A different view of the bible
Since I’ve been on a rampage against fundamentalism this week, perhaps it’s only fair to offer a different perspective that occurred to me recently.
As I read The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, and now as I’m finishing up The Mating Mind by Geoffrey Miller, the evolutionary evidence continues to mount in support of the idea that our genes are programmed for survival and for mating.
The case is built that regardless of our modern concept of morality, our nature is to be selfish rather than to share, to philander rather than be monogamous, and at times to fight, to lie, to steal, etc.
In the view of our modern, evolved, moral sensibilities, these things are sins. Therefore, evolution actually lends credibility to the teaching that man is sinful in nature. Quite literally!
While literal inerrancy of the bible cannot be supported by modern science (see my recent posts) it is nevertheless quite interesting to notice how much of what modern science has given us actually lends support to biblical teachings.
For instance, in Deuteronomy, the people are instructed to bury their excrement outside the camp, whereas before this they paid no mind to such things. Today, we can easily recognize the medical good sense in doing this to prevent disease.
Or, revisiting the topic of the blood type diet, Peter D’Adamo claims that people of Jewish descent primarily have Type B blood. Is it a coincidence that the diet commanded for them was made up of dairy products, whole grains, and legumes? And that pork — considered bad for every blood type — was forbidden?
This only scratches the surface. Belief in science does not have to mean the negation of belief in God or the Bible. If one takes a bigger view, and considers the advances of modern science, rather than dismissing them dogmatically, it actually makes the Bible a pretty cool book!
