Struggling With My Faith

Welcome to the forum. I am a scientist who has also struggled with my faith in the “truth” of the Bible. I have come to realize that all translations of the original Hebrew text have been literal translations. When the Bible talks about the creation, in particular, it poses a unique problem. Scientists do not translate the data from the natural world literally. They translate it epistemically. In order to make a valid comparison between the biblical account of creation and what the creation itself tells us, they must be given the same form of translation. If we apply an epistemic translation to Genesis 1:1-2, it says, ‘In the beginning God created space and matter, and the matter was without form and void. And darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was vibrating over the fluid matter’. While the biblical creation story may be literal nonsense, it is epistemic brilliance. It gives the Bible a unique credibility. Words and their meaning are a human creation but we had nothing to do with the creation of the natural world. Limiting God to a literal translation of words is putting human limitations on God. There is more to the epistemic translation of scripture, but this is an important example. It may be useful to recognize that all scriptural and philosophical writings are ‘Opinion Literature’ that will primarily appeal to those who have an aptitude for that opinion. Truth is the opinion that you have a passion to believe.

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