Taking every thought captive for obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10.5)

The Question
Hasn’t science disproved the Bible (4)?
It would be ludicrous to suggest that science has somehow disproved the Bible as a powerful influence for good. Through the centuries, people who have believed the Bible and looked to it for guidance have accomplished  more works to benefit humankind, and the world, than perhaps all other worldviews combined.

Of course, it’s true that  some people, from time to time, have misused the Bible for selfish ends, to justify behaviors that are harmful to others without cause, or to aggrandize their own wellbeing in unfair, unjust, and unseemly ways. There’s no use pretending this isn’t so.

In the main, however, the record of beneficial works accomplished by those who have believed the Scriptures vastly outstrips those blots on the record of the history of the Bible’s influence. Here we can offer nothing more than a whirlwind overview of some of the good works inspired and directed by the teaching of the Bible.

For example, since the earliest days of the Christian movement, believers in the Bible have undertaken a wide variety of works of charity on behalf of all manner of needy people.  Over the centuries Christians, following the teaching of Scripture, have rescued and restored the poor, weak, needy, and outcasts of society, and very often at no small risk to themselves. They have braved plagues to help the sick, given sacrificially to relieve the poor, and created institutions to aid widows, the homeless, and travelers. To this day, Christians remain the most generous of all people in the amount of money they give and the hours of work they devote to charitable endeavors.

Moreover, the Bible’s teaching has inspired a wide range of educational efforts to bring the benefits of knowledge and instruction to people in all walks of life and all levels of society. The movement for universal education, the first universities, efforts at teaching literacy, and education in the trades and professions all have found firm support from those who believe, as the Bible teaches, that all truth is God’s truth, every human being has a right to and interest in learning, and every legitimate vocation can be undertaken as a calling from God.

The Bible inspired the first efforts to standardize and improve the work of craftsmen. The medieval guild movement, created to ensure quality in manufacture, was the work of men who read and believed the Bible. Its teaching moved explorers to discover new peoples and places, and gave impetus to great works of art, music, literature, and drama, which frequently drew on Biblical themes and teaching. Many of the most important advances in the arts owe their provenance to believers in the Bible, such as the eight-note scale, the sonnet, and perspective in painting. The positive impact of Biblical teaching can be seen in the efforts of Christians over the years to improve the status of women and children, preserve the family unit, work for manumission of slaves and the end of the slave trade, improve working conditions in business and industry, encourage free and democratic governments, and insist on the just treatment of prisoners and the mentally disabled.

The Bible teaches that all people are made in the image of God and thus deserve to be loved, honored, respected, and cared for as such. It teaches that the creation exists to serve the needs of human beings, but they, in turn, are charged with using and caring for the creation so that all its creatures can continue to flourish. Its teaching that our highest aim in life is to glorify God by loving Him and our neighbors is the ultimate impetus behind such a wide variety of good works and improvements in human life.

The Bible’s teaching about human beings and creation inspired the work of the first natural philosophers, who laid the foundations of the modern scientific movement, and who, looking to the teaching of Scripture, discovered and discerned principles and truths that still allow that now-secularized movement to make significant new discoveries and create powerful and impressive new works.

The very foundations of civilization and law derive, in no small part, from the Bible’s teaching about justice, righteousness, and civility. Even the United States Supreme Court recognizes its indebtedness to the Law of God by including Moses and the Commandments on the bas relief that proclaims the Court’s standards for justice.

So to say that science has disproved the Bible, at least in terms of its ability to inspire human beings to works of self-denial, sacrifice, charity, inventiveness, genius, nobility, and beauty, is simply to confess ignorance of the Bible, its teaching, and its role in human life through the centuries.

We’ll look at part 5 of this question next Sunday. Now here’s a recap from this week at The Ailbe website.

Weekly Review
In our ReVision column (Tuesdays) we began a new seven-part series on time and how we can make the most of it, making the point that time is a precious gift from God. Our challenge is to make sure that all the time of our lives is used in the service of God, honoring Him and doing good for others in order to advance His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. You can download the entire series on Time for the Kingdom by clicking here.

Three topics worked together in our Crosfigell column this past week to encourage believers in using their time for the glory of God in even the smallest details of their lives. On Monday we saw that Jesus is pleased to use even our humblest gifts to show His love and bring glory to Him, when we serve Him with all our “mite.” On Wednesday we said that it’s not necessary to go looking for opportunities to minister to others. We can serve God and love others wherever we are, whatever we’re doing. As we are going through our everyday lives, opportunities abound on every hand. We need to be alert to them and make the best use of all our time for serving others. And on Friday we looked at the pattern of Jesus’ own growth to consider how we might continue to increase in Him, to become more like Him in loving God and our neighbors. But this doesn’t just happen; we’ll have to apply ourselves diligently to growing in the Lord and His grace.

Our Scriptorium daily studies this week looked at the events in Acts 9 and saw how Luke employed a wide variety of names to suggest the rapid and far-reaching advance of the ongoing work of Christ and His Kingdom. You can watch the brief video introducing Acts 9 by clicking here (scroll down to Lesson 8), and the free PDF of all the week’s studies in Acts 9 is available for download by clicking here (scroll down to Part 8).

On Thursday The Week looked at a call for “radicalizing” education by infusing more of tradition, creation, humanity, and even spirituality into a curriculum that is sadly devoted to making students into economic cogs in a materialistic engine of getting and spending, and we wondered whether this might suggest an opportunity for Christians and churches to play a more formative role in this arena.

Finally, our Saturday In the Gates column continued looking at some “first principles” related to living under the rule of God’s Law, in particular, the need to learn to know God from His Law, so that we love Him and obey Him as He commands.

Visit our website and bookstore to discover additional resources and publications to help you in your walk with and work for the Lord.

T. M. Moore

We’re happy to provide The Week and other online resources at no charge. If this ministry is helpful to you, please consider joining those who support our work financially. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Dr., Essex Junction, VT 05452.