The Bible and Science

Memory Text: Proverbs 1:7 NIV 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

“Scripture taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION”. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishers. Used by Permission.

 
Sabbath Afternoon

 
Sunday

Anthropic Coincidences

Genesis 1:1 NKJV 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 2:1-2 NKJV 1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

Deuteronomy 4:32 NKJV 32 "For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard.

Psalms 100:3 NKJV 3 Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Isaiah 42:5 NKJV 5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:

Isaiah 45:18 NKJV 18 For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.

John 1:1-3 NKJV 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Colossians 1:16 NKJV 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Hebrews 1:2 NKJV 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

Revelation 10:6 NKJV 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer,

Revelation 14:7 NKJV 7 saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."

 
Monday

Astonomy

Jeremiah 33:22 NKJV 22 'As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.'"

Job 22:12 NKJV 12 "Is not God in the height of heaven? And see the highest stars, how lofty they are!

Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV 9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

1 Corinthians 1:21 NKJV 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

1 Corinthians 3:19 NKJV 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness";

Tuesday

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Psalms 139:14 NKJV 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.

1 Corinthians 3:19 NKJV 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness";

Psalms 14:1 NKJV 1 <<To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.>> The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.

John 1:1-4 NKJV 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Acts 17:28 NKJV 28 "for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'

 
Wednesday

A Merry Heart, a Broken Spirit

Proverbs 17:22 NKJV 22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Philippians 4:6-8 NKJV 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.

Thursday

Science and the Flood

Genesis 7:11-24 NKJV 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark- 14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. 16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in. 17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 7:11 NIV 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month-- on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

Genesis 7:11 NKJV 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Genesis 7:21-22 NKJV 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died.

 
Friday

Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 462

 He who has a knowledge of God and His word through personal experience has a settled faith in the divinity of the Holy Scriptures. He has proved that God's word is truth, and he knows that truth can never contradict itself. He does not test the Bible by men's ideas of science; he brings these ideas to the test of the unerring standard. He knows that in true science there can be nothing contrary to the teaching of the word; since both have the same Author, a correct understanding of both will prove them to be in harmony. Whatever in so-called scientific teaching contradicts the testimony of God's word is mere human guesswork. {MH 462.1}

     To such a student, scientific research will open vast fields of thought and information. As he contemplates the things of nature, a new perception of truth comes to him. The book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other. Both make him better acquainted with God by teaching him of His character and of the laws through which He works. {MH 462.2}

     The experience of the psalmist is the experience that all may gain by receiving God's word through nature and through revelation. He says: (p. 463) "Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work: I will triumph in the works of Thy hands." "Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; And Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; Thy judgments are a great deep. . . . "How excellent is Thy loving-kindness, O God!"

"The children of men take refuge under the shadow of Thy wings. . . . And Thou wilt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures. For with Thee is the fountain of life: In Thy light shall we see light." “Blessed are they that are upright in way, Who walk in the law of Jehovah. Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, That seek Him with the whole heart." "Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word." "I have chosen the way of faithfulness: Thine ordinances have I set before Me." "Thy word have I laid up in my heart, That I might not sin against Thee." "And I shall walk at liberty; For I have sought Thy precepts." "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold Wondrous things out of Thy law."

"Thy testimonies also are my delight And my counselors." "The law of Thy mouth is better unto me Than thousands of gold and silver." "Oh how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day." "Thy testimonies are wonderful; Therefore doth my soul keep them." "Thy statutes have been my songs In the house of my pilgrimage." "Thy word is very pure; Therefore Thy servant loveth it." (p. 464) "The sum of Thy word is truth; And every one of Thy righteous ordinances

endureth forever." "Let my soul live, and it shall praise Thee; And let Thine ordinances help me." "Great peace have they that love Thy law; And they have no occasion of stumbling. "I have hoped for Thy salvation, O Jehovah, And have done Thy commandments. My soul hath observed Thy testimonies; And I love them exceedingly." "The opening of Thy words giveth light; It giveth understanding unto the simple." "Thy commandments make me wiser than mine enemies; For they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers; For Thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have kept Thy precepts." "Through Thy precepts I get understanding: Therefore I hate every false way."

"Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever; For they are the rejoicing of my heart."

Psalms 92:4; 36:5-7; 36:7-9, A.R.V.; 119:1, 2, 9, 30, A.R.V., margin; 119:11, 45, 18, 24, 72, 97,

129, 54, 140, 160, 175, 165-167, 130, 98-100, 104, 111, A.R.V. {MH 462.3}

Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 115-116

    The Levites, in their hymn recorded by Nehemiah, sang, "Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things therein, . . . and Thou preservest them all." Nehemiah 9:6. As regards this world, God's work of creation is completed. For "the works were finished from the foundation of the world." Hebrews 4:3. But His energy is still exerted in upholding the objects of His creation. It is not because the mechanism that has once been set in motion continues to act by its own inherent energy that the pulse beats and breath follows breath; but every breath, every pulsation of the heart, is an evidence of the all-pervading care of Him in whom "we live, and move, and have our being." Acts 17:28. It is not because of inherent power that year by year the earth produces her bounties and continues her motion around the sun. The hand of God guides the planets and keeps them in position in their orderly march through the heavens. He "bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth." Isaiah 40:26. It is through His power that vegetation flourishes, that the leaves appear and the flowers bloom. He "maketh grass to grow upon the mountains" (Psalm 147:8), and by Him the valleys are made fruitful. "All the beasts of the forest . . . seek their meat from God," and every living creature, from the smallest insect up to man, is daily dependent upon His providential care. In the beautiful words of the psalmist, "These wait all upon Thee. . . . That Thou givest them they gather: Thou openest Thine hand, they are filled with good." Psalm 104:20, 21, 27, 28. His word controls the elements; He covers the heavens with clouds and prepares rain for the earth. "He giveth snow like wool: He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes." Psalm 147:16. "When He uttereth His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasuries." Jeremiah 10:13. {PP 115.1}

     God is the foundation of everything. All true science is in harmony with His works; all true education leads to obedience to His government. Science opens new wonders to our view; she soars high, and explores new depths; but she brings nothing from her research that conflicts with divine revelation. Ignorance may seek to support false views of God by appeals to science, but the book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other. (p. 116) We are thus led to adore the Creator and to have an intelligent trust in His word. {PP 115.2}

     No finite mind can fully comprehend the existence, the power, the wisdom, or the works of the Infinite One. Says the sacred writer: "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." Job 11:7-9. The mightiest intellects of earth cannot comprehend God. Men may be ever searching, ever learning, and still there is an infinity beyond. {PP 116.1}

     Yet the works of creation testify of God's power and greatness. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork." Psalm 19:1. Those who take the written word as their counselor will find in science an aid to understand God. "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead." Romans 1:20. {PP 116.2}