Most people find that science and religion are complete opposites, but truth is truth no matter what its source, so why the confusion?
Well, scientists are generally wrapped up in their own assumption that their knowledge is pure fact and that religion is part history and part myth, and the two disciplines have no place together; but can the scientists’ understanding of the universe be trusted?
Can religious leaders’ teachings be trusted?
The massive problem which religion faces is that it has been hijacked over the millennia by man. God has delivered pure truth through His Son, whom He sent to earth to show us the way to everlasting life with Him, and also through His appointed prophets. He spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai where He gave the world the Ten Commandments: the very basics of moral conduct.
One problem these days is that people have been brainwashed into having unerring faith in science, whereas for thousands of years before, it was religions devised or changed by man which attracted the masses as bearers of truth, and still do, but scientists can be just as misguided today as some religious leaders were in the past.
We see throughout history that man has ignored scriptural evidence, and made up his own mind about what God is, and what science is. The Church of Rome persecuted the great astronomer Galileo because he was expounding the fact that the earth revolves around the Sun. He spent the last years of his life under house arrest so he could be kept quiet. Why? Because it suited the Church that the people believed that earth was the centre of Creation, and the Church hierarchy’s power depended on the suppression of knowledge which might reduce their influence and wealth.
In Britain knowledge was suppressed by the belief that whatever church leaders uttered was true. Very few ordinary people could study Bibles because they were written in Latin, and also often chained so that they could not be removed from the church. Brave people translated the scriptures into English, some of whom were punished by death. Such was the power of the medieval Church, and its self-interest in being seen as the source of all knowledge.
Thanks to Reformers like Martin Luther, and the introduction of printing techniques, the modern world was able to have a wider understanding by way of Bibles printed in people’s own language, and religious groups sprang up which tried to identify, and do away with, the manmade doctrines so long adhered to by the Church of Rome. I have still not discovered a church whose teachings are those of Jesus and the apostles.
As for the scientists, their seemingly vast knowledge is really only very small, and even at that, often flawed. For example, for centuries the speed of light was thought of as being instantaneous. The light from a star was thought to reach the earth the moment it left that star because there was nothing in the way to slow it down. We were then assured that the speed of light was a constant, c (as in Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2). Scientists now believe that the speed of light is not constant.
Evolution is usually a great divider between science and religion. If manking evolved along the same lines as all other life on earth, surely we would not be programmed to be so shortsighted. Mankind’s contempt for the welfare of our planet is incredible. What other creatures would deliberately destroy systematically the environment which supports them, with no possibility of locating elsewhere?
If man purely exists because of billions of years-worth of genetic mutations then it would be in our interest to work together for each others’ interests, much like a colony of ants or bees or just about any other species. So why are humans constantly at war with other humans, these days even threatening the planet we all depend upon?
The discovery of genetics has shown that what is said in the Bible about preordination is absolutely true. The Lord told Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee…and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
We learn from James 1:20 that Jesus was “foreordained before the foundation of the world.”
Regarding all of mankind, the Lord “hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation”. (Acts 17:26)
Recent studies of identical twins who were separated at birth and did not know of each other’s existence, and who met up in adult life, have shown in many cases that they have had startlingly similar lives. Even if their upbringings were hugely different, they tended to enjoy the same pleasures, take interest in similar topics, and even have the same dress-sense and hairstyles at the same points in their lives. As identical twins have identical genes, this evidence shows us that genetics play a huge part in who we become and what we do. This is true foreordination, scientifically proven! It must also be accepted that the talents which shape our lives are also at least partly genetic. The important aspect of freewill, however, is a different matter.
The accepted scientific age of the earth of several billion years poses problems for many. My most obvious feelings about dates of this magnitude is simply, how can we possibly tell?
We do, however, have more to go on from the scriptures. Peter tells us that,
“one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8)
Whether this is a true reflection of the difference in perspective is unimportant. What it means is that time for us on earth seems to be very slow compared to the viewpoint from heaven.
We understand that the Jews will feel the prints in the Saviour’s hands and feet and then believe that He is the Messiah. How can He still have these wounds in heaven after two thousand years? Is it because from His perspective He was crucified two days ago?
To look at it another way, imagine if Methuselah’s 969 years of life (Gen 5:27) had been spent with God. On the scale of one day with God being equal to 1,000 years on earth, had Methuselah lived in heaven, this would be the equivalent on earth of nearly 354 million years!
When the Lord created the Universe and everything in it, Genesis reports that it took six days. It is unclear exactly how long these six days to God equate to time from man’s perspective, but it could easily have been thousands, or millions of years. This is a clear example of how man’s mind operates. He is so narrow-minded that he thinks that his view of time is all that matters. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity shows us how one event can be seen by two people standing in different places and each sees a completely different scenario, relative to their positions. Scientists admit that physical laws probably differ in other dimensions, so why not time as well? Really, science has been held back by this self-important Godless attitude. The scriptures hold truths which scientists have ignored for centuries, it seems.
Scientists investigating the existence of other dimensions admit that their laws of physics are probably different than those in our known universe. Indeed, they say that there may be infinite universes.
This prompts another question. Spirits must be composed of some form of matter, as they can be seen by some, so where are the billions of deceased beings (and animals) who have lived on this one planet? I believe that the Spirit World is very close indeed to us. The millions of people who have had contact with dead people can testify to this. The existence of other dimensions would offer an explanation, so when someone sees a “ghost” something may have happened in dimensional terms to make this possible.
Another problem scientists have with creation is the discovery of skeletal remains of human-like creatures, estimated at between tens of thousands, and millions of years old, and seemingly “proving” that mankind evolved from apes. I do not want to get into an argument about evolution, because I do not know exactly what mechanics that the Lord used to create the universe. Clearly evolution does exist, but to say that intelligent life appeared without any help from beings who were already imbued with intelligence, is what I totally reject. The Popol Vuh, the ancient Mayan holy book, relates the story of the Creator being unhappy with his first attempts at creating man on earth, and got rid of them, and ended up creating the humans that are on the earth today. While I do not claim that the Popol Vuh is accurate on this point, it would be one explanation as to the presence of other humanoid life prior to Homo sapiens. Indeed, this would also explain the sudden disappearance of them.
To sum up then, truth is truth, whatever its source. Science has been wrong so often, and theories are just that, theoretical, lacking proof. I believe that the teachings of Jesus Christ are to be followed for our personal benefit. I know this from personal experience. I also believe that science has, and continues to, show that these teachings are absolutely correct. Many sacred truths held in scripture have been lost to billions of souls due to them being manipulated by religious leaders, either for their own selfish ends, or simply because they didn’t understand them. Bibles are no longer chained up or printed in languages that only a few can read, they are available to almost all of us. Study prayerfully and find out for yourself if they are true.