Science and technology are powerful, respected, and highly successful. They have immensely improved our standard of living — from houses, appliances, food, health, and recreation to methods of communication, transportation, and record keeping — leading some to believe that all of humanity’s problems can be solved by science. But can science aid in finding answers to philosophical questions about our origin and destiny and about our purpose for living? Can it solve the problems of war and mismanaged environments? Science has tried unsuccessfully and often in direct conflict with answers given in the Bible.
The most notable conflict is between the theory of evolution with its billions of years for the progressive development of life and the biblical account of the creation of life by God in six literal days a few thousand years ago. Does the success of science in other areas force us to conclude that scientific evidence for an evolutionary theory is irrefutable?
The Geoscience Research Institute, founded in 1958, was established to address this question by looking at the scientific evidence concerning origins. The Institute uses both science and revelation to study the question of origins because it considers the exclusive use of science as too narrow an approach. The Institute serves the Seventh-day Adventist church in two major areas: research and communication.