Trusting Science

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Colossians 2:8-10

Today, more than ever before, we seem to be continually told to “trust science”. When I was young and in school, I do not remember being told to trust science as if it were some type of deity or proper noun. It was always presented as the study of the world around us. What is science today, and is it trustworthy?

Science is defined in my 1982 American Heritage Dictionary as “ 1. a. The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation theoretical explanation of a natural phenomenon, b. Such activity restricted to a class of natural phenomena c. Such activity applied to any class of phenomena. 2. Methodological activity, discipline or study, 3. An activity which appears to require study and method. 4. Knowledge, esp knowledge gained through experience.”

I enjoy having physical books. Books are a time stamp in history that no one can change or manipulate. Here is how science is defined from https://www.merriam-webster.com:

Definition of science
1 : the state of knowing : knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding
2a : a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study
the science of theology
b : something (such as a sport or technique) that may be studied or learned like systematized knowledge
have it down to a science
3a : knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method
b : such knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the physical world and its phenomena : NATURAL SCIENCE
4 : a system or method reconciling practical ends with scientific laws
cooking is both a science and an art
5 capitalized : CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

The Webster definition, “knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding”, makes science seem as if it were fixed as fact, when it is forever changing as the 1982 definition implies. Science is “knowledge gained through experience”. Is this knowledge only what is approved by and fed through the overlords controlling the media of today as if they are knowledge handlers, or does science give us the freedom to say, based on knowledge and experience, “We are being told lies?”.

For those of us who believe our source of truth is the Bible, we get a different picture of truth.

Psa 119:158 I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands.
Psa 119:159 Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life according to your steadfast love.
Psa 119:160 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

David tells us “the sum of your word is truth”, and Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 to the adversary, “ not by bread alone but by all that goes out of the mouth of Yahweh humankind shall live”. As believers in the Messiah, we have to look to the word of God for ultimate truth, not anything that man thinks they may know.

1Ti 6:20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,”
1Ti 6:21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.

Knowledge was very important in Paul’s day. The pursuit of religious knowledge was called gnosticism and became its own sect of Christianity. Much of what we see with the cult, like following what is called science today, is a form of gnosticism. Essentially, it is knowledge without God, or where God is actually the source of evil and real truth is found in knowledge.

2Ti 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2Ti 3:2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
2Ti 3:4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2Ti 3:6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
2Ti 3:7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Paul is referring to commandment breakers. Churches today tell us we need not worry about keeping commandments, fulfilling Paul’s prophecy. All one has to do is read some discussions on Reddit’s “Christian” subreddits to see the results of these false teachings. Knowledge of the truth is true knowledge, and does not come from man.

There are places where modern science and the Bible agree. It turns out that swine, shrimp and lobster are all bottom feeders meant to be the earth’s filter. These creatures were never meant to be eaten.

Lev 11:1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them,
Lev 11:2 “Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘These are the animals that you may eat from all the animals that are on the land:
Lev 11:3 Any among the animals that has a divided hoof and has a split cleft in the hoof, such you may eat.
Lev 11:4 However, these you may not eat from those that chew the cud and from those that have a divided hoof: the camel, because it is a chewer of cud but it does not have a hoof that is divided—it is unclean for you;
Lev 11:5 and the coney, because it is a chewer of cud but it does not have a hoof that is divided—it is unclean for you;
Lev 11:6 and the hare, because it is a chewer of cud but it does not have a hoof that is divided—it is unclean for you;
Lev 11:7 and the pig, because it has a divided hoof and has a split cleft in the hoof but it does not chew cud—it is unclean for you.
Lev 11:8 You must not eat from their meat, and you must not touch their dead body—they are unclean for you.

However, science and the Bible part when it comes to Genesis one. Evolution is a nineteenth century theory that many people hold dear. With what we know about genetics now, science needs to move away from evolution. Some have gone down the road of aliens from another world seeding the Earth. They are looking for anything except a supreme Creator that we will someday answer to for our actions.

Gen 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth

Even Richard Dawkins admitted the Earth could have been seeded by an earlier, more intelligent civilization. Of course, it couldn’t have been Yahuah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is more about hatred for a God that supposedly does not exist more than anything scientific.

Paul tells us that even people who do not know about Yahuah should be able to determine that a supreme creator put everything we see in place.

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Rom 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
Rom 1:20 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.
Rom 1:21 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.
Rom 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Man’s knowledge is continually placed higher than the that of the Creator. Paul says this about man’s wisdom:

1Co 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks himself to be wise among you in this age, let him become a fool, in order that he may become wise.
1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written, “The one who catches the wise in their craftiness,”
1Co 3:20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

It is time to replace the wisdom of this world, which is foolishness to God, with the truth of scripture. Remember the covenants of promise and repent.

The featured image is by Matthew Schwartz on Unsplash.