DNA is the "Language of God," according to Francis S. Collins, one of the world’s leading scientists and the longtime head of the Human Genome Project.1 According to the jacket of his book, The Language of God, "Science does not conflict with the Bible, science enhances it." In the book, he presents scientific evidence that life appeared on earth millions of years ago and that progressively more complex forms of life descended from the first most simple forms. This view of progressive creation conflicts with the picture of creation in Genesis 1:1–2:4, where God "finished" the creation of all kinds of life in six days. Should we decide that science conflicts with the Bible?

The authors of our Bible Study Guide answer with a qualified "No" in the "Key Thought" for this week’s lesson: "Though often viewed as in opposition to the Bible, science can help strengthen our faith in the Word of God." The authors find ample support for the Bible in science: the discovery of the anthropic principle (Sunday); the discovery of complex design (Tuesday); the discovery of psychosomatic medicine (Wednesday); and the geological evidence of massive sedimentation under water, which is consistent with the flood (Thursday).

Science as Wisdom

Monday’s section discusses reservations about scientific support for the Bible: "Though it’s good when science seems to affirm our faith, why must we be careful in not putting too much stock in science when it comes to matters of faith? Why, too, is it important to remember that science is still only a human endeavor? See Jer. 17:9, 1 Cor. 1:21, 3:19" (48). The passage in 1 Corinthians 1:21, says, "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe." The authors’ rhetorical questions and texts suggest that careful scientific thought about religious matters results in knowledge (wisdom, science) that is faulty and contrary to the Bible.

Such ideas have been expressed by some of the most influential theologians throughout time. These theologians frequently believe that knowledge resulting from faith can avoid these flaws. For them, faith is a way of knowing. Faith is thought of as an immediate emotionalized conviction directly produced by God. This idea grows out of a misunderstanding of Hebrews 11:3. "By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God." Taken in isolation, this verse seems to say that faith is a way of knowing that God created the world. But if we look at the way the word faith is used in the rest of the chapter, we realize that faith is not a way of knowing, but a way of responding to what we know.

Abel knew that sacrificing a lamb was better than offering "the fruit of the ground" (Gen. 4:3). "By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain" (11:4). Offered is an active verb that expresses Abel’s faith response to what he knew. "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance" (11:8). Obeyed is an active verb that expresses Abraham’s faith response to what he knew. More than ten more times in Hebrews 11 an active verb expresses the faith response to what had been known by the heroes of faith. We should interpret the active verb understand in "By faith we understand" to express our free choice appropriating what we know about God and creation.

In the first chapter of Romans, Paul wrote: "Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made." Everyone who did not yet have faith perceived God’s power and deity in "scientific" analysis of what had been made. "So they are without excuse; for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him." Rather than appropriating by faith what they knew about God, they rejected it. "They became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools" (Rom. 1:20–21).

The wisdom they claimed, which was really foolishness, was the wisdom by which the "world did not know God through wisdom" (1 Cor. 1:21). The wisdom that is a spiritual gift (1 Cor. 12:8), which is given to everyone who asks (James 1:5), is the wisdom by which they perceived the eternal power and deity of God in the things that had been made.

Since this wisdom is the gift of the Spirit, it is not merely "a human endeavor," as the authors of the study guide suggest. The Logos is the light that "enlightens everyone" (John 1:9). Ellen White wrote, "Every gleam of thought, every flash of the intellect, is from the light of the world."2 "God is the author of science."3 "Since the book of nature and the book of revelation bear the impress of the same mastermind, they cannot but speak in harmony.…The book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other."4

Although true science does not run counter to the teaching of the Bible as a whole, it does conflict with particular passages. Mid-nineteenth century health reformers believed "it is as truly a sin against Heaven, to violate a law of life, as to break one of the ten commandments."5 Ellen White agreed. "It is as truly a sin to violate the laws of our being as it is to break the ten commandments."6 A better understanding of the physiological effect of alcohol moved the health reformers to advocate abstinence.

When Sylvester Graham, the great Presbyterian-turned health reformer, became a temperance lecturer who taught total abstinence, he did so in spite of the Bible's instructions to use "wine or strong drink" to celebrate Passover (Deut. 14:26) and help the poor "forget their poverty" (Prov. 31:7). Scientific evidence shows that ingesting even small amounts of alcohol impairs coordination, judgment, and memory. The same passage that recommends alcohol for the poor says that wine is not for kings because it will cause them to "forget what has been decreed, and pervert the rights of all the afflicted" (Prov. 31:4–5). The poor need good coordination, judgment, and memory as much as kings. The underlying harmony as a whole teaches total abstinence.

Ever since the early development of the science of geology, the scientific evidence showing long ages in the geological column has conflicted with some of the surface biblical references to time in relation to creation. Using numerical data in Genesis 5 and 11, Archbishop James Ussher (1581–1656) calculated that creation occurred around 4000 BCE. This has led to serious problems for those who believe that no conflict exists between the book of nature and biblical creation. Some young earth creationists have even gone so far as to propose that God created not only the first trees with tree rings, showing apparent growth, but also geological strata with fossils, showing apparent age.

In contrast are others like Francis Collins, who think some of the biblical expressions of time in relation to creation are symbolic, thus allowing for as much time as the scientific evidence requires. Since Ellen White attributed apparent contradictions between science and the Bible to "imperfect comprehension of either science or revelation," we should engage in cooperative community study and dialogue to seek better comprehension of both.7 As we do, we should remember that the Psalmist's prayer requesting the creation of a clean heart (Ps. 51:10) focuses on the most important aspect of the doctrine of creation.

Visit Spectrum’s Message Board for an ongoing discussion of this quarter’s subject, "The Bible for Today"

Notes and References

1. Francis S. Collins, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (New York: Free Press, 2006).
2. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1952), 14.
3. Ellen G. White, Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students Regarding Christian Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1943), 426.
4. White, Education, 128.
5. L. B. Coles, Philosophy of Health, Natural Principles of Health and Cure, rev. ed. (Boston: Tiknor, Reed, and Fields, 1853), 216, quoted in Ronald L. Numbers, Prophetess of Health: A Study of Ellen G. White (New York: Harper and Row, 1976), 77.
6. Ellen G. White, Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene (Battle Creek, Mich.: Good Health, 1890), 53, quoted in Numbers, Prophetess of Health.
7. Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1890), 114.

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