Most of us have now heard about emails discovered at the University of East Anglia pertaining to the research and “science” of global warming. The Wall Street Journal recently had an interesting statement pertaining to Al Gore, the ostensible apostle of global warming: “Poor Al Gore. Global warming completely debunked via the very Internet you invented. Oh, oh, the irony!”[1]

This is not simply Schadenfreude: there is actually a serious point here for Christians in this discovery. For those of us who are unfamiliar with what has occurred, let me summarize.

“Climategate”, as it is now being referred to, began with the disclosure of emails and other documents showing how leading global warming scientists had evaded peer review and refused to disclose and share data about global warming research. In mid-November a large cache of emails and technical documents from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia in Britain were made available on a number of Internet file servers for download by the public-either the work of a hacker or a leak from a whistleblower on the inside[2]. It appears, from these emails and documents, that scientists were intentionally manipulating the data to advance the political cause and agenda of Global Warming proponents. The reason this is an important discovery is because the CRU was relied on by international institutions like the United Nations as well as a foundational research for the Obama administration in crafting policies like Cap and Trade.

Besides the obvious impact to public policy, why should Christians care? Because latent in the minds of many believers is the notion that science is infallible. How does that notion reveal itself? In various ways.
When a preacher appeals to a scientific pronouncement to support his argument on a biblical doctrine, it belies the notion that science has an air of infallibility. When a believer will not receive a particular truth from Scripture at a certain point, possibly because that particular truth is at odds with a scientific pronouncement, once again, that attitude belies the latent notion that science is infallible.

Unfortunately, I regularly debate this issue with individuals in my care as an elder at KPC. The debate goes something like this: I will make an argument from Scripture concerning a particular doctrine, for instance, the historicity of the fall from Genesis 3. I’ve been teaching through Genesis this year and spent a goodly amount of time working through Genesis 3, specifically, the fall and original sin of Adam, the consequences of that event on Adam and Eve, the world, and humanity since then. I will make the assertion from Scripture that Adam’s sin was a historical event, it occurred in time-space history. The response to my argument is that the Genesis 3 account is really myth, or a metaphor, because, as the response asserts, if one traces through the time line as reckoned through Scripture, the existence and fall of Adam could only have occurred between 6,000-10,000 years ago. How does one then explain the dinosaurs and assertions from science that the earth is millions of years old?

Now let’s be clear: these are reasonable questions that can be addressed, although it’s beyond the immediate scope of a particular study to address them in detail. The more important question for consideration is, what does understanding Genesis 3 as a metaphor or myth mean for Christian living? If Genesis 3 is myth or metaphor, that would mean that “the fall” and sin do not exist. The Genesis account is simply a meta-narrative that does not have a basis in history. If the fall never occurred, then humanity doesn’t stand under God’s wrath and curse: if humanity does not stand under God’s wrath and curse, why would a Redeemer be necessary?

What has happened here? We ostensibly have a conflict between the teaching of Scripture and science. The question then is, what are we to believe and understand concerning Genesis 3? There are Christians probably reading this article now who are unclear of the historicity of the fall. Why? Because they cannot reconcile the doctrinal import of Genesis 3 (or any other part of Scripture) with “science”. The question is, why should Christians have to reconcile the teaching of Scripture to science at all? Because “science”, is clearly infallible (that is what society around us would like us to believe). Science, according to the zeitgeist, has become the final arbiter in matters of “life and faith”. Interesting to note what has happened; science, or what passes for science in the media, in textbooks, and in our society has supplanted the rightful place of God’s Word in the life of Christians.

What is important to note about the recent spate of emails discovered at the University of East Anglia is this: that science and what passes as science is subject to politicalization and that motivations for particular scientific assertions are not infallible: they are subject to revision, and sometimes, regular revision. Once again, to be clear, Christians are not called to oppose scientific discovery or to be Luddites concerning the technology that inevitably flows from science. Christians, out of all the people in the world, should be most grateful to our Gracious God from whom all the blessings of scientific discovery flow from. [3] What we are to be clear about is that every movement in the world, global warming, environmentalism, for instance, is colored by the agendas of fallen human beings and needs to scrutinized and tested by the light of Scripture.
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Bill Mueller, Miami, Fla.

[1] “Climate of Uncertainty Heats Up”, L. Gordon Crovitz, Wall Street Journal, December 7th, 2009.

[2] “Scientists Behaving Badly”, Steven F. Hayward, Weekly Standard, December 14, 2009, page 16.

[3] James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”