Reformation 2.0: A Serious Call for the Resurrection of the Bible as the Word of God

By Terry L. Weaver

After the Enlightenment, German theologians in an over-zealous attempt to apply the then new Scientific Method to the study of the Bible, threw the “Bible Baby” out with the dirty bathwater. Science and evolution were the Zeitgeist, and theologians around the world overly bought into the naturalistic thinking of the time. Looking back, we now can see that almost all the science of the 18th and 19th centuries was very incomplete compared to what we know today. While science corrects itself with time, German theology has a unique and very unscientific way of progressing by building only upon previously accepted ideas even if those previous ideas were wrong. Thus, the unintended consequence of Biblical criticism over the past 200 years has been the trashing of the Bible as the Word of God. This book traces the history of the problem and proposes a Reformation of the way we view the Bible through Science and History thereby resurrecting the Bible once again to its proper position as the Word of God. If we get the Bible right, we will get Jesus right; if we get Jesus right, it will be all right.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664236806

Terry L. Weaver

Dr. Terry L. Weaver received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology from the Ohio State University. During his academic career he has held faculty positions at Cornell University, the State University of New York at Alfred, the State University of New York at Fredonia, Liberty University, and Regent University. Upon his early retirement from the State University of New York in 1996, Dr. Weaver and his wife Marilyn served as Missionaries with Elim Fellowship in Tanzania, Kenya, and Germany. Presently Dr. Weaver is Professor Emeritus with the State University of New York and an Adjunct Professor at Regent University.

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Cover image is from St. Mary’s Church, Wittenberg,

Germany- the Mother Church of the Reformation.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-3681-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3680-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021911691

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/16/2021

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank my wife, Marilyn, my partner in God’s plan and calling, my best friend, and my chief consultant on all questions of theology. Anytime a book is written, the spouse of the author always contributes much through patience, selflessness, added family burdens, and sharing of time. Additionally, Marilyn helped tremendously with detailed editorial corrections and suggestions. I do thank Marilyn for all she has done to help me complete this work. I also want to thank Rita and Bob Wiener who carefully read, edited, and made useful suggestions during the preparation of the book.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my four grandchildren: Abigail Marianne Rehema Weaver, Olivia Grace Ramirez-Weaver, Nathaniel Joshua Samweli Weaver, and Gabriel Evan Johannes Weaver. As they navigate the pathway of life, may this little book show them The Way to The Book in which they can find The Truth.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 Science And The Scientific Method

Chapter 2 A Look Back at Science and the Enlightenment

Chapter 3 A Mighty Fortress is our God

Chapter 4 The Evolution of Theology

Chapter 5 Evolution- The Mighty Fortress of Biology

Chapter 6 Scientific Advancement since Darwin

Chapter 7 Information and Origins

Chapter 8 Archeological, Historical, and Other Evidence

Chapter 9 The Journey Down Ratchet Road

Chapter 10 The Ratchet Club

Chapter 11 Let the Scriptures Speak

Chapter 12 A Call to Reform

Endnotes and References

INTRODUCTION

Since the 1st century following the life of Jesus Christ, the Christian church has been guided by the Holy Bible which in the past had been accepted as the Word of God. However, over the first millennium of the church, pride, politics, and power resulted in practices creeping into the church that were inconsistent with God’s instructions and Jesus’ teachings in the Bible. In 1517, Martin Luther, a priest in the church, tried to promote a reformation of the church from within by pointing out practices that were contrary to Biblical principles. Luther’s intention was to bring about reform by calling attention to specific practices needing correction. Toward that end he published 95 Theses or topics for discussion. It was his hope that after careful consideration of these 95 theses, the needed reformation in the church would be forthcoming. Unfortunately, his corrections were not received well by those in power in the church. It is an oft repeated pattern through the ages that those in power do not usually receive correction very well. Rather than making the corrections needed to bring the church back into alignment with God’s instructions in the Bible, the church leaders threw Luther and his followers out of the church. Luther had no choice but to continue his protestations outside of the Roman Catholic Church resulting in the protestant branch of the Christian church. This was the first Reformation.

Now, 500 years since the Reformation, due to pride, power, and politics, the church has again drifted from its Biblical foundational truths and, once again, is in trouble. The problems today stem from a deconstruction of the Bible resulting in a church that is foundationless, faithless, weak, and a mere shadow of what it once was and what God intended it to be. Of course, the Foundation of the church is Jesus Christ, and God’s plan for his people through Jesus Christ has been given to us through his written word via the Bible. Due to a deconstruction of the Bible, the church has lost its firm foundations, and without a foundation, a structure, regardless of how ancient, massive, and once magnificent, is sure to collapse. Therefore, the church finds itself today once again in need of reformation.

Deconstruction of the Bible was a consequence of the Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries. This so-called Enlightenment was largely based upon science as the hot, new way to find truth as opposed to God revealing his Truth through His written Word, the Bible. Of course, this was a false dilemma, because truth is truth if it is truly true regardless of the method by which one finds it. One of the major problems of Bible criticism discussed in this book is that in the 17th-19th centuries, when the crucial foundational building blocks of Bible exegesis and understanding were being laid, most of our scientific understanding about life and the universe was either very elementary or incorrect. Then due to the unique way theological truths were established in the universities, these foundational theological truths, which were based upon incorrect understanding or non-existent scientific and historical information, became locked into our understanding of the Bible. Critical examination of the Bible should be a good thing, since it should help us to understand the message God has given us through the written word. However, in practice this can only happen if it is kept in mind that the Bible actually is God’s message to mankind. Once this basic underlying truth, i.e., the Bible is God’s message for mankind, was forgotten, we threw the Bible baby out with the dirty bath water. During the last several centuries, this illogical pitting of science against God has resulted in a shredding of our view of the Bible as God’s Word.

Thus, once again, the church needs a paradigm shift in thinking- a Reformation 2.0. In this book I will trace the history of how we got here as a way of understanding where we need to go. It is the theme of this book that science and the Bible are not really at odds with each other, but rather both are ways to find true truth. It follows logically that if a truth is truly true, it should be revealed the same regardless of the method by which one finds it. It is my hope that this book will result in a re-examination of the way we view the Bible, and that through this process, the Bible will be resurrected back to its proper place as the Word of God. This book is not directed against a particular denomination or group; rather, it is written to all who call themselves Christian- to the church in general. Once we return to viewing the Bible as the Word of God, we can then return to a proper understanding of Jesus Christ, what he did, and what he said. Then, once again, the church will return to its strong written foundation from which Truth can be gleaned.

This is not to suggest that we should ignore scientific, archaeological, or historical information, but rather that all these ways of finding truth properly should be incorporated into one’s worldview. However, we will find in this exploration that as one is constructing a synthesis of truths, it should be done with the presupposition that truly the Bible contains God’s revelation for mankind. This is not a blind leap of faith presupposition, but rather it is the result of a much deeper and more thorough understanding of science, history, and archaeology than was available during those critical years of Biblical deconstruction. Once we are again properly understanding and following the Word of Truth, the church will be back on the right path toward becoming all that God wants it to be, and through her, others will once again be drawn to the light and love of Jesus Christ. If we get the Bible right, we will get Jesus right; if we get Jesus right, it will be all right.

1

SCIENCE AND THE

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

"Then you will know the truth,

and the truth will set you free." John 8:32

Knowing Truth:

Science is a way of knowing truth. It is a good way of knowing, but it is not the only way of knowing. Science is a way of learning truth by means of a procedure known as the Scientific Method. Other ways of knowing acquire information by other routes. For example, History is a way of knowing about events that have happened in the past; one learns about history by reading or hearing a report by someone who witnessed a particular event or who heard about the event or read about the event from another reliable source. Archaeology is a way of knowing history that involves investigating evidence remaining from past events, cultures, and civilizations, and using that evidence to piece together a picture of their history. Mathematics is a way of knowing truths about numbers and symbols by means of processing numbers based upon accepted laws of mathematics. For example, 1 + 1 = 2 is a mathematical truth; it does not involve scientific thought and it does not involve historical thought. It is a different way of knowing truth. While scientists often use mathematical equations to describe natural events, mathematics is an operational tool quite different from the scientific method. Logic is another way of knowing truth that is very similar in nature to mathematics in that one arrives at logical truths by following accepted rules of logical operations. For example, the Logic Law on Non-Contradiction would allow one to say that if A=B is true, then A ≠ B cannot be true. Philosophy and Theology are ways of knowing truth that may employ any or all of the above in making arguments in their quest for truth. Additionally, in theology, there may be written texts that are considered authoritative, e.g., the Bible, in Christianity. When there is an accepted authoritative text, then the truths revealed in it must be included as part of the overall quest for truth within one’s worldview. Thus, in summary, the scientific method is but one way among several of seeking and finding truth.

Another point before leaving the topic of knowing is that it is utter nonsense to deny that truth exists; that everything is subjective or relative; that nothing is certain, as we often hear regarding the post-modern worldview. It is very trendy these days among the younger generations known as Millennials (born 1981-1996) and Generation Z (born 1997 and later) to deny or debate the existence of absolute truth. Individuals who utter such nonsense are deluded. I would like to take a board and smack the person making such a comment soundly in the face. I would ask them if it is absolutely true that I smacked them in the face with a board? If they said No, I would whack them in the face again with the board. I would ask them if it is absolutely true that it hurts. I would ask them if they would like me to do it again. Immediately the fact that absolute truth exists should be apparent even to those simple-minded mush-heads who try to deny it.

Aside from practical demonstrations such as the imaginary one above, the proposition that there is no such thing as absolute truth is from the beginning a self-refuting proposition. If the words are true, then the statement is false (because the statement denying absolute truth would be absolutely true). If the words in the proposition are not true, then the statement is also false. Therefore, the proposition is false; truth exists, and it is our task to find it rather than to waste time defending its existence.

Science:

Before describing what has come to be known as the scientific method of discovering truth, it is worth considering briefly what is meant by science. The word science is derived from the Latin Scientia which means knowledge. Thus, in the broadest use of the word, and in its earlier meaning, science can mean any systematic search for truth. In this broad usage there are many kinds of science, e.g., natural science, educational science, political science, military science, journalistic science, social science, and even theological science.

However, it is not in this broad sense that I am using the word science in this volume. Rather, I am using science in the narrow sense to refer to the way of finding truth that uses the scientific method. In the above list, the natural sciences would therefore be considered true sciences which use the scientific method to discover truth. As we shall see, the scientific method involves testing explanations based upon natural laws (because these kinds of explanations are the types that can be tested by doing controlled experiments). Thus, the true sciences, i.e., true by strictly following the scientific method, would include (among others) biology, chemistry, physics, geology, etc. The reason for using the narrower, stricter definition of science is because it is this narrower usage that is referred to when speaking of a scientific worldview, a subject to which we will return later which has much relevance in the development of modern theology and the way we view the Bible.

The Scientific Method:

Now let us look at this way finding truth called the scientific method. Humans have an inherent desire to understand how things work- it is part of what makes us human. As a rule, we do not like uncertainty, but rather prefer to at least understand even if we cannot control outcomes. We are curious about things, and this is the beginning of doing science. Something gets our attention, and we consider it interesting. Because it is interesting to us,