There is a huge debate and controversy these days about whether Scripture should be our primary authority or not. After all, there are a lot of scholars who have come up with some pretty compelling theories regarding science that are hard to argue against. Or so goes the claim. How can we take the Bible seriously when we have all these scientific studies that show things differently than what the Bible says? Are the studies of nature wrong, or is the Bible not meant to be taken as written, and what God actually meant would be revealed through nature? Since “creation” and “Scripture” “cannot contradict,” is the science wrong or is our understanding of Scripture wrong? Which way do we turn?
In the Christian community, there are “Old Earth Creationists” who comprise the bulk of the academics today, the seminaries, and universities who consistently and adamantly bow before the “man of knowledge,” the “scientist,” because there is nothing in this world that trumps modern academia today. Last week, I wrote about this “man of knowledge,” quoting Martyn Lloyd-Jones about it, and I basically asked this question: why are these scientists, who predominately do not consider God in any of their thinking, given such high platforms, other than they had been chosen to be the ones to replace God? Who made these scientists so prominent? They did. Who taught these scientists what they know? They did. It’s all a self-promotion and a deifying of self in this system. Now to be fair, there are genuine and true scientists still out there seeking what God actually did when He created this universe and then judged this planet with a global flood during Noah’s time. But they are few today.
What does the Bible say about creation, namely man’s studies of creation because they are not the same? One thing should be clear: the Bible always puts Scripture ABOVE any of man’s academic studies and the fields themselves. Never is Scripture shared with any other authority. You never find such a notion, and anyone who claims it can always puts that authority above Scripture. They are never held equal even when tried. It doesn’t matter what the authority is or the field of study. Any attempt to make it equal to Scripture has failed because either Scripture won outright, or the false authority was put ahead by false teachers.
Many people cite Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God” as a prooftext that God created the earth over millions of years. The logical leap in that claim is simply astounding, but I would argue that they should read the rest of the Psalm. The first six verses of Psalm 19 describe what the Psalmist sees in his day and calls it part of God’s creation. But then look at vs 7. “The Law of the Lord is perfect….” Perfect. That term is never used to describe creation, especially after the curse of sin. “Very good” is used, and while God did a perfect job, creation, obviously, was corruptible. But Scripture is not. Many try, however, and what they put forth is a product that does not resemble what God did. Man’s sin brought a curse upon the earth. No amount of human tampering can actually harm the Bible – individual physical books maybe, but the actual content of the message, no. Not in the long run.
People don’t realize that this physical creation we study is going to burn in fire. Even when that happens, God’s Word is going to remain until all is fulfilled. The only time any of us will not need a Bible is when we are in paradise with God being with Him and enjoying Him forever. All our scientific studies are just wood, hay, and stubble. They will burn, too. They gain us nothing. And I say that as a science teacher. I love science. I love studying and learning how things operate. But what good does it do us? We have technology, but that has both its benefits and problems. If our technology suddenly died, we’d all be dead. We wouldn’t know how to live or breathe. How did people for 5900 years survive without air conditioning? Think about that.
The more I engage in academia and the more I see the futility of it, I see what Solomon saw: “Vanity, vanity! All is vanity!” Paul saw it. He looked at all his accolades and all his studies, and he would have been the top dog of the top dogs. None were his equal. And he threw it all away as dung because the search for the knowledge of Christ was so far above and beyond the rest. Just think about it. You can study science and creation for ten million years and long before that limit, you will hit the wall, the end of knowing all possible things regarding creation. It is finite. You can know all there is to know about biology, history, archeology, geology, astronomy, etc., and you will hit the limit. But if you study just Scripture, you could do so for all eternity and never begin to reach the depths of its riches. That’s just Scripture. What about God Himself? That is the one reason we will never be bored in heaven and in paradise: we will still be finite people learning about the infinite God.
Look at Psalm 29. This psalm alone is a worship song that puts the voice of God above all things seen in nature. The creation was never designed to be worshiped but to reveal the glory of God. What we see in nature gives us no excuse to reject God but points us to the fact that there is a God who left a record on earth. But God’s voice, His Word, is always superior to anything in nature itself, let alone our very feeble, weak, and low understanding of how it works.
I am not saying to not study anything other than Scripture, but I am saying there is a priority. Paul did not forget everything he ever learned. He simply put it in its proper place. Any knowledge that is not explicitly found in Scripture is only worth pursuing if it uplifts and proclaims Scripture and glorifies God. For me, the study of science is fun and awesome, not because it fills my head but because it leads me to worship. Many people today do not look at our world and worship God. They worship science, themselves, mankind, or the creation itself. God is an afterthought at best. They are not worth following.
Go after God. Seek Him and seek His knowledge. He has revealed His secrets of creation to those who have sought His face and His glory for the benefit of others, but He confounds the self-proclaimed wise and lets them think they are getting something when they actually have nothing. That is one of the reasons why the scientific community today has hardly done a thing in 100 years. Technicians have improved technology, but only condensing (making smaller) and improving what we have, not actually inventing anything “new” or discovering anything worth writing home about. God is not going to share His glory with another, especially that of His creation. Don’t feed those who demand that He does.
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