Many Christians are taught that everything in the Bible is “the Word of God” and thus every single line is 100% true. But then one day they may discover, either through reading the Bible or from some YouTube video, that every single thing in the Bible cannot be 100% true. As a result, they then come to the conclusion that Christianity is a fraud. Countless numbers of Christians have deconstructed and left the faith because of this.
What is so tragic is that all this could have easily been prevented. The church needs to explain the various contradictions in the Bible and why they do not break Christianity. They need to explain that many of the Old Testament stories are allegorical and based on folklore, but this does not mean they were not divinely inspired. For why would God inspire these authors to write only history? Couldn’t He have inspired them to write myths and fables as well? Ultimately, what matters is not so much the literal truth of the Old Testament stories but the lessons and wisdom they contain.
As for the Gospels, the church needs to explain that they were written independently of each other by authors who were mostly using second and third-hand sources, and this is why there are some contradictions between the four books. They need to make it clear that slavery as described in the Old Testament was actually a form of indentured servitude. It was not slavery as we define it today in which people were considered property and could be sold, beaten, and murdered at will. And the Bible commands that slaves be treated well. Therefore, the attacks on Christianity over this issue are disingenuous.
Christians need to realize that religion and science are actually not in conflict with each other. What has greatly damaged Christianity is the insistence of many Christians that, based on the genealogies in Matthew and Luke, the Earth is roughly 6000 years old. Is this really true?
No. Science has reasonably established that the Earth is much older than this. We know that the dinosaurs existed (due to fossils that have been discovered) and that they did not exist at the same time as man. This alone contradicts the Genesis account. It seems likely that the Earth is indeed several billion years old as science has claimed.
Does this destroy Christianity? Absolutely not. The story of Adam and Eve is allegorical. Its claim that the Earth was created in seven days is hardly damning given that it was written during a primitive time when people did not have access to the scientific instruments that we do today. How could they possibly have been able to discern the correct age of the planet? It seems like an unreasonable thing to expect. Why can’t the Earth be several billion years old and still have been created by God? For so many Christians to insist the Earth is 6000 years old in the face of such overwhelming evidence has only made Christianity look primitive and backward.
It is also worth noting that the book of Genesis calibrates at 660 which is a very high level of truth. The high calibration indicates that its power lies in the lessons and wisdom of its stories, not in their literal truth. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are also in the 600s. Therefore, we can reasonably conclude that the accuracy of their genealogies is irrelevant.
Hopefully, you can see that any conflict between science and Christianity is not only unnecessary but counterproductive.
Finally, it needs to be understood that even if both Christianity and the Bible are false, this would not disprove the existence of God. It would only mean that the Christian interpretation of God is incorrect. For the scientific method can only measure what has form and can be observed. It cannot measure what is formless. And God, if He exists, is indeed formless. So while science may be able to disprove certain parts of the Bible, it will never be able to disprove God.
Hawkins, David R. I: Reality and Subjectivity. Sedona, Veritas Publishing, 2003.
What is so tragic is that all this could have easily been prevented. The church needs to explain the various contradictions in the Bible and why they do not break Christianity. They need to explain that many of the Old Testament stories are allegorical and based on folklore, but this does not mean they were not divinely inspired. For why would God inspire these authors to write only history? Couldn’t He have inspired them to write myths and fables as well? Ultimately, what matters is not so much the literal truth of the Old Testament stories but the lessons and wisdom they contain.
As for the Gospels, the church needs to explain that they were written independently of each other by authors who were mostly using second and third-hand sources, and this is why there are some contradictions between the four books. They need to make it clear that slavery as described in the Old Testament was actually a form of indentured servitude. It was not slavery as we define it today in which people were considered property and could be sold, beaten, and murdered at will. And the Bible commands that slaves be treated well. Therefore, the attacks on Christianity over this issue are disingenuous.
Christians need to realize that religion and science are actually not in conflict with each other. What has greatly damaged Christianity is the insistence of many Christians that, based on the genealogies in Matthew and Luke, the Earth is roughly 6000 years old. Is this really true?
No. Science has reasonably established that the Earth is much older than this. We know that the dinosaurs existed (due to fossils that have been discovered) and that they did not exist at the same time as man. This alone contradicts the Genesis account. It seems likely that the Earth is indeed several billion years old as science has claimed.
Does this destroy Christianity? Absolutely not. The story of Adam and Eve is allegorical. Its claim that the Earth was created in seven days is hardly damning given that it was written during a primitive time when people did not have access to the scientific instruments that we do today. How could they possibly have been able to discern the correct age of the planet? It seems like an unreasonable thing to expect. Why can’t the Earth be several billion years old and still have been created by God? For so many Christians to insist the Earth is 6000 years old in the face of such overwhelming evidence has only made Christianity look primitive and backward.
It is also worth noting that the book of Genesis calibrates at 660 which is a very high level of truth. The high calibration indicates that its power lies in the lessons and wisdom of its stories, not in their literal truth. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are also in the 600s. Therefore, we can reasonably conclude that the accuracy of their genealogies is irrelevant.
Hopefully, you can see that any conflict between science and Christianity is not only unnecessary but counterproductive.
Finally, it needs to be understood that even if both Christianity and the Bible are false, this would not disprove the existence of God. It would only mean that the Christian interpretation of God is incorrect. For the scientific method can only measure what has form and can be observed. It cannot measure what is formless. And God, if He exists, is indeed formless. So while science may be able to disprove certain parts of the Bible, it will never be able to disprove God.
Hawkins, David R. I: Reality and Subjectivity. Sedona, Veritas Publishing, 2003.