The Bible and Science

SERMON TOPIC: SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE

PROCESSIONAL HYMN: #26 HOLY, HOLY, HOLY

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER:
Almighty and eternal God, who searchest the hearts of men: We acknowledge and confess that we have sinned against thee in thought and deed, and that we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive us our transgressions and help us to amend our ways, and of thine eternal goodness direct what we shall be, so that we may henceforth walk in the way of thy commandments, and do those things which are worthy in thy sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

RESPONSIVE READING: #55 O LORD, HOW MAJESTIC IS THY NAME!

SCRIPTURE READING: ROMANS 12

HYMN OF PREPARATION: #133 BREATHE ON ME, BREATH OF GOD

HYMN OF DEDICATION: #148 BRIGHTLY BEAMS OUR FATHER'S MERCY

When a popular speaker wants to give authority to what he says, he introduces his statement with the words, "Science say", and then his hearers sit up and listen because they respect the authority of Science.

When a preacher wants to give authority to what he says, he introduces his statements with the words, "the Bible says", and his hearers sit up and listen because they respect the authority of the Bible.

Do you agree with both of these statements, or do you find yourself raising some questions about one or the other? When we think about the authority of the Bible and the authority of Science, is the situation the same today as it was fifty years ago? Was authority of the bible more generally accepted one-hundred years ago than it is now?

When what "Science says" contradicts or contrasts, with what the "Bible says", then we hearers are confused. Must we reject the one authority and hold to the other, if so, which shall we hold on to? Or can we hold on to both authorities? The problem of the Bible and Science is a real one to many people. It is one that cannot be lightly shoved aside, it deserves careful thinking.

Before we can hope to know what Science is; and before we can claim to state what "the Bible says", we must understand what Science is and what the Bible is. Let us look first at what Science is.

In the simplest and broadest sense of the word, science means knowledge. The dictionary defines science as "knowledge obtained by study and practice." It is often defined as organized, systemized knowledge.

The Science I have been speaking of is Science with a capitol"S" if we break it down to it's various disciplines and use a small "s", we can speak of the sciences, such as physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, etc. All of these sciences represent systematized knowledge within a limited area, BUT we cannot add them together to make one Science (capitol"S"). We can refer to certain men as scientist, and we can quote scientists as authorities. But Science with a capitol "S" is an abstraction, that is it has no application, and we are not quoting anybody when we say "Science says". What I'm trying to say is let us be careful to identify the authority we refer to. We most certainly ought to respect the authority of a scientist in his own field of work. An astronomer is one who has studied the stars and can tell us about them, but he cannot speak with authority about animals; because they belong to the field of zoology. The range of knowledge is to great for one man to be a specialist in every field, and he should not be quoted as an authority when he speaks outside his own field. We jokingly say an expert is anyone fifty miles from home. But we do listen to scientists when they speak because we feel that these are the men that know. The scientists, working in their various fields, have greatly increased and broadened our knowledge of the world around us. Through the efforts of the scientists we know about the planets and the stars and the vast reaches of space. We understand as men have never understood before, the atmosphere of the earth and what causes the changes in weather. The earth's crust and the oceans, lakes, and rivers have been explored, measured, and described. Through the study of living forms we have available a vast store of information about plants and animals and the microscopic forms that work both great benefit and harm to human beings. And this information, we feel, is considered reliable, WHY? Because the scientist agree upon it.

How is this knowledge arrived at? What methods do scientist use to reach results that are assured and can be relied on? The first step in the scientific method is observation. Modern science is based on the belief that the only way to discover the truth is to look at the facts. If you want to know whether palm trees grow in Scotland, you will not find the answer by studying the writings of Aristotle or Moses. You will go to Scotland and see for yourself, or you will read the report of some reliable observer who has been there.

Scientist wants their observations to be firsthand, impersonal, and unprejudiced. No scientific journal would accept a report in these words:--"There are palm trees in Scotland. I did not see them myself but a real estate agent who was trying to sell me a house lot said there was a beautiful grove of palm on it."

Accurate description is a characteristic of scientific method. To be scientific the report would have to be something like this--"The tree measured fifty feet high, and the trunk rose without branches for the first thirty-five feet. The trunk was eighteen inches in diameter at the base and it had fan shaped leaves that resemble the palm of the human hand."

Accurate observation is the first step. Scientists try to make their descriptions complete by gathering all the facts they can, but the mere gathering of facts is not enough. The facts must be organized, and as new facts are gathered they must be related to what is already known.

In religion we respect tradition and authority from the past, especially as this authority comes to us in Scripture, in science we begin with doubting tradition and questioning authority, we demand facts supported by observation.

Scientific observation must always be an experience that can be shared, but religious experience is intensely personal. The experience of Paul on the road to Damascus is an event of inescapable importance to the beginnings of Christian Religion, but it was an experience that came to Paul alone. The men who were with him did not share the experience, and no other person---on the Damascus road or any other road---has exactly duplicated the experience.

The conduct of experiments is a feature which completely separates scientific from religious method. You cannot set up an experiment in religion. Religion is a matter of individual, personal relationships, and in these relationships the controlled condition of experiment are impossible. When we attempt to include God in the experiment the situation becomes silly.

If we drive around the country side in the spring, we might see signs that have captions such as this--"this field has been sprayed with Bloggin Fertilizer. Watch for a bumper crop." But we never see signs that say---"This field is being prayed for regularly by St. Mark's Church. Watch for a bumper crop."

It would seem from what has been said that scientific method and religious method are so different that we cannot hold them together, but we must remember that it was the Christian civilization that gave birth to the natural sciences.

Christian civilization garnered the philosophy and the geometry of Greece, the astronomy of the whole ancient and medieval worlds, the arithmetic and algebra of the Indians and Arabs, as well as the religion and ethics of the Hebrews. Natural science and it's offspring technology and medicine are the gifts of Christian civilization to mankind.

The whole progress of science is based on a community in which men share their discoveries with one another, and respect and cooperate with one another.

Lets turn our thoughts to the bible now.

The Bible is the Holy Scripture of the Christian Religion. More exactly, we should say the Bible represents the Holy Scripture of the Hebrew-Christian tradition. The Old Testament shared by both Jews and Christians and the New Testament accepted by CHristians alone. We as Christians can say that is "our" holy book, the basis of our faith.

The words and the ideas of the bible are woven so intimately into our language and thought that we speak biblical words and express biblical ideas without recognizing their orifin. Expressions like--"salt of the earth"--"Shinning lights"--"The skin of our teeth"---"Spare the rod spoil the child"--"Pride goeth before a fall"--"The first shall be last".

These are famaliar quotations but when we look at the whole of the Bible, we discover that great areas of the Bible are totally unknown to us. Although we don't do it deliberately we select and choose the parts of the Bible that appeal to us and fill our needs. Scriptures read in church service, selections for church school lessons, passages listed in devotional books, and magazines and literary references to biblical events and characters sets the limits of ur aquaintance with the Bible.

Whole books could be dropped out of the printed Bible, and we"the men in the pew" would not know it for years. How long has it been since you read a chapter in Chronicles or Leviticus? Off-hand could you suggest an idea that the book of Obadiah contributed to our religious knowledge? Oh yes, we know about Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, and Paul. But who was Abimelech or Ishbosheth or Zerubbabel?

The Bible has many rules and regulation,if we tried to obey all the rules and regulations laid down in the Bible, we would be hampered and confused. Some of the rules we choose to hold up as guides to right conduct, and other rules we choose to ignore. For example Christians today are convinced that the food laws of the Old Testament were given for the ancient Jew only and so are not binding on us today. Other laws are dismissed as "ceremonial" and generally ignored.

In the Christian church today women play an active and public role in violation of the rules Paul laid down for the early Church. Paul decreed that women must keep their heads covered when they pray (1 Corinthians 11-5) and he preferred them not to pray in public. He also said they should keep silent in church, and if there is anything they desire to know they should ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a women to speak in church. (1 Corinthians 14:33-35)

So as you see---our familiarity with selected parts of the Bible causes us to overlook the strangeness of other parts. The people who wrote and experienced these events lived long ago and far away in a land utterly different from ours today.

Now before we go any farther and lest you get the wrong opinion---I believe in the Bible, and I believe that it is possible for a Christian today to hold to the Bible and to modern science.

The biblical writers held ideas about time and space completely different from the ideas held be educated persons today. Scientists today estimate the age of the earth in billions of years while biblical writers thought in terms of only a few thousand years.

The simplest lessons in science teach that the earth is a sphere which rotates on it's axis and revolves around the sun. In the Bible the earth is pictured as a flat disc. The earth, with hollow space under it, floats on water. Over the earth stretches the sky, separating earth from heavens. God dwells in heaven, but on occassion he comes down to earth--as when he talked to Adam or NOah or extended a ladder down to Jacob.

If we turn to the New Testament we find the same "three story universe", of the flat earth with heaven above and hell (Sheol or the pit) underneath. John writing in the book of Revelations, described how he could look through an open door and see the throne of God in Heaven. He says a battle was fought in Heaven; and when Satan and his angels were defeated, they were thrown sown from heaven to earth. (Rev. 12: 7-9). They fought on earth, and when they were defeated there, Satan was bound with a chain and thrown down through a hole into the pit, and the hole was shut and sealed over him (Rev. 20:1-3). The defeat of Satan is no less true because the Biblical account of the earth differs with that of science today.

Medical science has made great progress within the last hundred years in discovering the causes of disease and in devising the causes of disease and in devising the means of preventing and curing disease. No one today would want to wipe out the benefits of medical science, and no one would want to go back to biblical methods of dealing with disease. Yet we marvel at some of the biblical cures.

While the children of Israel were crossing the wilderness they encountered snakes so poisonous that their bite cause painful inflammation and death. As a cure Moses made a serpent of bronze and set it up on a pole in the middle of camp. After that a person who had been bitten by a snake need only look at the bronze serpent and be cured. (Numbers 21:4-9)

Naaman was cured of leprosy when he took baths in the river Jordan, as prescribed by the prophet Elisha.

Mental disturbances were believed cause by demons that took possession of a man. One day when Jesus and his disciples landed on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, a raving maniac rushed down the shore toward them. The man was cured when Jesus ordered demons out of him into a nearby herd of swine.

A more interesting case of mental disturbance is that of Saul, the first king of Israel. Saul was a promising young man, physically big and strong; but he was not capable of handling the responsibilities laid on him by the kingship. Often he found his prestige rivaled by someone else. First is was Samuel, then Jonathan and then David. Saul like David, but the young man's popularity was more than Saul could take. He became jealous, suspicious, andfearful so that he distrusted his friends, and his own family. In a moment of violence he threw a spear at David, who was playing harp for him. A person who understands psychology can see here the symptoms of progressive break-down, but the biblical historian does not see it that way. The whole experience is explained in a sentence. "Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him." (1 Samuel 16:14) Notice here also that a Spirit capitol"S" from the lord departed and a spirit small "s" from the Lord tormented him. Would we hold this second spirit being from the Lord today?

There are many problems of conduct in the Bible, let's look at two in closing.

If the apostle Paul had lived in the twentieth century, he might have been arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon and inflicting serious injury. The "deadly weapon" was a curse, and the "serious injury" was blindness. The victim was a man named Elymas who rivaled Paul for the favor of the governor, Serguis Paulus. When Elymas tried to resist Paul's appeal to the governor, Paul denounced him and cursed him so that " mist and darkness fell upon him" and he was blind (Acts 13:7-11). You may say that Elymas was an opponent of the truth, but nevertheless the great apostle made a sorry spectacle of himself in the attack on his opponent.

Let's look at one event in the life of Jesus as it might be seen through the eyes of a Hindu or Buddist. It is recorded that Jesus and his disciples were walking from Bethany to Jerusalem. Jesus saw a fig tree, and the sight of the tree made him think how good it would be to pick some figs and eat them. But it was not the season for figs, so when Jesus came to the tree, he found nothing on it but leaves. He was so disappointed he he cursed the tree and said, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." When the disciples came by the next day "they saw the fig tree withered away to it's roots." (Mark 11: 12-14) A pretty childish action, if you were to ask the Buddhist.

We can of course explain the story of the barren fig tree. From what we know of the character of Jesus we can be sure he did not strike out peevishly and destroy the tree because it did not favor him with fruit. Perhaps he condemned the tree to illustrate the fact that the tree like some people put up a false front. And perhaps a story Jesus told about a fig tree as an illustration got into the record falsely as something he had done to a fig tree.

Interpretation is important throughout the Bible. It is interpretation that distinguishes between the ethical and trivial in biblical laws. By interpretation we see the biblical characters in proper perspective, and we see when we should follow their example and when we ought to be warned by their faults. When we claim to take the Bible "just as it is written", we are following the "common sense interpretation", that does not include thought and study. Let us be very hesitant in using the phrase, "the Bible says",---it takes careful and prayerful study to interpret correctly the message of the Bible.

And having read, studied, and interpreted the Bible----remember "it is better to be a sermon than to preach one."

Let us pray

Almighty God, giver of every good and perfect gift: teach us to render unto thee all that we have and all that we are, that we may praise thee, not with our lips only, but with our whole loves, turning the duties, the sorrows, and the joys of all our days into a living sacrifice unto thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

1962

Feed My Sheep

Sermon Topic: "Feed My Sheep"

Processional Hymn: #28 O GOD, OUR HELP IN AGES PAST

INVOCATION:
Almighty God, who in thy providence hast made all ages a preparation for the kingdom of thy son: We beseech thee to make ready our hearts for the brightness of thy glory and the fullness of thy blessing in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER:
Almighty and most merciful father, we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed to much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. But thou, O lord, have mercy upon us. Spare those who are penitent, according to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And Grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous and sober life, to the glory of thy holy name. Amen.

RESPONSIVE READING: #599 THE GLORY OF THE LORD

SCRIPTURE TEXT: JOHN 21: 12-17

HYMN OF PREPARATION: #45 THIS IS MY FATHER'S WORLD

HYMN OF DEDICATION: #274 MASTER, SPEAK! THY SERVANT HEARETH

Feed My Sheep

There is in this vast, complex and rapidly changing world of ours a desire on the part of all people to be happy and successful.

The big question is how does one measure happiness and success. In trying to answer this question as simply as possible if we look into the word of God - The Bible - and examine the life of Jesus we would find our answers. His life demonstrated and his teachings showed that it is when we are working for the good of mankind that we really show our love for God and are happy and successful in all our undertakings. This is what life is all about, -- and if we don't plan our day's activities in the light of the commandments of Jesus we can not expect to be truly happy and successful.

Let me illustrate what I mean by a story that was in the July issue of Reader's Digest.

A young boy by the name of Sione was chosen from among many young people on the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga to be educated in the United States. After five very successful years of study he was now on his way home to Tonga. He didn't need to return because he had been a very successful student and had received many offers for fine positions in the United States. As much as he would have liked to stay he chose to return to Tonga where he plans to start a college for his people.

He knew he would miss books and libraries, films, plays, and concerts; the change of seasons, snow and the thrill of skiing, and most of all he would miss friends. He said he didn't think he would miss modern conveniences like television, hot baths and uncomfortable clothes, or the crowds, the noise, the polluted air, the traffic jams and the people who in their hurry always half run--half walk.

He explained his returning to Tonga by saying, "I have a goal; it is to give my people a deep apprectiation of what we have in Tonga--something you can only discover by going away. He said--we have nothing really buy yet we have so much. We have "Ofa". "Ofa" is a Tonga word meaning respect, kindness, sympathy, and love;--all the things of the heart. It is the most important word in our vocabulary. In America success is measured by what you produce or what you posses. In Tonga, success is measured only in terms of your relationship with other human beings.

In the text that I read this morning Jesus repeats his question to Peter three times and three times he tells Peter "Feed My Sheep". In the revised standard version I think that we get a better understanding of what jesus was telling Peter and us.

After his first question "do you love me?", and Peter answers, Jesus says to Peter, "Feed my Lambs". This seems to indicate that Jesus wants us to teach the young children at an early age, when their minds and hearts can be easily molded to the ways of christ that they might be committed to Christian life. Then after questioning Peter the second time Jesus says to him "Tend my sheep". I think that Jesus here is giving a message to the ministers of the Gospel to preach the word for God--for without the Word of God, which is our only hope, men cannot succeed. After the third time when Jesus Questioned Peter about his love of Christ--Jesus said to Peter "Feed my sheep".

Yes--Simon Peter the boastful disciple, the impetuous follower, the apostle who denied our Lord in the hour of greatest need stood before the Risen Christ to answer a very important question. "Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me?"

"Yes lord", he answered, "you know I love you". Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep." The Lord Jesus knew that Peter would be a pillar in the early Christian Church, and that he would write two epistles to instruct and encourage all Christians through the centuries, and that he would die a martyr's death and give honor to God. But Jesus didn't say to him, "Peter become a saint". Instead He gave a command of service, "Feed my sheep."

Every Christian has at some time stood at the summit of spiritual experience and in the light of it's inspiration, pledged his or her best to the service of the Lord. Peter was so swept up in the excitement of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem that he promised more allegiance than he was prepared to give. Each of us has known similar situations. We confidently offer "all that we have" never expecting to be required to give our ambitions, our comfort, our time, our possessions to any great degree.

What a different world this would be if so many of the promises made by Christians in revival services, camp meeting, spiritual retreats, and church service hadn't collapsed on the way home. Commiting our lives to Jesus Christ is easy, even glamorous when we kneel at the carpet covered alter of a beautiful sanctuary. But it's the performance in the cold night air of the courtyard that determines how sincerely we love the Lord Jesus.

Too many Christians are content to pray a little, read a little, and surround themselves with other believers who enjoy discussing the things of God over a cup of coffee in meetings that we call "meaningful dialogue sessions". We rationalize this withdrawal from the core of life by humbly acknowledging our own personal limitations and surrender the privilege of soul-winning to leading laymen, pastors, and missionaries. This is a sad comentary on the Christian church today. We desperately need a revival of Christian zeal in the cause of soul winning.

Complacency in the life of a Christian usually indicates one of two things. Either he has an exaggerated idea of what God expects him to do or he has a poor concept of what calvary was all about.

Some people who surrender their lives to Christ mistakenly assume that a great, dramatic challenge will send them into a ministry that will rock the world, or at least astonish their friends. Really if their sacrifices and their service are to go unnoticed by others they really aren't interested in the surrendered life at all.

How foolish this is---If God can't trust us to visit the sick, feed the hungry, be faithful in prayer, accept responsibility in the local church, then what gives us the gaul to piously fold our hands and bow our proud head to wait for God to give us an angelic summons into martyrdom.

To refuse to obey Christ at any point in life is to deny him. There may be many beautiful promises in our past and noble intentions in our future, but it's our immediate obedience that he wants and needs if Christianity is to go forward.

Every Christian professes love for Christ, and all of us intend to serve Him later, but He needs workers to shepherd lambs now. He has too many people say, "My family responsibilities are so involved, my job is too demanding, my health isn't good; besides I can't compare to a man like Simon Peter. Christ doesn't expect me to tend the flock".

Yes, He does! If Jesus Christ has lifted us from the distress of a sinful life, if he has removed the bondage of fear and revealed himself with such reality as to enable us to believe in His power to save and His grace to sustain, how can we fail to love Him enough to obey.

If we love him, we are to fee his sheep.

He didn't say feed them if it's convenient, or, if you have been given a special talent, but He did say, "If you love me."

Consider your love for this Saviour. How far does it reach? Is it great enough to make you willing to clean the kitchen after a church supper while some one else attends the rest of the planned program? Do you love Christ enough to visit a shut-in when you'd rather go to a movie, play golf, or watch television? Do you love him enough to refuse to participate in activities that are not wholesome and moral? Have you made a prayer list and are you a faithful intercessor for others? Does God receive your tithe to support His Church?

Can you be content to let the light of Christ shine through your life without the praise of men? Are you concerned about the many crises' that are all about us today---famine---poverty---poor housing---poor education---segregation---lack of respect of law--and all the rest--, and if you are concerned, just how much do you love him?

We are surrounded by people who are hungry for peace that only comes from God. The mission fields are not all on foreign soil. Our own neighborhood is filled with people in spiritual poverty. If we have seen the Risen Lord, as Peter saw Him on Galilee's shore, we are responsible for a surrender that will allow Him to have his way that others might see Him in our lives. He had only one Simon Peter to serve him, but always remember that He has only one of you and one of me. Nobody else will or can do the job He sent us to do.

He calls to Us today "Do you love me?" if our answer is "yes Lord you know I do." than he says to us "feed my sheep".

Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel---heal the sick---feed the hungry---comfort the comfortless, educate the uneducated, do all these things and more then you will be feeding my sheep.

In Cleveland, Ohio as in the Polynesian Island Kingdom of Tonga success in life is measured only in terms of your relationships with other human beings....

Let Us Pray