Can we believe Genesis today?: The Bible And The Questions Of Science

by Ernest Lucas

This book is about Genesis and how far scientific discoveries can help us to understand it. Many of us are confused about what Genesis tells us, and how (and why) to approach its ancient story of the origin of the world and mankind. We are usually equally confused about what Genesis is, and what it can and cannot tell us. If we are willing to look for truth and consider other ways of seeing the world, we can emerge from the fog. This book gives a fresh and important approach to some of the deep down questions which trouble us most about where we can from, and why we are here.

Genres: Science, Religion, Christian

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2008

About the author

Faraday Institute profile

Ernest Lucas has an MA in Chemistry from Oxford University and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Kent. He did post-doctoral work in biochemistry in the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Oxford University before studying Theology at Oxford. After being ordained as a Baptist Minister he was minister of Baptist churches in Durham City and Liverpool. He obtained a PhD in Oriental Studies from Liverpool University. He was Associate Director of the Institute for Contemporary Christianity in London before moving to Bristol Baptist College (an affiliated college of Bristol University) where he was Vice-Principal and Tutor in Biblical Studies until he retired in 2012. He is an Honorary Research Fellow in Theology and Religious Studies in the University of Bristol. The course he taught on Science and Christianity received a Templeton award, as has a paper he has published on Science, Wisdom, Eschatology and the Cosmic Christ.

He is married to Hazel, a physics teacher, and they have two sons.

Reviews

[Emma S]

A solid introduction to how to read Chs 1-11 of Genesis. Lucas deals with questions like, "what about evolution?", "was the flood local or global?" and "did the whole human race really come from Adam and Eve?" with balance and care. Helpful preparation for upcoming church Bible studies. I think the penultimate chapter was strongest, where he highlights that Genesis shows us a great contrast with Mesopotamian literature and beliefs about creation, gods and humanity. The Genesis account points us to a God who creates, who cares, and who judges rightly with mercy; a humanity that is broken and sinful, but which will be redeemed. Seeing how the text deliberately contrasts with other origin stories helps us to read it how it was intended to be read: not as a scientific textbook, but as the story of a God who is the loving Lord of all.

[Stephen]

This is a clear and expansive discourse on the various viewpoints from modern atheist to full literal creationist. It does not seek to propound any particular viewpoint, but expresses the viewpoints and leaves the reader to make up thier own mind. It begins from the excellent premis that God wrote the Bible and God created science, therefore if we cannot reconcile the two, then we must be at fault, not God. I personally found this book very helpful as a Bible believing, science oriented and science educated, Christian. Lucas is highly respected and very readable with sound qualifications.

[Paul Bruggink]

Ernest Lucas is one of a small group of people with earned doctorates in science and theology. His book is a refreshingly readable summary of the current state of interpretation of science and interpretation of Genesis. First published in 1989 as "Genesis Today," it has been updated and expanded in the current (third) edition. It is a good summary of the scholarship up to around year 2000.

The book covers Genesis 1-11, including the two creation accounts, the Fall, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel, though it's a bit skimpy on the Flood.

Lucas supports the Framework Interpretation, which he refers to as the literary-cultural approach, without ever using the word "framework," possibly because the first edition of his book was published in 1989, which pre-dates the common usage of the term "framework interpretation."
Lucas sums up the situation well on p. 182: "Our understanding of anything, including the Bible, is never perfect. What is more . . . science is always only an approximation to ultimate reality. If our interpretation of the Bible agreed perfectly with the modern science of today, it almost certainly would not agree with the modern science of tomorrow! The really important thing is that we should understand exactly what Genesis teaches."

This book was obviously written for laymen: no footnotes, just a short "Further Reading" list at the end of each chapter. As a result, a lot of statements are made without direct reference to sources. Documentation for his statements is sparse.

This book is further demonstration that the Brits and the Canadians are ahead of the Americans in integrating biological evolution and the Bible.

[L.S.]

Science is the brainchild of Christianity and that is why science has limitations: values, meaning can be addressed only by the realm of morality and religion. So the world can be de-sacralized and studied and because it is a Creation of God it can be investigated and understood by experiment and observation. God is a rational being, personal and faithfull. Science cannot explain everything it explores God's Creation. The author thinks that the current crisis in science is due to the loss of Christian basis.
The literal and concordist approach to Genesis are presented, but the author opts for a literar-cultural understanding of the text.

[Daniel Wright]

Lucas is a scientist with a significant amount of biblical education. He approaches his subject with a great deal of delicacy and generosity, while laying out his own views carefully, arguing them thoroughly to produce something of an underrated volume.