Science According to the Bible

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”  — King David (Psalm 19:1). Effects reveal something about their causes, and God is Creator of all that is distinct from himself. Hence, whatever is distinct from God (physical objects, laws of nature, human consciousness, etc.) tells us something about God.

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” —Romans 1:20. Science is the study of God’s physical effects and an intellectual form of worship. As Nicolaus Copernicus, the publication of whose book On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres generally marks the beginning of the Scientific Revolution, remarked:

To know the mighty works of God, to comprehend His wisdom and majesty and power; to appreciate, in degree, the wonderful workings of His laws, surely all this must be a pleasing and acceptable mode of worship to the Most High, to whom ignorance cannot be more gratifying than knowledge.

This doesn’t mean, of course, that scientists always realize that they are studying God’s physical effects, or that they understand their act of worship. Just as a person may study and contemplate a work of art without thinking about the artist who made it, so also a scientist may perform experiments without acknowledging the God who made experiments possible. Nevertheless, we honor a sculptor (whether we realize it or not) by contemplating his works, and we honor God when we investigate his world.

Philosophy According to the Bible

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”  —Jesus of Nazareth (Mark 12:30)

Philosophy is the cultivation of the mind’s love of God. The term “philosophy” is derived from the Greek philosophia, meaning “love of wisdom” (philo, “love” + sophia, “wisdom”). Wisdom is grounded in proper reverence:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” —Proverbs 9:10

Effects reveal something about their causes, and God is Creator of all that is distinct from himself. Hence, whatever exists apart from God (physical objects, human consciousness, objective moral values, etc.) tells us something about God.

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” —Romans 1:20

In the ancient world, any attempt to understand reality through the use of human reason would have been regarded as philosophy. Accordingly, mathematics, biology, and physics were all once part of the philosophical enterprise. However, as branches of study gather sufficient depth and content, they eventually break away and are considered independent fields of learning.