Belief in the God of the Bible can easily be dismissed by current scientific observation or future scientific discovery. The God of the Bible is merely a placeholder in a “gap” that has not yet been explained by scientific observation. Whether it be Zeus, Santa Claus, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or the God of the Bible, they can all be explained away by scientific observation. This is referred to as the “god of the gaps” argument.
I will share with you 3 reasons why I believe the “god of the gaps” argument is falsely used against Christianity.
- Science and God do not oppose each other. I will not speak in great length on this as I devoted two posts to this subject, Is God Dead? and God’s Great Canvas. But allow me to leave you with the following question:
Photo by Ryan Wick from Flickr.com
If the God of the Bible can be explained away by scientific observation then why are there leading scientists who are openly and confidently Christian?
If their belief in God is not valid then these men and women of great intelligence are the equivalent of a 6 year old who refuses abandon his belief is Santa Claus. Despite catching his father putting presents under the Christmas tree at 2a.m. in the morning and shamelessly splurging on a plateful of homemade chocolate chip cookies with a 2 litre carton of milk.
- God is not a “god of the gaps.”
God’s existence is not contingent on whether scientific observation can “prove” it or not.
Imagine for a moment entering into St. Peter’s Basilica.
You would never enter the building and deny that it has an architect unless you can observe him in his very own creation. Despite Gian Lorenzo Bernini (one of the chief architects of St. Peter’s) not being a physical bolt, stone, or beam in the structural integrity of St. Peter’s, you would not deny his existence. Infact, you can probably learn a lot about Gian just by observing his creation, St. Peter’s without any of his remains making up St. Peter’s.
For example, you can say that Gian lived during the Renaissance era due to a general observation of St. Peter’s architectural style. If you are an engineer you can possibly even dive deep into Gian’s mind and see the purpose behind each stone that was laid. We can learn a lot about people by observing their creations and yet never personally meeting them.
Just like we can observe St. Peter’s Basilica and learn a great deal about the mind and intent of Gian Lorenzo Bernini we can also observe the physical universe and learn a great deal about the mind and intent of God. God, like Gian, is not an observable part of his creation. A particular bolt, stone, or beam that is part of the structural integrity of his creation.
God is not a physical part of his own creation because he is not a physical being. He is not bound by the limits of his creation that we experience. God is part of a different category. Bernini is no more a nut or a bolt that uphold St. Peter’s than God is a creature in the universe that physically is necessary for the integrity of the universe.
- God is not like other “gods.”
The God of the Bible is not a product of the created universe nor does he “dwell” in the created universe. The same cannot be said about Zeus, Santa Claus, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Aphrodite or any pagan god of ancient mythologies. All these gods (serious or not) are all products of the created observable universe. A closer look at them shows they are “super” versions of humans with “superpowers.” They are simply myths to explain what at one point was unknown because it was physically unobservable.
Read Genesis 1 in the Bible. According to the pagan myths of the ancient Near East, several gods who were embodied in nature (water, sky, land, sun, moon…etc.) and had human like needs and imperfections. Reading Genesis 1 you will notice that God creates every physical aspect of the universe from the beginning, not the god of the water, god of the sky, god of the land, god of the sun…you get my point. Genesis 1 is not meant to be as a scientific observation of the beginning of the cosmos, but a symbolic attack on beliefs in pagan gods.
Questions: 1. Are there any legitimate conflicts between science and belief in the God of the Bible? 2. Are there any fundamental differences between religions today? 3. Will science one day be able to answer ALL our questions?
