Do science and the Bible contradict each other?

Do science and the Bible contradict each other?


The Bible records many miracles, direct acts of God that are without natural cause.  They are not explainable by natural laws.  There is no natural “cause and effect” happening in a miracle.  That's what "supernatural" means, beyond nature.

But hard science involves the observation of natural cause and effect and the ability to predict an outcome based on its findings.  It is entirely based on observing and drawing conclusions from the natural world.

If we diagramed these two, we would have miracles in one circle and cause and effect in another with no overlap.  

That does not mean that both do not or cannot coexist.  Science, by its very nature--limiting itself to natural causes, could not see a miracle right in front of it because there would be no natural cause to observe.  It’s the wrong tool.  It’s like using a microscope to study a distant star.

Ethics and values lie outside the realm of hard science.  They are real, but science does not make these kind of value or ethical judgments.

And that's not all that is real, yet lies beyond the bounds of the scientific method.

History itself cannot be directly studied by hard science.  You can’t put George Washington crossing the Delaware in a test tube and repeat it with controls.  We cannot observe it, unless we invent a time machine!  Instead we can search for evidence to make a case for or against it.  

But evidence, though admissible in a court of law,  is not the same as scientific proof with mathematical certainty.   Yet we can be "beyond a reasonable doubt" based on evidence.

We do have evidence and eyewitness testimony for the miracles of Scripture.  In The Case for Christ, Lee Strobels, a former skeptic,  lays out the historical evidence that convinced him the Jesus really did rise from the dead.

Often there is a philosophical presupposition that, for some, rules out the possibility of anything supernatural from the start.  “Miracles can’t happen.”  Why not?  That position cannot be proved.  It is a choice.  It is actually a faith position!

Finally, we should note that a miracle is not really violating a natural law any more than someone catching a falling ball violates the law of gravity.  It is overriding it, regardless of whether we are talking a natural cause of supernatural one.

So, can a person be scientifically astute and also believe in miracles?  Many do!  In the book The Case for Faith, Lee Strobels interviews a number of leading thinkers, scholars, and scientists who are Christians.  We recommend this book for more on this subject, and it’s companion, The Case for Christ.