As a christian who has read both my science books and my Bible, I would say that people just have to make judgment calls. There are a lot of things science has to offer, and honestly, when I read about the science of how the world works, it only points me towards this: there has to be a creator. The world is not here because of random chemical reactions and "science".
?
2016-10-30 12:21:54 UTC
there is actual no scientific info that homosexuality is genetic... only as there is not any info this is social (peer stress, etc...) The Bible has been editted and re-editted maximum of circumstances, pages have been taken out via fact some Pope someplace at it sluggish concept it became pointless for that financial ruin to be there, bla bla bla.. you are able to not believe it via fact the actuality anymore and by utilising no potential while it includes such matters. traditionally, and this HAS been documented, people have been greater open sexually. In asserting that, it wasn't only heterosexual intercourse happening, yet in addition homsexual, or maybe incestual... faith introduced 'order' to this and it became faith that dictated such issues like "dads and daughters are not meant to be having intercourse with one yet another", or cousins, or brothers and sister, etc.... i assume finally, to verify the survival of the species, faith decreed that we could continually all be heterosexual. From a excitement attitude... it truly shouldn't rely. you adore whom you adore. you're attracted to who you're attracted to... in spite of the shown fact that i might draw the line at incest! HA!
anonymous
2010-07-26 09:35:42 UTC
Science, faith and the Bible are not mutually exclusive nor polar opposites. Science affirms the Bible when science is intellectually honest.



The Bible is the inerrant word of God and the ultimate standard of truth.
jo
2010-07-26 09:14:04 UTC
Scientific research has investigated the historical and cultural context of the Bible and written much regarding their findings, can advise regarding principles with which to read and interpret texts.
- Petit Fantôme Aimé ♐ -
2010-07-26 09:17:25 UTC
It depend on how the believers of this small country interpret the bible's ideology of "natural philosophy" (metaphysical ideas) to their audiences...
anonymous
2010-07-26 09:08:51 UTC
None at all. I don't consider science to be competent in the area of theology, or vice versa.
?
2010-07-26 09:07:06 UTC
It doesn't. Science is real, the Bible and God aren't.





www.ExposingChristianity.com
anonymous
2010-07-26 09:07:28 UTC
Yes. Most sensible religions have recognised this and adapted. As they have always adapted to the changing understanding of the universe.



A real challenge for the literalistic unchanging adherents to 'gospel truth'.
anonymous
2010-07-26 09:09:57 UTC
Science is compatible with God as long as it is for God.
anonymous
2010-07-26 09:07:37 UTC
I didn't even know science existed until long after i rejected the words in that old old manuscript
anonymous
2010-07-26 09:08:18 UTC
Science does not have any place in religion & religion does not have any place in science. Science is about facts & religion is about fiction.
anonymous
2010-07-26 09:07:38 UTC
So, what's your question?


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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