The Christian view of science and scripture

by Bernard Ramm

Hardcover. No DJ. Text contains minor underlining/marking. Covers show very minor shelf wear. Binding is tight, hinges strong.

Genres: Theology, Science, Christianity, Christian, Nonfiction, Evolution, Religion

Unknown Binding

First published June 1, 1954

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Christian View of Science and Scripture is so formal that it reads like a textbook, but it is a valuable Protestant resource on the relationship between science and the Bible. Ramm makes the important point that Christianity must develop a philosophy about the relationship of modern science to our religious beliefs, one that goes beyond debating the authenticity of individual cases of contention. He works his way through the various branches of science and works out his philosophy pretty exhaustively. Ramm is fairly liberal (in the positive sense of the word), allowing for sincere Christians to believe in an old universe, a local flood, and even evolution (though he himself embraces progressive creationism).

It is pretty amazing how little has changed since the publication of this book in the 1950s when it comes to the nature of the debate. However, a lot has changed in science. There is no mention of the important subject of DNA, which has a lot to say about the debate. Nevertheless, the Christian View of Science and Scripture has some very important and challenging things to say that young earth creationists ought to consider.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

AN IMPORTANT (IF CONTROVERSIAL) EVANGELICAL PERSPECTIVE

Bernard L. Ramm (1916-1992) was a Baptist theologian who was professor of Systematic Theology at California Baptist Seminary. He has written important and influential books such as 'Varieties Of Christian Apologetics,' 'Protestant Christian Evidences,' and 'Protestant Biblical Interpretation: A Textbook of Hermeneutics.'

He wrote in the Preface to this 1954 book, "In research for this book I discovered that there are two traditions in Bible and science both stemming from the developments of the nineteenth century. There is the ignoble tradition which has ... used arguments and procedures not in the better traditions of established scholarship. There has been and is a noble tradition in Bible and science, and this is the tradition of the great and learned evangelical Christians who have been patient, genuine, and kind and who have taken great care to learn the facts of science and Scripture... Unfortunately the noble tradition ... has not been the major tradition in evangelicalism in the twentieth century... It is our wish to call evangelicalism back to the noble tradition..."

Here are some additional quotations from the book:

"...the Holy Spirit conveyed infallibly true theological doctrines in the cultural mold and terms of the days of the Bible writers, and did not give to the writers the secrets of modern science. It is a misunderstanding of the nature of inspiration to seek such secrets in various verses of the Bible." (Pg. 136)

"The amount of material carried by a water stream varies with the sixth power of the velocity of the stream. There is little deposit far out on the continental shelf where a few feet may represent thousands of years of deposits. Flood geology has no means of accounting for this." (Pg. 184)

"A local flood would come and go and leave no trace after a few thousand years, but could a universal flood be a traceless flood? (George McCready) Price's view we cannot but emphatically reject." (Pg. 243)

"The mixing of the waters and the pressure of the waters would have been devastating. Many of the salt water fish and marine life would die in fresh water, and many of the fresh water fish and marine life would die in salt water. An entire marine creation would have been necessary if the waters of the earth were mixed, yet no such hint is given in the account." (Pg. 244)

"Getting rid of such a vast amount of water would have been as miraculous as providing it. If the entire world were under six miles of water, there would have been no place for the water to drain off. Yet the record states that the water drained off with the help of the wind (Genesis 8:1). A local flood would readily account for this, but there is not answer if the entire world were under water." (Pg. 245)

"There is the problem of the special diets required for the animals, and the problem of special conditions for the animals. Some animals need a moist environment, and others a very dry one; some need it very cold and others very warm. Again, there is no question what Omnipotence can do, but the simplicity of the flood record prohibits the endless supplying of miracles to make a universal flood feasible." (Pg. 247)

This book will be of great interest to open-minded Christians studying such "scientific" questions.

[Brett Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a reference used in Ronald L. Numbers’ The Creationists, this 1954 book, written by Bernard Ramm (1916-1992), provides further insight into the conflict among creationists themselves and proves they are not a monolith as often assumed. Ramm was a highly influential old Earth evangelical creationist in the 20th century. He aimed to harmonize science and religion by promoting the “two books” hypothesis of God’s word, one book the Bible, the other nature. He had little tolerance for extremists, separating creationist writers into two opposing camps: those of the “ignoble tradition [who adopted] a most unwholesome attitude toward science” and those of the “noble tradition [who had] taken great care to learn the facts of science and Scripture.” In Ramm’s opinion, there were none more ignoble in the field than Harry Rimmer (1890–1952) and George McCready Price (1870-1963), the two most famous young Earth creationists barnstorming America, Canada, and Britain. These two evangelicals then most impressed Henry Morris, a 1960s-90s creationist giant.

After Ramm laments religion’s fall from dominance for a more science-minded perspective, which “made a cleavage all the way through modern mentality and culture,” Ramm fires his most acerbic barbs at fellow evangelicals by using the words of other apologists. With brackets his own, Ramm writes, “Sad has been the evil that good Christian men have done in regard to science. [Frederic] Bettex laments that far too often, the Christian attitude toward science is an attitude unworthy of itself and ‘where not positively hostile, treats it with petty distrust, and an admixture of scorn…,’ J. W. Dawson complains of ‘slipshod Christianity,’ which rests smugly in dogmatic theory and has the most contemptible estimation of geology. John Pye Smith complained: ‘[Evangelical castigators of science] are unwittingly serving designs of [Christianity’s] enemies [and are] secret traitors to the cause of Christianity.’ The judgment of White is proved a thousand times that the cheap weapons of religious opposition to science are like ‘Chinese gongs and dragon lanterns against rifled cannon.’” Andrew Dickson White wrote this last remark in 1840.

Ramm dismissed what he calls “hyperorthodoxy” with analogies. “Patriotism can degenerate into jingoism and enthusiasm into fanaticism and virtue into prudishness. It is possible not only to have slack theological views but to have views far more rigid and dogmatic than Scripture itself. Hyperorhtodoxy, in trying to be loyal to the Bible, has developed an exaggerated sense of what loyalty to the Bible means.” Ramm goes on to say that if “pedantic ‘hyperorthodoxy’ continues to be the representative voice in evangelical apologetics, the great cleavage between science and evangelicalism which occurred in the nineteenth century will not only be perpetuated through the twentieth but it will be widened.”

And so it was.

Ramm’s most compelling section comes later in the book as he punches holes in Price’s Flood Geology hypothesis by referencing both science and the Bible. In the bibliography of Ramm’s book, he lists three categories of books on the subject of religion and science, from good to bad. In that third category, he places “Morris, Henry, M., That You Might Believe, Good Books, 1946.” Morris would go on to write The Genesis Flood (a repackaging of George McCready Price’s books), claiming Noah’s flood accounts for fossils and rock strata (shot down by Ramm); strata now dated to 3.8 billion years, and create the ICR, Institute for Creation “Research,” a creationist propaganda machine moved from San Diego to Dallas.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this might've been my most referenced work, as it does an outstanding job covering this history of science and Scripture, as to how they can be reconciled with lots of great references. I found a ton of esoteric scholars who contributed to this question I never would've found otherwise. It had an excellent reference list and index, and while it was difficult to find a copy (there's only 1 left on Amazon!) it's a very worthwhile reference, even if it's 70 year age and lack of stunningly persuasive writing don't make it the best introduction.

[Jeffrey Romine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this 1954 book for me this was a case of tracing references back to earlier works on the topic where faith meets science. I was much impressed by the first 50-70 pages as an introduction, but in Ramm's defense of progressive creationism I thought he went a little too far into the minutia. One thing that really does come across is its very deep roots, arguments for or against stemming centuries.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another "must-read!" Although written in 1954, it resonates today as fresh as it did back then. In fact, it may have been ahead of its time, though I also just finished Martin Eden (see my review of that book), written decades before this book, and it also could be considered ahead of its time. Or am I behind? Anyway, read this book!

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting view of how people tried to reconcile science and the bible,

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and concise introduction to the 19th century evangelical Protestant approach to the relationship between science and Scripture. According to Mark Noll in Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, this book provoked John Whitcomb and Henry Morris to write The Genesis Flood building on amateur geologist George McReady Price's work which promoted Ellen G. White's visions and writings which introduced notion of 6,000 year old creation and a universal flood as the reason for the loss of the dinosaurs and the geological record, incidentally starting the Young Earth Creationist movement which dominated Evangelicalism in the 20th century. Ramm is the author of a standard text on hermeneutics called Protestant Biblical Interpretation, and this volume serves as another valuable resource from which Evangelical Protestants would benefit. It does a good job of presenting the middle of the road approach which corrects the errors of the liberal modernists and the "hyperorthodox" fundamentalists and evangelicals which would eventually turn en masse to Whitcomb and Morris's YEC creation science movement and keep the wedge driven deeply between science and theology. Highly recommended!

[Mary A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after Tim Keller recommended it with high praise (in a video interview sometime, somewhere). As someone who has no background and little understanding of science, I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. It opened my mind to ways we could hold on to the text of scripture while still broadening our understanding of the science behind it. It helped me realize that the Bible is not purporting to be a science textbook and so we should not treat it as such, and yet we should also believe it is sufficient and truthful in everything it does teach on. I was blessed that I was able to learn about science from someone who values the authority of Scripture. It's a helpful book to get the mind thinking.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you would like to explore the subject of Christian faith and science, this is an excellent place to begin. Ramm lays out a history for how the church and science came to be in conflict, and why that conflict should be reconciled. A classic text.