科學與聖經有否矛盾呢？

科學與聖經有否矛盾呢？

在聖經創世記第一章的記載，指出神的創造在六日完成。若根據聖經的歷史記述去推算，有人計算出地球的年齡大約是8千至1萬年之間。這些人同時認為宇宙的年齡也應在這個範圍之內。但現今很多的科學觀察及數據卻顯示出，地球和宇宙的年齡大約在11至20億年之間。所以，為了要解釋這個問題，在基督徒科學家群體中，對於地球和宇宙的年齡，主要有兩派的看法，包括：Young Age Universe 和 Old Age Universe。

支持宇宙是young age 的論點主要是以聖經創世記一章的字面解釋為出發點，相信每日的創造為完整的24小時，以致算出地球應是非常年青！這看法主要是以聖經為藍本，以聖經去解釋科學。

支持宇宙是 old age 的論點主要是從科學的觀察（包括遙遠的星系等的觀察）為起始，假設宇宙中的科學定律、常數是不變的，從而計算出宇宙的年齡是比較年老！某些支持這看法的學者更嘗試解釋創世記第一章，指出每日的創造可能是一段慢長的時間而非字面所指的24小時。亦有些學者認為創1:2節的『空虛混沌，淵面黑暗』，是指神的六日創造前其實有一段慢長的時間(Gap theory)。這些看法主要是以科學為基礎，去解釋聖經的意思。

究竟我們基督徒應持甚麼看法呢？

我認為葛培理(Billy Graham)的看法是比較有洞見：

"I don't think that there's any conflict at all between science today and the Scriptures. I think that we have misinterpreted the Scriptures many times and we've tried to make the Scriptures say things they weren't meant to say, I think that we have made a mistake by thinking the Bible is a scientific book. The Bible is not a book of science. The Bible is a book of Redemption, and of course I accept the Creation story. I believe that God did create the universe. I believe that God created man, and whether it came by an evolutionary process and at a certain point. He took this person or being and made him a living soul or not, does not change the fact that God did create man. Whichever way God did it makes no difference as to what man is and man's relationship to God."1

1 Source Book: Billy Graham: Personal Thoughts of a Public Man, 1997. p. 72-74