Charles Prince is not the first author with hopes of stirring discussion between scientific folks and people of faith. That was also the goal of Dr. Francis S. Collins, eminent scientist, atheist-turned-evangelical believer, now retired head of the Human Genome Project, and author of the 2006 book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (Free Press). Collins writes as a top-tier scientist who became an evangelical Christian. Prince, who in semi-retirement at age 80 still teaches advanced Bible and Koine Greek at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, writes from the … [Read more...]

In the Spring of 1949, Charles Prince was studying as a chemistry major at what later became Rice University, taking double-minors classes in biology and physics. He continued his schooling at Abilene Christian University and Harvard Divinity School. For several decades, he was plagued by internal struggles over what appeared to be irreconcilable truths of science and faith. Over the years, he came to see the fight, not as between science and faith at all, but rather between "some scientists" and "some preachers." Now he has written a book for intelligent lay-persons in both fields, hoping the … [Read more...]

With fanfare befitting its subject, The Discovery Channel presented its 2007 pre-Easter special titled "The Lost Tomb of Jesus." The program was directed by James Cameron ("Titanic") and Simcha Jacobovici, the latter being also co-author with Charles Pellegrino of the new book The Jesus Family Tomb. This media sensation stems from the 1980 discovery during routine construction work in Jerusalem of a first-century family burial plot. Inside the tomb were bone-boxes (called "ossuaries") on which were inscribed the names "Mary," "Mariamne," "Matthew," "Jesus son of Joseph," "Joseph" and "Judah … [Read more...]

If the experts in archaeology, geology, linguistics and epigraphy (study of inscriptions) are correct, a stone box ("ossuary") which once held the bones of James the half-brother of our Lord has surfaced to become one of the earliest physical finds which mention the historical Jesus. Dr. Andre’ Lemaire of the Sorbonne in Paris, perhaps the world’s leading scholar in ancient inscriptions, was shown the box by an Israeli antiquities dealer while working at Hebrew University from April to September 2002. Inscribed on the box in Aramaic letters were the words "James, son of Joseph, brother of … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber in the Northeast asks if we can discern the age of the earth from the Bible. He has heard someone teach that we can, and that Scripture puts approximately 6,000 candles on our planet's birthday cake. *          *          * It is easy to understand why some well-meaning Christians draw such conclusions, but it is equally clear that Scripture does not require us to do so. Even some Bibles, for example, list dates in the margins, with the Creation of humankind calculated at 4,004 B.C. Those figures are no part of the biblical text, but reflect the calculations of a … [Read more...]

 PRO -- "Your response to this issue is the most concise, accurate, and appropriately persuasive assessment and challenge I've ever seen or heard. For myself and others who will benefit from what you say here, Thank you!" CON -- "To entertain any belief other than a literal six days [of creation] is to undermine the veracity of the entire Bible; if one starts picking holes in the creation account then the entire Bible comes into question, for the creation account 'sets up' everything else in the Bible. With the creation account in doubt, God's entire plan for humanity comes into … [Read more...]

A gracEmail reader is outraged because science professors at a particular Christian college have suggested that the "days" of creation in Genesis 1 might not mean literal 24-hour days. He demands that the college "do something" about the science professors, who also believe that God created the universe and that his Spirit inspires the Old and New Testament Scriptures. * * * We should learn to read the Bible to hear its message to us, not to ask it questions which those who wrote it never remotely intended to answer. That is especially true when reading Genesis and Revelation, both of which … [Read more...]

An astronomer whose specialty involves a belt of planetoids orbiting somewhere beyond Neptune says that his scientific work is reasonable only because he believes in God. Guy Consolmagno earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from MIT and a doctorate from the University of Arizona, then taught at Harvard before returning to MIT for three years of postdoctoral studies in astronomy. Consolmagno sees a direct link between faith in the Creator and his own profession of studying the heavens. "Only when you accept the God who created the world and said it was good, only then do you have the confidence to … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber asks: "Can someone who believes in God and accepts the Bible as his word also believe in evolution as the process by which God brought into being the diversity of animal life on earth, including human beings?" * * * For those of us who consider it divinely authoritative, the message of the Bible ultimately matters more than anything any scientist might say. Indeed, for us one clear word of scripture teaching outweighs all the pronouncements of science combined. But merely saying that does not resolve the question whether God used the means of evolution as a tool in his … [Read more...]