Ever heard one of these claims? Perhaps you've even said one yourself. Over the years, we've heard them all-but they're all false, or at least they imply a falsehood.

Common claims by non-Christians:

"Science proves the Bible is wrong."

"Evolution is science, but the Bible is religion."

"Evolutionists believe in science, but creationists reject science."

Common claims by Christians:

"I believe the Bible over science."

"Creation is religion, but evolution is religion, too."

"Creationists believe in the Bible and reject science."

The Bible's account of beginnings cannot be tested in a laboratory, so secular scientists-and even some Christians-believe it is not science and must be classified as religion.

Secular scientists claim that their view of beginnings (evolution) can be tested in a laboratory, so their view is scientific. For instance, they point to mutated fruit flies or speciation observed in the field (such as new species of mosquitoes or fish).

Secular scientists claim that their view of beginnings (evolution) can be tested in a laboratory, so their view is scientific. For instance, they point to mutated fruit flies or speciation observed in the field (such as new species of mosquitoes or fish).

But this is where many people are confused-what is meant by "science" or "scientific."

Defining Science

People are generally unaware that dictionaries give a root meaning, or etymology, of science similar to this one from Webster's: "from Latin scientia, from scient-, sciens 'having knowledge,' from present participle of scire 'to know.'

And most dictionaries give the following meaning of the word: "the state of knowing: knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding."

Although there are other uses of the word, the root meaning of science is basically "knowledge." In fact, in the past, philosophy and theology were considered sciences, and theology was even called the "queen of the sciences."

But over the past 200 years, during the so-called Scientific Revolution, the word science has come to mean a method of knowing, a way of discovering truth. Moreover, many people assume that modern science is the only way to discover truth.

Proven Facts

Let us be clear. Accurate knowledge (truth) about physical reality can be discovered by the methods of both operation science and origin science. But truth claims in both areas may be false. Many "proven facts" (statements of supposed truth) about how things operate (in physics, chemistry, medicine, etc.), as well as about how things originated (in biology, geology, astronomy, etc.) have been or will be shown to be false. So, as best we can, we must be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and examine every truth claim against Scripture and look for faulty logic or false assumptions.

source - Answers In Genesis