The Science of Bible Study

I’ve been reading Matt Chandler’s book The Explicit Gospel and in it he discusses his distrust of science (not sure why, it really has nothing to do with the book or the gospel) because of the scientific method. The method that scientists use in making a discovery is something like this: Create a hypothesis (decide what you think should happen based on a set of conditions), do experiments that create the required conditions, collect data from the experiment, analyze the data to determine if the original hypothesis is correct, lather, rinse, repeat. He maintains that very frequently the scientist finds that the data do not support the original hypothesis and is scrapped and new data collected in the hope that it will support the desired result. So science begins any experiment not with random observation or pure discovery, but with a reasoned expectation of what the experiment should prove. An open-minded scientist may make wonderful discoveries in the process of experimentation to prove the hypothesis – things which lead to new hypothesis or far greater truths than he expected to see revealed. A close-minded scientist may be tempted to suppress data which does not agree with his original hypothesis.

Now this post is not about science, but about Bible study. Interestingly, I think we often approach study of the Bible as a scientific experiment. We begin with a hypothesis – perhaps something of our own thoughts, or something we have heard someone else say – and we begin to search through the scriptures to collect data to support our hypothesis. We may disregard the data (passages) that do not support our hypothesis, or we may scrap the experiment all together but still hold to the hypothesis because it ‘makes sense to us.’  We may manipulate the meanings of certain words or phrases to make them indicate something more in keeping with our expected result. We, like the close-minded scientist, may suppress data which does not agree with our way of thinking. We are not interested in observation or discovery of truth from the scripture, but in finding support for our hypothesis.

I am reasonably certain we all do this to an extent, myself included. But a couple of years ago, God gave me a gift – at least I consider it a gift. I might call it the gift of ‘what if.’ What if scripture actually means what it literally says? What if scripture is its own hypothesis – it creates all the appropriate questions and answers them? What if there are some things that we simply cannot understand and that’s okay? What if the least intuitive interpretation of scripture is the most likely? What if I chase the rabbit trails of scripture instead of hunting the same old familiar ground? If we can approach the scripture as an open-minded scientist approaches experimentation (with hypothesis in hand but fascinated by the journey and the opportunity for discovery) we might find things that destroy our original hypothesis and yet lead to more appropriate hypothesis and greater truths than we initially expected. In this way the scripture becomes more than just a weapon that we use against others (indeed against God himself) but a never-ending trove of treasure to be discovered and mined and enjoyed.

As seekers of truth in the scripture we are in the same boat as the scientist, really. We are both creating hypothesis out of a finite mind that seek to define that which was created by an infinite intelligence. The outcome of our work will depend mostly on how proud we are of our hypothesis. While our unwillingness to accept the truth does not change the truth that exists, we may never discover that truth if it lies outside of our initial hypothesis because we are not really interested in discovering truth but in defending our hypothesis.

Nature actually creates its own hypothesis, by the way – that there is a God, an intelligent designer. The scientist who seeks to prove a hypothesis in contradiction to nature’s own will eventually find it necessary to manipulate data to prove his hypothesis (see Romans 1:20). As my high school chemistry teacher Mr. Crites told us at the beginning of the school year, “If you persist in asking me why matter does what it does, eventually I will have no other answer for you than ‘because God made it that way’.” Scripture creates its own hypothesis as well:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19 ESV)

If we start from that hypothesis and review the scriptures honestly we may discover greater truths than we could ever hypothesize with our puny brains. Here’s to open-minded scientists!

God Bless.