There is theological truth, truth about God and his work, and empirical truth, truth about nature. The former comes through inspired revelation, and the latter by experiment and observation. The scriptures teach one kind of truth, and science another. Both truths derive from God and yet they cannot be measured by the same standard or criteria. They are incommensurable: having no common measure or standard of comparison. They are as different as seeing yourself in a video or an MRI. Both pictures are true, but they portray different images. Failure to understand this has led otherwise highly intelligent people to make fatuous statements. This is what Tom Paine wrote:

"Take away from Genesis the belief that Moses was the author, on which only the strange belief that it is the word of God has stood, and there remains nothing of Genesis, but an anonymous book of stories, fables and traditionary [sic] or invented absurdities or downright lies." (The Age of Reason, Part the Second, Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology, 4)

His modern intellectual descendant is Richard Dawkins, who believes that there is no point in reading Genesis in the light of modern science except in order to dismiss it as irrelevant and complete nonsense. He wrote:

"To be fair, much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and 'improved' by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other." (The God Delusion, 237)

Such comments show the inability of many atheists to appreciate the complexity of life, and the diversity of wisdom. Genesis is a divinely inspired collection of ancient writings that provide a remarkable narrative of primeval history. It is not a scientific dissertation in which one academic speaks only to another academic about his research. Instead it reflects the realities of life with all its messiness, loose ends, accidents, and contradictions. As a result it can be understood by the common reader. It is accessible to everyone. It is compelling literature not a dry scientific paper. The Bible, and Genesis in particular, does not tell us everything we may wish to know, or we are capable of knowing, but only what we most need to know about God, the world and our salvation. It is not necessary to have to choose between science and Genesis. Science cannot explain everything, and the Bible does not claim to be a scientific text book.

There is an equal and opposite danger of preachers or theologians attempting to prove the truth of Genesis by trying to reconcile the teaching of Genesis with the latest findings of science. The problem is that science is always changing. Commentaries written a hundred years ago that attempted to harmonize the latest findings of geology and archeology with Genesis have been rendered redundant because of new scientific discoveries. Genesis was written several millennia before modern science. It spoke into a culture that entertained all sorts of religious and philosophical ideas. It was written to address false ideas about God, the world and salvation.

It is a mistake to try to harmonize Genesis with science. That is not why it was written. To concentrate on trying to prove the truth of Genesis in terms of scientific theory is to misinterpret the message of Genesis, and to misapply its truth to us today. There should be no conflict between the teachings of science and the teachings of Genesis. Christians have always welcomed the discoveries of science, and have believed that they present no direct challenge to Christian belief. In 1865, 717 of the leading scientists of the day signed "The Declaration of Students of the Natural and Physical Sciences":

"We, the undersigned Students of the Natural Sciences, desire to express our sincere regret, that researches into scientific truth are perverted by some in our own times into occasion for casting doubt upon the Truth and Authenticity of the Holy Scriptures. We conceive that it is impossible for the Word of God, as written in the book of nature, and God's Word written in Holy Scripture, to contradict one another, however much they may appear to differ... We cannot but deplore that Natural Science should be looked upon with suspicion by many who do not make a study of it, merely on account of the unadvised manner in which some are placing it in opposition to Holy Writ. We believe that it is the duty of every Scientific Student to investigate nature simply for the purpose of elucidating truth, and that if he finds that some of his results appear to be in contradiction to the Written Word, or rather to his own interpretations of it, which may be erroneous, he should not presumptuously affirm that his own conclusion must be right, and the statements of Scripture wrong; rather, leave the two side by side till it shall please God to allow us to see the manner in which they may be reconciled."

They "wanted to resist the tendency to denounce science for the sake of defending scripture. Rather, they wanted to affirm science as a gift from God and to lay science and the scriptures side by side, believing that the author of both would not allow them to ultimately contradict." (David Wilkinson, Reading Genesis After Darwin, 129)

Why then has there been so much conflict between the teachings of Genesis and the teaching of the scientific theory of evolution? It is a question of how you interpret Genesis. Each of us comes to the Bible with a set of questions or perspectives. Sometimes we ask questions of the text that it was not meant to answer. "Genesis was not written to engage with views of evolution and natural selection." (Richard S. Briggs, The Hermeneutics of Reading Genesis, in Wilkinson, 61)

When we come with the belief that our interpretation of Genesis is the only valid one, and that anyone who differs is unbelieving, we make it impossible to consider other possibilities. Genesis has been interpreted in a variety of ways over two thousand years. Some people think that what they have been taught has always been the only true, orthodox, traditional interpretation when, in reality, there have been many others.

In the next few weeks I will be looking at Genesis 1-11 from many different angles. But the most important question I will be asking of the passage will be: what is God saying to us today through his Word.

We will be looking at Genesis from a New Testament perspective. We will consider what is meant by the beginning of all things. How does God reveal himself to us? What is the process of creation today? What is the nature of our human condition, our uniqueness, our purpose, our temptation and fall? We will consider the problem of evil, the breakdown of relationships between Cain and Abel, the judgment of the Flood, and the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel. What is the relevance for all these to our lives today? What is the truth of God's Word for us today?

I believe in the Truth and Authenticity of the Holy Scriptures. God speaks to us through these words according to our need. They are ancient words, but are ever new. Jesus said to the Father: "Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth." If you are seeking the truth, and wish to live in the truth, you will find it here. This truth is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path.

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