Major and bobinfaith and I have been discussing the interpretation of scripture, particularly as formalized as Hermeneutics.
Rather than take that thread farther afield from the original post, I would like to re-start it here and invite whomsoever wishes to participate.
Before I get into it, let you know where I am coming from, I will start with a brief personal history. Actually, it may ramble a bit since I find it helpful to write it all out. Please be patient
I am the son of a missile physicist and was taught to love the sciences from a young age. I was exposed to several discussions for young scientists and found that several aspects of the presentation of aspects of time, as well as atomic theory got me thinking about the relationship between God and creation.
I accepted Christ during High school and started attending church. My congregation included such persons as the head of the astronomy department at the local college, and although he was not my astronomy professor, he was instrumental in defining the curriculum presented to me in class. I did attend one of his lectures concerning possible explanations of the Christmas star. The upshot is that my specific congregation did not look at the sciences as competing with scripture.
If you look at my avatar or icon, you will see symbols for the Cross and Bible and a little (and unrecognizable) detail from a painting of the blind man washing his eyes at the pool of Siloam (John Ch 9). You will also see a depiction of an atom (in this case a lithium atom which has significance), and an hourglass with a sparkle overlaid. The atom reminds me that the movement of everything, including all subatomic particles do so by direct will of the creator. The sparkled hourglass represents creation of time, since one of my realizations was that time was created as part of the creation of things (as was stated in a science presentation). I have found this to be a very helpful in understanding that Gods view of time and history is from the outside (since he created time) and not necessarily moment by moment, yesterday before today and next year, while man is created as a creature within time and cannot understand the universe except as an orderly sequence of events. Many things in scripture that are confusing are made less obscure if one adjusts the supposed point of view to the correct one, which may be different in different passages of scripture. These realizations predated my acceptance of Christ and were indications of the Lord preparing me.
In the 50 or so years since High School and accepting Christ, I have always looked for ways to join my technical education and enjoyment of reading popularizations of physics with my spiritual faith. The Lord made this universe. It came into existence as the Lord spoke, so in that sense it is also quite literally the word of God. The universe bears its makers mark. Romans 1:18-23 shows that God intended us to learn about Him by studying the universe, but we have failed to understand what He placed there. For a Christian, the study of the sciences is an effort to correct this failing.
So when it comes to the interpretation of scripture, I think it is incumbent upon us to employ general revelation through the workings of the world God made as well as special revelation (the Bible). 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 instructs us that by examining everything, particularly our understanding of the scriptures, we do honor to both the Scriptures and to the Lords creation.
However, throughout my 50+ years in Christ, few pastors would agree. This has been the cause for much meditation and has impinged on my fellowship in several congregations. Most hold that the Bible can teach us about the world, but God’s creation should not be used as a check on our understanding of Scripture. I am a lay person, and neither am I a scientist, although I had a career in technology (developing software for military and civilian agencies). So I am an authority on neither side,
Rather than take that thread farther afield from the original post, I would like to re-start it here and invite whomsoever wishes to participate.
Before I get into it, let you know where I am coming from, I will start with a brief personal history. Actually, it may ramble a bit since I find it helpful to write it all out. Please be patient
I am the son of a missile physicist and was taught to love the sciences from a young age. I was exposed to several discussions for young scientists and found that several aspects of the presentation of aspects of time, as well as atomic theory got me thinking about the relationship between God and creation.
I accepted Christ during High school and started attending church. My congregation included such persons as the head of the astronomy department at the local college, and although he was not my astronomy professor, he was instrumental in defining the curriculum presented to me in class. I did attend one of his lectures concerning possible explanations of the Christmas star. The upshot is that my specific congregation did not look at the sciences as competing with scripture.
If you look at my avatar or icon, you will see symbols for the Cross and Bible and a little (and unrecognizable) detail from a painting of the blind man washing his eyes at the pool of Siloam (John Ch 9). You will also see a depiction of an atom (in this case a lithium atom which has significance), and an hourglass with a sparkle overlaid. The atom reminds me that the movement of everything, including all subatomic particles do so by direct will of the creator. The sparkled hourglass represents creation of time, since one of my realizations was that time was created as part of the creation of things (as was stated in a science presentation). I have found this to be a very helpful in understanding that Gods view of time and history is from the outside (since he created time) and not necessarily moment by moment, yesterday before today and next year, while man is created as a creature within time and cannot understand the universe except as an orderly sequence of events. Many things in scripture that are confusing are made less obscure if one adjusts the supposed point of view to the correct one, which may be different in different passages of scripture. These realizations predated my acceptance of Christ and were indications of the Lord preparing me.
In the 50 or so years since High School and accepting Christ, I have always looked for ways to join my technical education and enjoyment of reading popularizations of physics with my spiritual faith. The Lord made this universe. It came into existence as the Lord spoke, so in that sense it is also quite literally the word of God. The universe bears its makers mark. Romans 1:18-23 shows that God intended us to learn about Him by studying the universe, but we have failed to understand what He placed there. For a Christian, the study of the sciences is an effort to correct this failing.
So when it comes to the interpretation of scripture, I think it is incumbent upon us to employ general revelation through the workings of the world God made as well as special revelation (the Bible). 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 instructs us that by examining everything, particularly our understanding of the scriptures, we do honor to both the Scriptures and to the Lords creation.
However, throughout my 50+ years in Christ, few pastors would agree. This has been the cause for much meditation and has impinged on my fellowship in several congregations. Most hold that the Bible can teach us about the world, but God’s creation should not be used as a check on our understanding of Scripture. I am a lay person, and neither am I a scientist, although I had a career in technology (developing software for military and civilian agencies). So I am an authority on neither side,