Thursday, January 16, 2020

Stop rejecting Christ in matters of science!

I have seen this time and time again - a professed Bible-believing (Biblical) Christian gets into a debate/discussion with an unbeliever or someone that believes the earth and universe are billions of years old (sometimes referred to as "deep time") and they are challenged to "follow the evidence", such as radiometric dating, red shift, geological formations, etc. as incontrovertible proof. 

The proposition being that this evidence is heavily weighted toward an ancient earth and universe, which then allows for the extreme amount of time necessary for evolutionary processes to occur and man to evolve from "goo to you".

This viewpoint is commonly known as a material naturalistic worldview. "Material" in the sense that the universe is basically composed of matter and energy and "Natural" in the sense that all things in the universe are basically governed by the 4 laws of nature, with no other processes (e.g., God) needed. This is the worldview that has been adopted wholeheartedly by atheistic scientists and the rest of the secular world in terms of representations in popular science, art, news media, etc.

Now, there are variants of this worldview that include belief in God that try to reconcile the natural universe with a god that is basically a "clock maker" who put all the laws in place and started the mechanism, then has basically been "hands off" since then.

The challenge that many Biblical Christians have is that they are fundamentally opposed to these frameworks, but are not prepared to defend against them. Some, not wanting to be seen in the same camp as flat-earthers and other fringe groups, begin subconsciously capitulating to the prior worldviews.

For a Biblical Christian, we have to take into account that we believe in a God that is above and beyond nature (i.e., supernatural). Whereas the material naturalistic viewpoint proposes that all things require a beginning, we believe that God is the Uncreated Creator. He has no beginning or end and determines the order of all things, including the universe and all in it.

How this plays out when we are confronted and challenged by these worldviews should be uncompromising alignment to Scriptural principles. Natural law and the material universe are all subject to the sovereign will of God and are as malleable to Him as the scripted worlds of video games are to programmers. Time, matter and energy are all elements that He can adjust, at will, to meet His goals. Thus, all the natural evidence must be balanced against the supernatural influence of God and how it aligns to His revealed Word.

This then, gives us ammunition to rebut these other worldviews, reject the concept of deep time and discard evolutionary theories that ultimately seek to tear down Man's special place and the foundations of Christian scientific, moral and social influence.

Scripture clearly states that Creation exists only to glorify God through Christ (Col 1:16), therefore when we succumb to the temptation of adopting, even partly, the proposal of material naturalistic worldviews, we essentially are rejecting Scripture and Christ.

Christians are called to "test everything and keep the good" (1 Thess 5:21) with the Word of God as our basis for understanding all things (2 Tim 3:16-17). Guard your mind and build a ready defense (1 Peter 3:15) when you are assailed by the zeitgeist (spirit of the time), knowing that the ultimate fate of your soul and that of the universe resides in the hands of a sovereign, loving and just God. He has prepared the good work of defending your faith before the foundation of time so that others can see it, be persuaded as He has prepared their hearts (or not) and result in greater glory to God!