Science Can't; God Can

"This is all very confusing, can you please explain why scientists cannot make absolute claims, but at the same time they are not allowed to improve a theory or something like the age of the earth, while at the same time you are allowed to make absolute claims about God, sinning and the Bible. I'm really lost on this. I hope you can take some time to explain this all." Richard List

Science admits that it cannot know anything for certain. It's forever discovering more knowledge and therefore changing its beliefs. That's not something I made up. It’s a fact. This is because science doesn't have all the facts. Only God does. He is omniscient. None of us can get a mental grip of what omniscience is because it is too much for our minds.

I assume that you are an atheist, so you will have to be patient with me for a moment as I talk about a realm in which you don't believe.

God exists whether we believe He does or not. He is omnipotent (can do anything), omnipresent (dwells everywhere), and He is of course omniscient (He knows everything). That means that nothing is hidden from His eyes. Think of a number. Think of a color. Are they in your mind? Don't tell anyone. Only you and God know what they are. He sees everything that enters your mind. After all, He made your amazing brain and gave you the ability to think.

Now, in your mind, travel to Mars. Okay, dig down a thousand miles into the dirt until you find a large rock. Crack it open. Grab an electron microscope and study it closely. Then magnify the image a million times until you can see the atoms. You are the second person to see them. God was already there. He knows and sees what He has made. Everything. All at once.

He sees every thought of every human being in history--not one at a time. All at once. And He's not confused. You and I struggle to entertain two thoughts at once, but God has all knowledge.

So when we speak of absolutes, we are speaking in a different realm. Man is limited. God is not. In addition to having absolute knowledge, He is absolute perfection and absolute righteousness. And because of what He is, He makes absolute claims about right and wrong. This is what the Bible says of God's omniscience and omnipresence:

"Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me. You know my downsitting and my uprising; You understand my thought afar off. You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue [still unuttered], but, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have beset me and shut me in--behind and before, and You have laid Your hand upon me. Your [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high above me, I cannot reach it. Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold, You are there." (Psalm 139:1-8, Amplified Bible)

If all this is true, it is unspeakably consoling for the Christian, and extremely frightening for the atheist (the "unbeliever"). Fortunately, there is a way to find out if it is true. God is there in the room with you, right now . . . He's seen everything you have done (even if it was done in complete darkness). He has been a witness to everything you have thought, and you have greatly angered Him--whether you believe it or not. So, today, repent of your sins and trust the Savior, and you will come to know Him. Absolutely.