‘Can we trust the Bible?' series off to a flying start

24 March

If we love the Creator, we will love his creation, Dr John Bimson said last night at the first of Trinity's open meetings entitled ‘Can we trust the Bible in the 21st century?' The early chapters of Genesis have an important message about 'green' issues today: the command to 'have dominion' over the earth implies not a mandate for exploitation, as some have suggested, but a charge to care for it, seeing it as 'good', as God does.

John Bimson, Tutor in Old Testament, was one of the two speakers at ‘The Bible and Science', the first of the four meetings, prompted by the Evangelical Alliance's Biblefresh initiative, organized by Trinity College and Bristol Baptist College. He considered the implications of Genesis 1-3 on Christian attitudes to the environment.

‘Is Darwinism compatible with Genesis 1-11?' was the other topic of the evening, addressed by Revd Dr Ernest Lucas, Vice-Principal and Tutor in Old Testament at Bristol Baptist College, who has research degrees in both science and theology. His view is that there is no necessary clash: he considers a belief in God's creation of the world to be compatible with Darwinian theories of evolution.

About 200 people came to Christ Church Clifton to hear the talks which were followed by questions from the audience to a panel consisting of Dr Christina Biggs, a physicist and the local director of Christians in Science, Professor Andrew Halestrap, Professor of Biochemistry in the University of Bristol, and the two speakers. It was chaired by Revd Matt Trendell, a Trinity student last year and now Curate of Redland Parish Church in Bristol.

Listen to the recordings at http://www.christchurchclifton.org.uk/content/recentsermons

The next evening in the series is on 18 May: The Bible and Jesus: what is the historical evidence for the Gospel accounts, and did Paul invent Christianity? Speakers: Revd Dr Stephen Finamore, Principal and Tutor in New Testament, Bristol Bible College, and Revd Dr David Wenham, Vice-Principal, Trinity College and Tutor in New Testament.