In a recent broadcast of Real Time with Bill Maher, the popular liberal talk show host urged guest Bill Nye, also known as ‘The Science Guy,’ to attack the Bible and those who believe in its Creation account.
A few minutes after taking a seat, Nye began to explain that unlike Maher, he respects the religion of others, but still believes it is wrong to adhere to a young earth worldview.
“You have this situation in Texas where people want to have creationism in textbooks,” he stated. “Unlike some other acquaintances of mine, I don’t have a big deal about somebody’s religion, but if you claim that earth is 10,000 years old, that’s just wrong.”
“They say 5,000,” Maher corrected Nye.
“5,000–and that’s just wrong,” Nye repeated. “And the earth is flat. No, it isn’t.”
After quipping that Nye is “used to explaining things to children” and should therefore outline the aforementioned to Republicans, Maher began to remind Nye of a speech he gave in Texas where he took issue with Scriptural text.
“You should give religion a hard time,” Maher asserted. “I read that you were in Texas, and that you quoted Genesis [about how] God made two great lights–the sun and the moon, and you pointed out to the crowd that the moon of course is not a light itself. It’s just reflecting the light of the sun. [You then said that someone] threw a [expletive] fit and stormed out of the room.”
“The woman grabbed her kid by the wrists an took him out, which was kind of cool,” Nye remembered.
“But you could never see that and not know that religion is the enemy of science,” Maher contended. “And people say we can reconcile science and faith. No, we can’t.”
Nye then began to propose that perhaps the translators of the Bible erred in the translation of the text.
“The whole thing is [that] with science, you have claims. So, if you claim the earth is 10,000 years old, that’s wrong,” he stated. “[A]s I said at that thing in Waco, it looks to me like whoever wrote this really didn’t have it right. Bear in mind everybody, this has been translated I don’t know how many times from sanskrit. Maybe the guy was pretty savvy actually and they just got messed up.”
“You know, the moon is out all day; I don’t want to shock you,” Nye added, eliciting laughter.
However, Eric Hovind and Paul Taylor of Creation Today told Christian News Network that the Bible is completely accurate in its Genesis account, even if it doesn’t explain in detail how the moon is able to give light to the earth.
“The truth is that God did make ‘two great lights,'” Hovind asserted. “The moon, by reflecting the sun’s light, is a ‘light’ to the earth.”
“Genesis 1 says nothing about how light in each of those bodies is ‘created,'” Taylor said. “The reflective properties of the moon are hinted at elsewhere, [and] other properties are mentioned, such as the 28-day lunar month (Ecclesiastes 3) or the three-day ‘death’ of the moon–the ‘faithful witness’ (Psalm 89). Psalm 89 is particularly interesting. The moon ‘dies’ and rises again after three days, and is described by the Psalmist as a ‘faithful witness,’ because it bears prophetic witness to the work of Jesus.”
The Florida-based creation evangelists advised that they would agree with Maher’s assertion that religion is the enemy of science if he were referring to false religions, but the Bible is actually the cornerstone of science.
“I do not know of many scientific advances made by studying the holy books of Islam or Buddhism,” Taylor explained. “[But] if the question becomes ‘Is Christianity the enemy of science?’ then the answer is ‘No.’ The overwhelming majority of scientific discoveries of the modern era were made by people who were Christians and believed the Bible to be true.”
Hovind and Taylor stated that while they appreciate Nye’s zeal for science, such as his assertion that obtaining photographs of Pluto will “change the world,” they believe that the world needs much more than scientific discoveries: it needs the truth of the Gospel.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love science, and I am excited that we are going to get pictures of Pluto, but don’t kid yourself Nye, that is not what the world really needs,” Hovind stated. “The world needs to know of the Savior that came to this little planet 2,000 years ago to save us from our sin. This world is groaning and travailing in pain now. It is broken and in desperate need of being made new. Jesus Christ, the Creator and Savior alone can accomplish that.”
(Warning: Video contains profanity.)
Become a Christian News Network Supporter...
Dear Reader, has ChristianNews.net been of benefit and a blessing to you? For many years now, the Lord has seen fit to use this small news outlet as a strong influential resource in keeping Christians informed on current events from a Biblical worldview. With much compromise and many falsehoods in modern-day Christianity, we strive to bring you the news by keeping Christ and His word in focus. If you have benefited from our news coverage, please prayerfully consider becoming a Christian News supporter by clicking here to make a one-time or monthly donation to help keep the truth of God's word widely and freely published and distributed. May Christ continue to be exalted through this work!
