Origins: Seeing the Fingerprints of God in the Creation and in the Word

Something I have been wrestling with concerns the message of Genesis 1-11 in relationship to the origin of the universe. The whole issue of the Bible, and science. One of the challenges is attempting to understand the text in light of its Ancient Near East context and determining what the biblical writer sought to communicate. What did Moses want to tell the Israelites wandering in the wilderness some thirty-three-hundred years ago?
Complicating matters are contemporary questions related to geology, astrophysics, astronomy, and other sciences addressing the question on the age and origin of the universe. In what way does the biblical text relate to these sciences? Moses does not appear to be directly answering questions on astrophysics, biology, genetics, or subjects in science. The prophet sought to teach people how to enter into a relationship with Yahweh, the one who spoke the universe into existence. Science addresses one set of questions whereas the Bible a different set of questions; yet, neither are in conflict.
The relationship between science and the Bible is neither strictly a quesion of science, not one of theology. It actually enters the realm of the philosophy of science and philosophical theology.

Ultimately, there is a harmony between the Bible and science, and I do not believe all the ideas communicated in the one invalidate the all the ideas communicated in the other. Still, there are certain views within the Bible and science debate that I'm not completely "bought and sold on" (e.g. theistic evolution; day-age creation; literal 24 hour young earth creationism; the gap theory). With these challenges, the following by Gordon J. Wenham is helpful:
The Bible-versus-science debate has, most regrettably, sidetracked readers of Gen. 1. Instead of reading the chapter as a triumphant affirmation of the power and wisdom of God and the wonder of his creation, we have been too often bogged down in attempting to squeeze Scripture into the mold of the latest scientific hypothesis or distorting scientific facts to fit a particular interpretation. When allowed to speak for itself, Gen. 1 looks beyond such minutiae. Its proclamation of the God of grace and power who undergirds the world and gives it purpose justifies the scientific approach to nature. Gen 1, by further affirming the unique status of man, his place in the divine program, and God’s care for him, gives a hope to mankind that atheistic philosophies can never legitimately supply [1].
One thing the Scripture makes clear is the idea that God created the universe out of nothing (ex nihilo). The psalmist declared: “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:6-9). Even John wrote concerning the eternal Word become flesh, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3). Nothing comes from nothing, and the existence of the universe ultimately demands a uncaused first cause.

It is in this that we can forge a robust science. If God has created this universe, then the universe must have some kind of order that we can research to discover how it works, and the more we understand about the universe that we live, the more we understand about the God who made it.

Notes:

1. Gordon J. Wenham, Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15, vol. 1., ed. David A. Hubbard, and Glen W. Barker (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1987), 40

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