<< Clearly
faith helps us deal with what we don't understand. But when we have some
knowledge and some capabilities of investigation, then understanding the
role of faith becomes more challenging. Since I can point to other
passages in Scripture that tell us to investigate the world we live in, I'd
have a hard time claiming that we must believe by faith something our
knowledge and the results of our investigation seem to be contradicting. >>
When also God has appointed man to "subdue the earth" it a frustration of the
divine intention to refuse to use our knowledge and capabilities of
investigation. Further, we are called to accept by faith that which has been
divinely revealed, not the historical or scientific information as such,
which in Scripture is always represented as contingent upon human sources.
It is some form of extra-biblical philosophical idealism which has led
Christians to expect Scripture to be an inerrant guide to science and
history. The Bible makes no such claim.
Paul S.