Recently I’ve seen many of our dear brethren struggle with the creation account of the Book of Genesis. Some I’ve come to notice default to a Young Earth Creationist model in which they take the text and read it as they perceive it to be written and accept it at face value. Whilst others move to an allegorical reading of Genesis making it just an allegory and leaving the true history of creation to secular science. I do not aim to advocate for either reading but rather I wish to implore fellow Christians to have a proper understanding of how natural and supernatural theology relate.
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,”
Romans 1:20-22
Firstly I wish to caution my well meaning brethren who look towards natural revelation for answers on this contentious topic. I understand this impulse, why not trust men who dedicate their lives to understanding the world on how it came to be the way it is? But we must understand that these men can only examine this corrupted and fallen world. The Biologist will tell us that the world operates in a predatory cycle and that in the wilderness it is kill or be killed. Yet what does the divine Scripture tell us? That sin is the enemy and with sin death came to the world:
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned”
Romans 5:12
That predator and prey relations are against what God wills and in the new heaven and new earth they shall be abolished:
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
Isaiah 11:6
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.”
And lest we forget the fundamental error of having the Natural norm the Supernatural it is against what we are, Protestants. We believe Scripture is the ultimate normative authority, it is the norming norm. It doesn’t have a norm greater than it and to say otherwise is to cease being a Protestant.
“casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”
2 Corinthians 10:5
I don’t wish to be a Pharisee policing others’ consciences but I can’t mince my words when faced with such an issue.
To conclude I implore my brethren don’t let the wise men of this world confuse you into doubting God or into forcing the LORD to conform to their observations. For these wise men are incapable of describing the truth. They are only able to describe what’s in front of them, the Fall.
“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ”
Colossians 2:8
I also wish to address our YEC brethren. I admire that you wish to keep close to the Gods word and that when faced with the choice between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God you choose what you perceive to be the latter. But I implore you don’t let the Supernatural lead you to deny the Natural. Even though God doesn’t want it, the Wolf eats the Lamb. Therefore let us recognise the natural world and its wisdom for what it is. The Biologist has authority in the field even if he’s mistaken about God. If we go into the world and deny what they perceive as basic truth without any knowledge in the field and only armed with a scriptural citation what testimony are we giving to the learned man? As St. Augustine wrote:
“Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world … and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience.
Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; … The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men.”
The Literal Meaning of Genesis, Book 1 Chapter 19 Paragraph 39
Therefore if you wish to deny what the Natural scientist believes you ought to be an expert on the literature. We are a testimony onto God, let us be the best and most learned. When Paul debated the pagan philosophers he was well acquainted with their beliefs:
“Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
Acts 17:22-26
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.”
We can’t afford to look foolish.
To conclude, I earnestly believe one can have an orthodox hermeneutic and an orthodox view of scripture without sticking one’s head in the sand regarding the secular sciences. Let us not be frightened by the challenges of this world but let us be invigorated by them:
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Romans 8:31
