Understanding Christianity

By Devon Dick

ON MONDAY, Patrick White, who holds a doctorate in engineering and led research groups at Bell Laboratories, said Christianity was losing the race against science. He quoted from The Bible Unearthed, "... It is now evident that many events of biblical history did not take place in either the particular era or manner described. Some of the most famous events in the Bible clearly never happened at all." He claims that the Pentateuch is principally a collection of myths and legends," He gave not one example of which stories he was talking about. One has to accept what he says by faith. If this is a how scientific research is done, then science is also a belief system.

Dr White needs to remember that science recently said that what we were taught about a certain planet was not even a planet. Science is growing in knowledge and we ought to grow in our understanding of God.

And the key thing to prove that Christianity is not true is not by showing that a few stories did not happened the way it is stated in the Bible, but to prove that Jesus the Christ was not raised from the dead. As Paul puts it, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith" (I Corinthians 15:14). The resurrection is central to Christianity.

Why make a fight between Christianity and science as if they are mutually exclusive. Is it not possible to be a Christian and a scientist? Clinton Chisholm, theologian, in the March issue of BBC E-magazine, thinks so. He states, "the inductive, experimental method in science was first proposed by Robert Grosseteste (c. 1168-1253), a Franciscan bishop and the first chancellor of Oxford University". Francis Bacon (1561-1626), who systematically recorded his scientific experiments, was also steeped in theology and even wrote treatises on the Psalms and on prayer. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a scientific genius and master in the field of human physiology and an ardent Christian. Other Christian pioneers in science were Gregor Mendel, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton and the Black American George Washington Carver, who died in 1943.

Similarly, another Whyte named Garth seems to have misunderstood Christianity. In a letter the to editor in response to me he states, "Rev Dick (sic) should not have brought any analogy between Rev Redwood (sic) and Jesus in speaking about Matthew 12:48. Jesus wasn't married, his mission was different". What has Jesus' marital status got to do with His commands? Jesus had no earthly father and was not a biological father for anyone. Does that mean his commands to fathers are irrelevant because he was not a father? For all Christians, Jesus' mission is our mission, which is to seek the glory of God and seek the salvation of all.

Matthew 12:48-50 states, He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to His disciples, He said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." The faith commitment of Christians is that we are brothers and sisters of Jesus whenever we do the will of God.

Whyte wants me to "stick to his pulpit and stay out of the political rubbish that takes place in our society". There is no passage in the Bible that says to stick to the pulpit. We are commanded to go into the byways and hedges. Jesus spent more time on the road than in a pulpit. Jesus associated with sinners -offering them hope and forgiveness, and that is a role of Christianity.

PS. Happy Independence to all my USA readers.

Rev Devon Dick, PhD, is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com