Introduction

Broadly speaking there are two major fields of opposition to the Christian faith, philosophy and science. They overlap in many ways but they also have distinct concerns. For short, we might say that whereas philosophy emphasizes logic science emphasizes experience. In the pursuit of truth, the one looks mainly to the faculty of reason and the other looks mainly to the faculties of sense perception. We might speak of abstract thinking versus hands on analysis. But still we must say that both are on the stage at the same time. It is just that one takes center stage with the other helping in the background. If abstract thoughts are center stage then philosophy is at work. If what you see, touch, weigh, and measure is center stage then science is at work.

Keeping the bond between philosophy and science in mind, I want to direct your thoughts to defense of the faith in relation to anti-Christian claims of science. This will again be but a taste of things that might be covered but a taste that I trust will help you get to the bottom of many issues. Therefore, my title for today's message is "God's Speech, Theology, and the Sciences." The central passage for this study is Psalm 19 where we have some features about God's speech that give us important implications for science. My outline is thus twofold: a) Some features about God's speech in Psalm 19, and b) Some implications from God's speech per Psalm 19.

1A. Some features about God's speech in Psalm 19

A careful reading of the Psalm reveals an abrupt transition between verses 6 and 7. There is a change from discussion of the works of God (heavens, sky, and the sun, vs.1-6) to the word of God (His law, statutes, precepts, commands, and ordinances, vs.7-9).

1B. God's speech the main topic of the entire Psalm

Initially we may outline the Psalm into the works of God (1-6) and the words of God (7-14). The latter section deals with "the words of God" because His law, statutes, precepts, commands, and ordinances refer to the very words of God spoken and written down since the time of Moses. The Psalmist is talking about God's speech in Scripture. Similarly in Psalm 119 speaking to the Lord the Psalmist puts "your word" parallel with "the laws that come from your mouth" with the commitment to recount those laws "with my lips" (9-13). Thus in Psalm 19 God's word is being referred to when the prayer is offered: "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer" (14). It is God's speech that is sweeter than honey from the honeycomb (10). This is the OT way of saying what Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16, namely, the Scriptures are from the breath of God's mouth, the utterances and sounds that are produced by air passing over the vocal cords. The Scriptures are God's speech written down.

God's word is something that we not only taste but speak in the fabric of our daily conversations. God's speech is more precious than gold because it revives the soul giving wisdom, joy, light, and protection from sin and judgment (7-13). Ultimately, we are directed here to the sweetness of Christ as the Word that became flesh (Jn. 1:1-14) and in whom is light and life. The Scriptures testify of Him and by them we know Him and receive eternal life.

But why call the former section the works of God? I ask this because the works of God (heavens, sky, and sun) are described as making declaration and proclamation (1). Everyday "they pour forth speech" (2). The world is not only created by God's word ("God said… and it was so," Gen. 1:9, etc.; "by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, they starry host by the breath of his mouth," Ps. 33:6), it is also a speech utterance. The creation not only has its origin in God's speech; it is God's speech. That this is not to be restricted to the heavens, sky, and sun but applies to all of creation is confirmed when Psalm 19 is compared with other passages like Psalm 104.

Thus the major topic of Psalm 19 is God's speech. This topic is developed throughout the Psalm and is unfolded in two ways: His speech in creation and His speech in Scripture.

2B. God's speech in and through the creation declares the glory of His works. This combines the phrases of verse 1. The works of God's hands communicate the radiant glory of God. This communication from the Lord is universal and clear for by it knowledge is given to all people on earth whatever their language may be (2-4). This fact is a remarkable fact that the creation is the speech of God. It is remarkable because speech is the main way that persons communicate with one another. If I want you to know what I am thinking, I put my thoughts into words. I utter these words in speech. Hearing these words enables you to think about what I said and understand my thoughts. Speech is a key to personal communication, which is the opening of the heart of one person for another. Speech involves the sharing of thoughts and purposes of the heart from one person to another.

3B. God's speech in and through the creation extends an overture of grace. There is a packed convergence of analogies presented in verses 4b-6. The sky is pictured as a dome or tent that serves as a dwelling place for the sun. The rising of the sun is likened to a bridegroom rejoicing over his bride. Finally the sun is compared to a champion runner speedily making his way from one end of the heavens to the other. Behind the bridegroom is the sun and behind the sun is the Creator of the sun. God is pictured here as a bridegroom rejoicing over his bride (cf. Isa. 61:10, 62:5). In the big picture, the voice of God through creation is a warm invitation to intimate fellowship with God. Thus as nothing is hidden from the warmth of the sun so no one is hidden from the warmth of God's call to intimate fellowship. This under girds Paul's point that knowing God through the creation renders all men without excuse (Rom. 1:18-20).

2A. Some implications from God's speech per Psalm 19

1B. This text presents us with a definition of theology

The term "theology" is not a biblical word. It actually descends from early Greek vocabulary (theologia). So, is there such a thing as Christian theology? Is it legitimate to put Christian with theology? The survey of Psalm 19 directs us to a distinctive meaning to "theology" in a Christian vocabulary. To make a point here consider why it is the case that the typical definition of theology as the study of God is inadequate. It is inadequate because it fails to place accent on the important fact that no study about God can take place unless God reveals Himself. Theology is primarily the speaking of God (theologia is literally, word of God or God's word, God's speech, theo-God with logia-word or speech).

This yields the distinction between primary and secondary senses of theology. Primarily, theology is God's self-revelation. It is His speech. It is not simply the study of His self-revelation. This is a rock bottom, fundamental, and Christian notion. In the purest sense, theology is God speaking in both revelatory act and revelatory word. The primary sense refers to a divine activity (to God's speech). Secondarily, theology refers the human activity of studying God's self-revelation (speaking about God). It is the study of God's speech. This breaks down into natural and special theology, the study of God's speech in creation and the study of God's speech in the redemptive words of Scripture. Note the following graph regarding theology:

• Primary Sense –God's Speech                                                 Secondary Sense- Study of God's Speech
• God's (indirect) speech in creation                                           Study of God's speech in creation
• God's (direct) speech in Holy Scripture                                    Study of God's speech in Holy Scripture

Why does God's speech in Scripture have priority over His speech in creation? 1) First, it is because man needs to be restored from the fall in order for him to hear the voice of God in creation properly. Being born again by the redeeming word of God fits fallen man to fellowship with God in the fullest sense in the context of every created fact. 2) Second, it is because God's word in Scripture is direct in actual words whereas God's speech through the creation is indirect. Without actual words, God proclaims His glory through all His works. In the works of His hands we have a display of the wisdom of God by which He shares His thoughts with a warm invitation to us to fellowship.

2B. This text leads us to an understanding of science

This can be explained by reference to what I like to call "the sciences cube." Picture a three-dimensional cube or rectangle that looks like a sliced loaf of bread. Each slice represents a field of science, biology, geology, geometry, physics, etc. By "science" I mean all formal university sciences and all informal sciences that are studies about whatever. Thus there is a science of fishing and a science of cement finishing. We can add a slice to the cube and call it theology because this is a science like all the other sciences. We have theologians just like we have biologists. Now we are ready for a rich and marvelous understanding of science from the perspective of the Christian worldview and specifically from Psalm 19. We can be brief and pointed if we do this by means of some questions.

First, thinking about our cube again, what is it as a whole? Various answers might be given. When I ask this of students in the classroom I sometimes get very intuitive and observational answers like the whole is science and the slices are the sciences (otherwise they say the whole is the bread of life). But I want you to think about the "what is it?" question. I want you to think about "what it is" not our activity of studying it. I want to direct your thoughts by asking another question: if I say that the whole cube is theology, how can that be the case if one of the slices is theology? For this we need to use the distinction between theology as a human activity and theology as a divine activity. As a human activity theology is a slice among the sciences; it is a study that humans engage in. As a divine activity theology refers to all the sciences because they all study God's speech given in what he has made.

Second, do you see why every scientist is ultimately a theologian? Every science, formal and informal, is a slice of the loaf of theology bread. Every scientist is ultimately a theologian because the content studied in every science is God's speech. The atheistic biologist is unavoidably a student of theology. In dissecting frogs and graphing erosion, the natural scientist confronts the voice of God.

Third, what do we mean when we say there is no secular realm? We are saying of course that God is present everywhere as the omnipresent Lord of heaven and earth. And we are saying that His commandments are relevant to all of life, so wherever we may go we stand under obligation to Him. But we are saying more than these things. We are saying that the entire so-called "secular" world is God's speech. Every created thing gives His proclamation and declaration of the glory of His wisdom. When anyone learns a "secular" fact he or she comes to know what God knows and he or she comes to think a thought of God.

Fourth, why can we say that the rock group "Kiss" can only be said to be doing something secular in a specific sense? The music, the sounds, and the vibrations they express are not secular for these things are part of God's speech in the created order. This rock group performs a sacred task when they play; they have God's speech ringing in their ears. They are secular in the sense that they rebel against the sacred. They are "secular" in the sense that they do not listen carefully to God's voice, use what they hear for His glory, and thankfully praise Him for the marvel of the music experience of the wisdom of God.

Fifth, what does it mean to say that learning and "knowing" (cf. epistemology) is deeply ethical? At least two things can be said to answer this question. a) On one hand, because everything we learn is God's speech then all learning in any field (any Wissenschaft, any discipline of study) is a matter of a personal relationship with God. Going where the facts take us is a matter of obedience to the Lord. Wherever He speaks is with authority, so learning is a matter of submission to God's authority. b) On the other hand, this privilege of thinking God's thoughts after Him ought to stir up thankfulness and praise. That should attend all knowing endeavors. It should be taken up for His glory and service (in lived praise). And it should be done with continuous acknowledgment that it is His gift displaying His excellence and perfection. He is letting us share in His excellence and perfection. Thus we find our experience of the world rewarding, challenging, and invigorating.

3B. This text guides us in doing apologetics

1) It explains the deep conflict within the non-Christian heart.

There exists an inescapable tension in all non-Christian learning; a fundamental restlessness exists; they are like the troubled sea and there is no rest for the wicked. Why is this the case? It is so because in every fact that a person comes to know they experience the context for fellowship with God but they do so in alienation and thus as aliens lost in the wilderness of this world. They learn of God inescapably in every single thing that they learn. They hear His call to fellowship and communion. They rejoice in the beauty of a sunset without acknowledging the testimony that is in fact there to the beauty of the Lord. Thus, they are unthankful at the very moment when God rejoices their hearts with knowledge of Himself. They worship and serve the creature ignoring and denying the Creator that they hear speaking in every fact of creation. We are created for fellowship with God. The world is created as a means and context for that fellowship. We therefore can never properly know ourselves and we can never find fulfillment in life unless we acknowledge the voice of God that is communicated to us through the heavens, sky, and sun.

Augustine spoke classically to this inner tension. We are restless he said until we find our rest in God. One side of this restless state of affairs is the subtle fact that we hide from God by hiding from ourselves. We do not want to face what we are actually. We do not want to see ourselves before the holy eyes of God. So in Augustine's words, "I placed myself behind my back so that I might not see how foul I was." Thus it is a significant part of the call to repentance in apologetics to call sinners to acknowledge God as the Creator and Providential ruler of the universe. He is confronted in every fact and they know it but deny what they know.

2) It shows why all opposition to Christianity is foolish

In relation to apologetic defense giving, understanding the unity of God's speech, theology, and the sciences will help us focus the point that all opposition to Christianity begins with exaggerated and fragmented premises that necessarily lead to exaggerated and fragmented conclusions. These conclusions will show themselves to be self-contradictory, repugnant, desperate, irrational, false, and self-defeating. This must be the case. If the gospel is true then God's speech, theology, and the sciences are a single unit. That being the case if someone tries to use anything or any fact against Christian faith, they have to do so as with borrowed capital (as Van Til used to say). They must take God's truth found over here and try to use it to discredit God's truth over there. This means that in opposing the gospel they begin with a fragmented view of reality, truth, and ethics. All their premises will be tainted by fragmentation. So all there conclusions will be likewise tainted.

Thus, one of our goals in communicating with unbelievers is to press them to be consistent. That is, we call for consistency and work with them toward it. The problem of course is that their exaggerated and fragmented premises will become evident and their folly will be exposed. For example, I want to introduce you to a view called logical positivism, a very arrogant view from the 20's and 30's. It still exists in our day in the popular belief that science is the bastion of truth. Here is a key premise of the logical positivist: truth refers to that which can be empirically analyzed and logically assessed. If we cannot test it by our five senses enhanced by the tools of science then it cannot be true. God cannot be put in a test tube, so the claim that He exists cannot be true. Likewise all religious beliefs are false. Right and wrong are not matters of truth but are simply emotional expressions by which we state approval or disapproval. Many "great" scientists of the day were of this mindset. They were cocky and high-mindedly militant against Christian belief claiming that it is for the ignorant and illogical. Talking about God they claimed was pure nonsense. This sounds like much of the thinking today that puts science on a pedestal.

But this view implodes when carefully analyzed and this shows that it is sheer folly. All we have to do is ask this simple question: can their major claim meet its own requirements? They make a truth claim when they say, "truth refers to that which can be empirically analyzed and logically assessed otherwise you are talking nonsense." But can that claim itself be empirically analyzed? Can it be measured, weighed, and tested? Is there a test that shows universally that it is the case? It cannot meet its own requirements. Therefore, if it is true then it is false. But if it is true and false at the same time we have nothing but gibberish and utter folly. This is an example of the arrogance of wisdom of this world and its foolishness.

Concluding Remarks

This perspective regarding the world of science in relation to the word of God brings wholeness to human experience. It is the only way that value can be finally given to intellectual development in any field of study. It is the only way for man to remain rational. Here is the foundation needed in science. Here is where we can engage in scientific study that is grounded in truth and coherence. Here is wisdom rather than folly. This is the highest conceivable motivation for intellectual development in a school of life long learning par excellence. The world is the classroom of our risen King. In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). Every fact is His word that gives us the grand privilege of thinking His thoughts after Him. It is by thinking this way about the world in relation to the Scriptures with both as God's speech and with God's word in Scripture as having priority that we cultivate the desire expressed in prayer of Psalm 19:14. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."