New book helps answer questions contradicting biblical teachings

Dr L James Gibson
Director, Geoscience Research Institute
Loma Linda, California, USA

We need more written material about Creation, particularly about the scientific challenges to the biblical account. I co-edited Understanding Creation: Answers to Questions on Faith and Science (Pacific Press) with Dr Humberto Rasi, now retired, a former director of education for the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, to help with this need.

The book will add to the discussion in the church about Creation, but Humberto and I didn’t want to be polemic; we’re pragmatists.

Students and young professionals say they are asked regularly to explain their Christian beliefs of Creation, particularly about fossils and the Flood. We took 20 frequently asked questions and had 20 authors provide scholarly answers in language anyone can use.

Half of the book addresses philosophical and theological questions, including the supposed conflict between the Bible and science, the science of evolution, Darwinism and morality and living without all the answers. The other half of the book addresses scientific questions, including the Big Bang, radiometric dating, plate tectonics, dinosaurs and fossil records.

The biblical account of Creation is a vital part of the gospel message because it challenges human pride and emphasises the power and goodness of God. Many aspects of the account have implications for Christian thinking. Here are three:

God is freely active in His Creation

Science is built on the suppositions nature is governed by fixed laws and God does not intervene with these laws. Many scientists fear a decrease in the trust in science as the standard of truth if God did intervene. This is an offense to human pride. If God causes miracles, we should accept Scriptures as God’s primary revelation and reject claims science is the most reliable source by which we learn about Creation.

Humans were created better than they are now

Despite being made in His image, our first parents did not trust God. This lack of trust brought death into this world. God’s response: to implement the plan of salvation, sending His son, Jesus, to earth to die in our place. Many people oppose this view of human nature because they have not found evidence of superior human ancestors or a world without death. The revelation of humans as sinful, fallen beings is also an offense to human pride.

The seventh-day Sabbath

Observing the seventh-day Sabbath symbolises our faith in the biblical account of Creation. The Bible gives no other reason for keeping the Sabbath on the seventh day. Observing the Sabbath also symbolises our fallen nature and our dependence on God for knowledge of our origins, our nature and our destiny. This is an offense to human pride, too, because it reminds us of our tendency to get things wrong.

Understanding Creation helps Christians proclaim the gospel by dealing with questions underlying its logic—the biblical account of Creation, the bringing of death into the world and the provision for Christ to redeem and restore us to relationship with Him in a new creation.—Adventist News Network