ATLANTA - The tall, tan pastor stood at the pulpit of his Baptist church on a recent Sunday morning, cleared his throat, and nervously proclaimed the following:
First, he believes in God. And second, he believes in the Bible.
Robert Walker Jr.’s audience, a crowd of about 100 faithful parishioners, shuffled uncomfortably as he spoke, surely wondering why their pastor of a decade was offering up these disclaimers. But it didn’t take long to figure out why.
Over the next few minutes, Walker told his flock that science contends that sixth century scholars wrote the Old Testament, but that it was still written with “divine spirit.” It was his way of telling them that science and religion aren’t always at odds....