Why Didn't God Talk "Scientific?" part II

The Bible doesn’t directly explain why God has chosen to convey the truths about creation in the manner we find in the first chapters of Genesis.  But why should we not use our imaginations in this matter?  Let us imagine for example that in order to impress us God chose instead to open the Book of Genesis with a treatise drawing together themes from General Relativity, Big Bang Cosmology, Quantum Mechanics, and the DNA and inner workings of the Cell.  How would such a methodology have played itself out before an audience of actual human beings?  Virtually everything we know about each of the above “Big Four” areas alone, we have learned in the past 50 years.  The extent of the knowledge that we possess today (by “we” I mean what is known as a civilization, not an individual) has been achieved by accumulation (to use short-hand) over thousands of years of experimentation, research, and the public sharing of insight.  This notion that knowledge is accumulated logically implies that human beings possessed less factual knowledge in the past than we do today (I am not suggesting people are more intelligent today than they were in the past.  To the contrary!).  How tiny the percentage of people, even today, who are comfortable dealing with scientific matters!  I for one am not.  I write about scientific matters because they interest me personally, but I do so at an elementary level since I am not a scientific expert.

The point of all this is, God’s purpose is to communicate to all people of every time, place, culture, and language group.  Quantum mechanics would not have played well in the wilderness 3400 years ago.  The purpose of His communication was/and is in order that every person may come to know His will, His love, and His redemption in Jesus Christ.  He communicates not in order to impress, but to receive sinners.  It is clear to me that God has used the best means possible to communicate with all people wherever we are, in a manner that people in general can comprehend.  The first chapters of Genesis reflect this purpose.  In light of the challenge of communicating across both time and cultures the Omnipotent God used a communication method that reaches people and reflects His own glory.  In light of scientific insights that I addressed in the third paragraph of the previous blog, I now reference one Biblical commentator on Genesis who made the following observation about God’s communication methods in the creation accounts:  “It is one of the more than human qualities of Holy Scripture that while written by [and for] men whose knowledge was in accordance with their times, it does not contradict the increased knowledge of later times” (Genesis. (Cassell, 1882), p.66). Boldface and brackets mine.

 My atheist friend and debate counterpart has charged that Christianity is fatal to the scientific enterprise because believers claim that the Bible has given us all the scientific insight in advance by means of revelation.  I have demonstrated that such a charge is simply not true on any count.  While we have seen in the previous blog that God’s insight into creation “leaks” into His word, His purposes are otherwise.  His goal, again, is to invite all people into His kingdom in the manner suggested just above. 

To be continued...