Scripture & Science: Two Books of Creation

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Many of us are familiar with Genesis 1:1. It is the very first line in the entire Bible and the bedrock from which the rest of the book is written. It is an authoritative verse, establishing God as the ultimate creator of each aspect of the universe, including time (In the beginning), power (God created), space (the heavens), land and water (the earth), and life (Genesis 1:12). If God was not established as the authority and creator of the universe, there would really be no point to the rest of the Bible, or even to life itself. God gives us meaning, and consequently gives what we study in both the Bible and science meaning. In a way, God gave us two books of creation: the physical Bible that explicitly states the basic facts of how and why God created the earth, and observable science which we can constantly study and learn more about. These two “books of creation” fit together in a unique way that empowers us to finely polish our understanding of who God is, but it is important not to take anything that God gives to us out of context, lest the fullness of our understanding about Him and the world around us be skewed.

Our understanding of scripture should be the lense from which we look out at the world. Just as when astronomers must put a colored filter to be able to see the details of their stars and galaxies more clearly, we as Christian scientists must look through a glass that magnifies God as creator and his word in the texts as true. It is not a filter to bias the observations we make, rather, it is a lense to give our eyes precision so that it may be made clear what God wishes to reveal to us.

To correctly interpret the Bible in regards to either science or theological principles, we must first read the passage with plain eyes. Looking at the Bible through a colored lense risks misinterpreting scripture. It is very important to first find the context and understand what the passage meant to the original Biblical audience. Coming to scripture with presuppositions will block our view of the original meaning God intended. Take, for example, Genesis 1:2: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” This on its own might seem to suggest what people centuries ago used to believe about the earth being flat. But looking at the context of the passage, we know that God had only just created the earth and was still on the first day of creation. It wasn’t finished yet. Therefore, this verse on its own does not tell us anything about the earth that we know today, other than that God created it.

Going further into Genesis 1:9, we read: “And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.’ And it was so.” This verse does not contradict having a flat earth in any way. All it tells us is that this new creation called “earth” no longer extended from infinity to infinity. It was now all in one place. But this verse also does not contradict the idea of having a spherical earth. We know from observational science today that the earth is indeed round and not flat. This is the point where the two books of creation meet. We already understand from Genesis that God created the earth and that it is all gathered in one place. We know from what we have observed in science that the earth is gathered in one place just as the Bible said, but further, we know the shape of the earth. Science does not contradict scripture in any way, and scripture does not contradict science. The people centuries ago who believed the earth was flat made a common interpretation mistake called “eisegesis”. They took something that they didn’t really know for certain to be true, but thought it rational in their own minds, and applied it to the text. Their idea didn’t contradict scriptures, but it still was not right. This goes to teach us that the Bible was not intended to be a science textbook. Of course, some of the groundworks of science can be found in scripture, but the greater study of science itself was something that God gave to us as a gift to be an outlet for our human curiosity and to marvel at how creative and marvelous God is. He gave us the whole earth to explore and enjoy. He gave us scripture to tell us who he is, why he created everything, how we sinned, and that he sent us a savior to redeem us. Much of the Bible is a historical book, and ought to be read as a historical book. Some parts of the Bible are meant to be moral and spiritual guides. Other sections are for poetry. Each respective category of writing must be read as intended. That means that if we try to read a history book like a science book, we will be at loss as to what scripture is really saying.

Overall, the two books of creation were both authored by God. Scripture is the means of written communication that God gave us to tell us about himself and how we are to live. Science is a means of exploring the world that God created and being filled with awe and wonder at how glorious and creative he is. These two “books” are separate from each other, yet do not contradict each other. We do not go to science to learn theology, and we do not necessarily go to scripture to learn science. Instead, what we know from science shows us the magnitude of God’s glory and allows us to read the scriptures in a way that glorifies him more. In the same way, what we know from scripture embellishes our understanding of science and gives the knowledge we gain from studying it meaning. Scripture and science fit together like two puzzle pieces in a unique way so that when put together, we can fine-tune our understanding of God and his creation.