"God sets up the laws of science; he made sure that his Word doesn’t contradict those laws." Rick Warren
The Bible Is Always Ahead of Science (Devotional) by Rick Warren, Sept 21, 2014
It sure sounds 'biblical' to say such a thing... It sure would seem to refute refute all those "science" minded unbelievers who would otherwise think the bible was antithetical to (so-called) "science" that has answers for us about many many things. By saying such a thing, believers would have their faith boosted too... as they would likely agree with Pastor Rick, that the bible and the laws of science do not contradict and God set up those laws.
Talk like this might make it look like Rick is defending the Christian faith. It might also make him look like an authority on the Bible and science, but there's a problem here. First of all, Rick is sloppy. He does not give the author's name so one can validate the existence of the "very famous book" that he cites as being published in 1861,and attempted to disprove the Bible as true, titled, Fifty-one Incontrovertible Proofs that the Bible is Scientifically Inaccurate. Secondly, there are actually things in God's Word that do contradict the "laws of science." These contradictions are commonly known as miracles and miracles are very much a part of biblical faith.
(Rick has a few ideas of what constitutes a miracle, and what you must do if you want to get one and how they come from "unexpected sources" too. (Odd, isn't it? One would think that the source of miracles would always be: God!) You can read some about Rick's teachings regarding miracles here and here.)
In the Bible, we are told that God simple speaks and creates all things from nothing. This is, no doubt, often considered to be a rather "unscientific" way of looking at the origin of life, and of the origin of planet Earth as well. The laws of nature, as we observe them, would tell you that it's pretty much impossible for something to come from nothing, which may account for the discussion about what came "first"... the chicken or the egg.
Besides the parting of the sea, there is also the miracle of a burning bush. Moses sees the bush burning, and it's on fire; but quite contrary to the laws of science, (in which something that is on fire burns up into smoke and becomes a heap of ash,) this bush is not consumed by the flames. This is another miracle!
Also in the Bible, we read stories of dead people being raised from death to life. There are various other feats of medical marvel too. A man blind from birth is given his sight by a man named Jesus who simply makes some mud with his saliva and puts in the the blind man's eyes. A young girl who dies at the age of twelve is raised again to life by Jesus too. A man sick with palsy, is not only forgiven of sin,by Jesus, but cured of his palsy and able to pick up his mat and return to his home. Then too, there is the story of Jesus... who suffered and died under Pontius Pilot. Jesus, crucified upon a cross, was buried for three days and miraculously was then seen risen from the dead. People raised to life after days of being dead, is not something you can exactly explain scientifically.
Then there is the matter of this so-called "famous" book Rick mentions. (Fifty-one Incontrovertible Proofs that the Bible is Scientifically Inaccurate,) It would be easy to assume that Rick is right about the book.... but research shows that the book is really not so famous after all. There doesn't seem to be one copy of it around. Unless you discover this famous book, you may never know for certain what "proofs" were discussed upon it's pages, or if all of them were even dispelled by discoveries of humanity's "scientific laws." One thing for certain, the bible, is full of wisdom and truth and perhaps the most famous book of all.
Miracles do in fact contradict the laws of nature. They are extraordinary, scientifically unexplainable and beautiful things that happen via the will and discretion of none other than Almighty God.
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