God Reveals Himself in Scripture and in the Natural World, through Faith and Science

I saw a meme that said, “I don’t follow the Science.  I follow Jesus.”

This statement deserves further thought.

I am a follower of Jesus.  I believe He is God (John 1:1).  He is the Author of life (Acts 3:15).  All of the created world was created through Him (John 1:3; Col. 1:16).  God reveals Himself through creation (Rom. 1:20).

God Reveals Himself in Scripture and in the Natural World

The heavens and the earth – i.e., all of the natural world – tell the glory of God and proclaim His handiwork (Psalm 19:1).  In other words, God reveals Himself and His truths both through Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16) and through the natural world He created (Prov. 30:24-28).

Since God is always true (John 3:33), He cannot reveal truth to us in one part of revelation and lie to us in another.  All of God’s revelation is true – both that which is found in Scripture and that which is found in the natural world He gave us.  Therefore, we can find truths revealed by God in Scripture, and we can find truths revealed by God in the natural world He authored.

Science

The word “science” refers to a well-developed set of processes people use to understand truths about the natural world.  Although scientists wouldn’t say it this way because they are looking for natural evidence, since God is the author of all creation, when they find things that are true in the natural world, they are finding truths that God has revealed to us in the natural world.

God teaches us through faith and science. The word “science” is also used to describe the body of truths that humans have discovered as they use the processes of science to explore the natural world.

We see “science” in every part of our lives.  Scientists used the processes of science to understand the nature of penicillin and its healing properties.  As a result, we have a body of scientific knowledge about antibiotics.  Scientists used the processes of science to understand the nature of fuels, providing us with the scientific knowledge to provide power to our tractors, our automobiles, and our power plants.  Scientists used the processes of science to understand how to improve the yields of plants and animals, leading to the science of agronomy that helps us feed the world.

Observing God’s Orderly Universe

All of this is possible because God created an orderly universe with laws that govern that universe, and because He allowed people to discover the truths about the natural world that are hidden in that orderly world.  (Even the seemingly disorderly parts of the natural world contain truths that humans can and do discover about the natural world.)

The Scriptures speak approvingly of attitudes and actions that are Bible-era precursors of modern science.  The Book of Proverbs applauds those who carefully observe the natural world in order to apply it to their own situations (Prov. 6:6-11; 30:24-28).  Jesus calls attention to those who observe signs from nature to predict the weather and suggests that we should have a similar attitude in reading spiritual signs (Matthew 16:2-3; Luke 12:54-56).  Jesus also tells a parable in which he speaks well of a gardener who seeks to experiment with the soil in order to increase the likelihood of a good harvest (Luke 13:6-9).  These passages reflect God’s approval of our use of the processes of science – observing, experimenting, drawing conclusions, etc.

Using All of God’s Tools to Understand Truth

God has given humans the ability to search out the truths of the natural world through science, just as He has enabled us to search out the truths of the spiritual world through Bible Study.  To say, “I follow Jesus but I don’t follow the science,” would be like saying, “I follow Jesus but I don’t follow Bible Study.”  They are both just tools – methods of learning.

Science is a method used to understand what God reveals through the natural world.  Bible Study is a method used to understand what God reveals through Scripture.  One and the same God reveals Himself in both places – in Scripture and in the natural world, through Bible Study and through science.  Thank God that He has chosen to reveal Himself in both places and has given us these tools – Bible Study and science – to make sense of His truths in both places.

God teaches us through faith and science.  Blessed is the person who listens to all of God’s revelation, wherever He chooses to reveal it.