Explaining Away the Bible

Making an attempt to disprove something in the Bible or “explain it away” is nothing new.  The latest attempt at this was done by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Using computer simulations, they were able to emulate how the wind could push the waters back far enough in the Red Sea that it would enable Moses and other people to cross over.  They call this “fluid dynamics.”  In other words, they are trying to prove that if this really happened it was a natural cause rather than a supernatural.

OK, so let’s say it was the wind.  Who was in the wind?  We know the account in Luke 8:22-25 that declares how even the wind and the waves obey Jesus.  God, being the Creator of all that exists most certainly has the power to manipulate, change or alter anything in nature.  He holds the world in His hands. 

Yet it is attempts at explaining things in the Bible that take away from the foundation of our faith.  Sometimes there really isn’t an explanation.  Some things we will never know this side of heaven.  If we were able to explain everything, we would have no need for God.  We would possess all the knowledge and know-how that is necessary.

Yet as believers we walk by faith and not by sight.  What we see is not always what is.  We understand that many things, including accounts in the Bible, do not have a logical or rational explanation.  That’s because as humans it is hard to think illogically or irrationally.  We want explanations and reasoning.  We want hard and fast facts that help everything to make sense.

This is not the basis of a Christian’s life.  We walk a path of faith that allows us to trust even when things don’t make sense.  It isn’t just in the way of supernatural events like the parting of the Red Sea but it is in everyday life—when we face losses, difficulties and challenges. 

Let’s not be like the world who tries to explain away or rationalize why something is.  Let the miraculous and the unexplainable only deepen your faith.    

Be First to Comment

  1. Jeremiah said:

    Science and the scientific method are not mutually exclusive with faith or Christianity. Trying to explain or rationalize things in this world is not fruitless, worthless, or a destroyer of faith. That sort of ignorance compounds the problems Christians face with education in our culture. God can use any mechanism he desires. If we find evidence a volcano released ash darkening the day Christ was crucified, does this weaken your faith? For myself as a geologist and engineer, I say amazing, God time it perfectly, just like that earthquake that tore the veil. It detracts NOTHING from Christ did and if anything, provides evidence FOR the event, the timing, etc… As a Christian, do not be afraid of science, higher education, geology, evolution, logical thought, or any other tool we have at our disposal to understand and interpret nature. If anything embrace science, understand its limitations, and use it to spread the good news.

    September 23, 2010
    Reply
  2. Debra@CRA said:

    For me the miracle in the parting of the Red Sea is that in Exodus 10:16 God tells Moses to stretch out his hand to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on DRY land. It’s one thing for the wind to part the water but for the land to be dry so that their shoes don’t even get wet would be hard to explain away.

    September 23, 2010
    Reply
  3. kellyfriend said:

    I don’t see how explaining how something in the bible could have happened is explaining away the actual story of the bible. They are in fact proving the bible not disproving the bible. The problem is that everyone assumes that these biblical accounts are some super natural event that can not be explained. If you are a Christian then you believe in Creation. If God Created the earth and everything in the earth then why would he not use those things to make a miracle. Miracles are not something that cannot be explained they can be explained. Its not some majic act its God creating thing and causing things to happen. If they want to disprove the bible then they need to prove that nothing in the bible could have or ever actually happened. They need to prove that the lessons we learn on how to treat others and what is right and what is wrong is false. Whether a Christian or not many of the lessons of the bible are in fact good lessons. Its good to learn to help others who are less fortunate, its good to learn how not to steal, murder, lie ect. I am glad they have proven that the wind could make an escape because they just proved the account of the bible and since God created the wind as is our belief then he caused the wind to blow.

    September 23, 2010
    Reply

Leave a Reply to Debra@CRA Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *