For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
2 Peter 1v5-7 ESV
When researching the background to the word knowledge, I came across a very old translation that used the word science instead. I found that very interesting and looked up what the definition of science is. The Science council in the UK defines science in this way:
“Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.” sciencecouncil.org
That is exactly what we should be doing in our pursuit of the knowledge of God.
For years there has been a heated debate about science and the Bible. Many come to the conclusion that the 2 are polar opposites and that you have to choose one or the other. Science is seen as logical and faith seen as opposed to logic, but nothing could be further from the truth.
It is a hugely important but extremely unknown and untaught fact that the vast majority of the founders in every field of science known today believed that the Bible was an accurate record of history and could be relied upon as the source of truth. (See creation.com/creation-scientists#other). These men believed that God created an ordered world where things worked according to certain rules (natural laws like gravity etc). They also believed that as they had been given great intellects, they were duty bound to use their intellectual abilities to find out how these laws worked and what the outcomes were when something interfered with them. It was a perfectly logical thing to do. It did not interfere with or replace their faith in God or the Bible, in fact it increased their wonder at God’s creative genius.
We pursue knowledge of God through His creation. God made a natural world, ordered by natural laws in which natural human beings were to live in communion with Him. Science is pursuing an understanding of this natural world in which we live, looking at the evidence found in this natural world that point to the truth of God’s Word.
Is there evidence for intelligent design, yes there is!
Is there evidence for a world-wide flood, yes there is!
Is there evidence that the history recorded in the Bible really took place, yes there is!
These are not blind statements of faith, but statements of faith made on the evidence that God has given us in the natural world. These evidences are available to everyone who wants to pursue the knowledge of God. God’s Word is not pie in the sky, it is based on what has really happened and what we can see in the world today.
The belief in evolution is as much a religion as Christianity or any other belief is. Science, as defined above is simply a logical method used to discover how things work. Belief is something different. Belief is a philosophical stance. You can look at all the scientific evidence around you in the world today and come to the belief that it all came about by a chance explosion at some point in history a long time ago, or you can look as the evidence and come to the conclusion that there must be intelligent design behind all of this. Both are religious, not scientific views.
Some people seem to be afraid that studying science will destroy their faith. Other people think that studying the Bible means abandoning their logic. Neither is true.
God created us with wonderful intellectual ability. He wants us to love Him with all our heart, all our strength and all our minds. Pursuing God through understanding how His world works scientifically gives glory and honour and praise to Him. It will increase our faith, not diminish it.
