SCIENCE AND FAITH:
CONFLICT OR HARMONY?

For almost 50 years, my husband's ministry, Does God Exist?, has been devoted to the proposition that God's creation, which is understood by scientific discoveries, and God's inspired Word cannot be in conflict. If there is an apparent conflict between science and faith in God, it is because we humans have misinterpreted either science or God's Word.

One good example comes to mind. Some believers interpret the Bible in such a way that they believe it supports the idea of a young earth (less than 7,000 years). This interpretation goes against a massive amount of known scientific, historical, and archaeological facts. Is it reasonable to throw out all such data to force a human interpretation on the Bible? God is not the author of confusion or deceit. His Word does not contradict what his creation reveals to us. Romans 1:19 – 20 says, “What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” We can KNOW there is a God through the things he has made! All credible science points us to an intelligent Creator and Designer as the source of everything. We do not live in a world of chaos or accidental happenings. There are order and design and great beauty and diversity in all that we see. This reveals something of God's creativity, patience, nature, and power.

The Bible is not a science book, but whenever the Bible reveals facts about creation or God's creative processes, science has usually confirmed what the Bible says is true and has never proven the Bible to be false. There is absolute harmony between God's Word and science. If there appears to be a conflict, it usually turns out that human knowledge has not caught up with the revelations in God's Word. Science is continually discovering “how God did it.” Believers in God can intelligently and logically believe in the inspiration of the Bible as God's Word and know that his Word does not conflict with or contradict what science has discovered about God through the things he has made.

— Cynthia Clayton

Picture credits:
©Patty Gibson