A False Dichotomy
There is a tendency in fundamentalist and (some) evangelical
churches to set up a false
dichotomy between science and faith--as if
faith in God precludes a serious study of
evolutionary biology (for example) and vise
versa. This same mentality also attempts to
coerce people-- through threats of hell and
hopes of paradise --into believing in a factually
inerrant bible (which they then use to bolster
the authority of their personal opinions--most of which were
arrived at through a
similar process of coercive sectarian conditioning). How much
better to read
BOTH the book of scripture AND the book of nature (and to read
both BOTH
critically AND devotionally). Experience suggests that both of
these-- when
approached with an open heart and mind --point us to "the living
Word" which
speaks within the heart of every human being.
"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life; and
these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to
come to Me
that you may have life" (John 5:39-40).
--> Reading the Bible in the 21st Century...
https://jeshua21.wordpress.com/additional-essays/reading-the-bible-in-the-21st-century/
