Q. On p. 25 you say “When we interpret the Bible correctly it will never conflict with science if science is correctly interpreting nature.” Explain what you mean by that?
A. This flows from the “two books” idea that we find in the Belgic Confession which itself articulates the truth that God speaks to us through his Word and through nature (based on Romans 1 and other teachings in Scripture). Both books require interpretation. The Bible is totally true in all it intends to teach, but is not perfectly clear except on those matters that are essential for our salvation. In other words, the Bible is without error, but our interpretations may be in error and we have to be open to revising our understanding. Science is a means of studying nature. Science too is an interpretive enterprise. Some theories are more strongly evidenced than others including the theory of evolution. To me since the Bible does not speak to question of “how God created humanity” that we should consider science’s claims on the matter. Sometimes science can help us read the Bible better as the church found out in the aftermath of Galileo’s conclusions that the earth was not the center of the solar system.
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