True science and true faith are not in conflict
True science and true faith are not in conflict
The following info was compiled from information found in The Aramaic English New Testament:
We (including the staff of The Refiner's Fire) believe in the literal existence of both heavenly and demonic spiritual forces, and that these same forces greatly influence good and evil effects in the physical world. Such an admission does not deny physical realities, but considers possible causes of aforesaid effects beyond bodily processes alone, for man does not live by the body and its physical needs alone (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4). While there is also symbolism and metaphor present in the Good News accounts of Y'shua exorcising demons from people, attempts to suggest that a metaphoric exclusivity applies to Aramaic terms such as shaida and dewa to the insane, and divorced from negative spiritual forces completely, are erroneous and fully renounced.
We further believe that the first command from YHWH (Yahweh) to humanity was to do disciplined observation of the Earth, which is necessary in order to "subdue" it (Genesis 1:28). Rav Shaul's command in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 to "explore everything…hold fast to the good and fly from everything evil" reflects this same method, even as we are taught in Psalm 19:1 that "the heavens declare the glory of Elohim; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Therefore as the modern sciences explore this same work of YHWH, it is an intelligent conclusion that proof of YHWH as the Great Designer is being progressively evidenced. (It is another matter entirely whether the individual scientists who make certain scientific discoveries recognize the relationships that exist between the metaphysical (spiritual) and natural worlds.)
The first mention in any ancient literature 1 of a round Earth - a sphere or khoog in the original Hebrew - is contained in Isaiah 40:22.2 The heavens themselves, or the face of the deep, is also described in Proverbs 8:27 as having a circular character most like an orbit. It is interesting to note that the order of Genesis of simpler life in the seas coming before land animals and culminating with man's creation is mirrored in what modern day biologists have pieced together from the fossil record. Further, in order for life to be tov meod (very good) it must also have within itself the ability to adapt to its environment that was also created by YHWH and change to some degree over time; or, if YHWH permits, to go extinct from the planet. (And certainly there are species such as the Leviathan which were apparently around in ancient times but which no longer exist today.)
In the end, it is the duty of every person of faith to explore these issues fully and be subject to the rigors of his own conscience. But, neither is there any reason to suppose that true science and true faith are in conflict.
Footnotes/explanations:
1. Prior to this time all ancient scientific authorities said the Earth was flat. The famous experiment of the Greek scientist Erastosthenes that proved both the shape and gave a close estimate of the planet's actual size would not be done before about 240 BCE, by which time the prophet Isaiah's description of the Earth as a circle-sphere was almost 500 years old. Furthermore, the common phrase "end of the Earth" throughout Tanakh (Deuteronomy 28:64-65; Psalm 19:4-6, 22:27, 59:13) in no way refers to anything other than boundaries of land to sea, land and sea to sky, or sky to the Universe. The same can be said for the kanaph or "corners" of the Earth mentioned in Isaiah 11:12. For an excellent and more detailed study of this matter on the web, please see Tekton Apologetics.
2. And so ironically the famous scientist Galileo could have made a scriptural argument against the Roman Church and chided them for using pagan sources over the Scriptures for their beliefs! Furthermore, the mis-reading of lines that talk about "shaking the Earth by its edges" (Job 38:13) could also refer to the arc of a spherical object, like a marble for example. Or, since the word in Hebrew for "earth" can also mean "land", this possibility means that the wicked are not expelled from a totally flat Earth either. Such harmonization is necessary given the total picture Scripture provides.