Does Science Contradict the Bible?

Maybe a teacher told you that science has disproved God. Maybe you’ve seen a viral video claiming that faith and reason are enemies. Or maybe you love science and you love Jesus, and you’re wondering if you have to choose. So you searched: Does science contradict the Bible?

The short answer is no. Properly understood, science and Scripture are not enemies. In fact, many of the people who built modern science did so precisely because they believed in the God of the Bible. Let’s look at why.

Are Science and Faith Really at War?

The idea of a “war” between science and Christianity is popular, but history tells a different story. Science studies how the natural world works. The Bible tells us who made it and why. Those are different questions, and they don’t cancel each other out.

Knowing how an engine works doesn’t prove there was no engineer. If anything, the more you understand the engine, the more you admire the one who designed it.

The real conflict isn’t between science and faith. It’s between two worldviews: one that says nature is all there is, and one that says nature was created by God. Science itself can’t settle that question by experiment, but the evidence it uncovers points in a remarkable direction.

What Does God’s “Two Books” Mean?

Christians have long spoken of God revealing Himself in two “books”: the book of nature (His works) and the book of Scripture (His Word). Psalm 19 describes both. It begins with creation:

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.”

Psalm 19:1-2 (ESV)

Then, in verse 7, it turns to Scripture: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:7, ESV). The same God wrote both books, so when both are read correctly, they will not contradict each other. Paul says that creation reveals enough about God to leave every person accountable:

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

Romans 1:20 (ESV)

When there seems to be a conflict, either we’ve misread nature, or we’ve misread Scripture. Both are possible, and humility is needed on both sides.

Did the Universe Have a Beginning?

For centuries, many thinkers assumed the universe was eternal, with no beginning. But in the twentieth century, that changed. Astronomers discovered that the universe is expanding, and in 1965 scientists detected the cosmic microwave background radiation, widely understood as an echo of the universe’s early history.

Today, most cosmologists agree that the universe had a beginning. Interestingly, one of the first to propose this idea was Georges Lemaître, a Belgian physicist who was also a Catholic priest.

Christians weren’t surprised. The very first verse of the Bible says:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Genesis 1:1 (ESV)

And here is the logic: whatever begins to exist has a cause. If the universe began to exist, it has a cause. That cause must be outside of space, time, and matter, enormously powerful, and capable of choosing to create. That sounds a lot like the God of Genesis 1:1. As Hebrews puts it, “the universe was created by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3, ESV).

Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life?

Physicists have found that many of the basic constants and quantities of nature, like the strength of gravity and the forces that hold atoms together, fall within an extremely narrow range that allows life to exist. If some of these values were even slightly different, there would be no stable stars, no planets, and no life.

This is called fine-tuning, and it’s recognized by scientists of many different beliefs. Even the astronomer Fred Hoyle, who was not a Christian, famously wrote that “a common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology.”

Some skeptics answer by proposing countless unseen universes, so that ours just happened to come out right. But there is no direct evidence for such universes. The simpler explanation is that the universe looks designed because it was designed.

Weren’t the Great Scientists Christians?

Many of them were. Modern science grew up largely in Christian Europe, and many of its founders saw their work as a way of honoring God:

• Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), who discovered the laws of planetary motion, saw his work as discovering the order God had built into creation.
• Isaac Newton (1642-1727), who described the laws of motion and gravity, wrote in his Principia that “this most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” Newton also wrote extensively on the Bible.
• Robert Boyle (1627-1691), one of the founders of modern chemistry, was a devout Christian who left money in his will to fund lectures defending the Christian faith.

These men expected nature to be orderly and understandable because they believed it was made by a rational, faithful God. As the psalmist said, “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.” (Psalm 111:2, ESV).

What About the Age of the Earth?

This is one area where sincere, Bible-believing Christians disagree. Some hold a young-earth view, reading the days of Genesis 1 as six ordinary days and the earth as thousands of years old. Others hold an old-earth view, understanding the days in other ways and accepting the scientific evidence for an earth billions of years old.

Both sides affirm that God created everything, that Adam and Eve were real people, and that the Bible is true. This is a discussion among brothers and sisters in Christ, and it should be handled with grace. Your view on the age of the earth is not what saves you; Jesus is.

If you’d like to explore how science and Scripture fit together from an old-earth perspective, Reasons to Believe is a helpful resource with articles, podcasts, and books by Christian scientists.

Where Can I Learn More?

For more videos and articles on the evidence for God’s existence and the truth of Christianity, visit our Proof of God and Jesus Christ Library.

What Does Creation Point To?

The heavens declare the glory of God, but they can’t tell you how to be forgiven. For that, you need God’s other book. The Bible tells us that the One who made the stars is Jesus Christ Himself: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth” (Colossians 1:16, ESV).

The Creator of the universe came into His own creation, lived a perfect life, died on a cross for our sins, and rose again. If you’ve never trusted Him, walk through the Romans Road and see how you can know the God who made you.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.