Download Lesson 11 Science and the Bible File

Welcome to
APOLOGETICS
(THE3013)
Lesson Eleven
“Is There Harmony Between
Science and the Bible?”
Dr. Arnold Lastinger, Instructor
WHAT IS SCIENCE?
• From the Latin word meaning “to
know”
• Concerned with knowledge which can
be obtained through the scientific
method
• Concerned with the physical world
• The orderly study of observable
phenomena
• Knowledge gained through the senses
SCIENCE SHOULD…
1. Concern itself only with empirical
evidence that is available from the
natural world
2. Limit itself to describing phenomena
without trying to explain
3. Limit itself to describing process without
attempting to explain origins or destinies
WHY? Because the supernatural cannot be
subjected to the same investigative
methodology
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
(Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
1. Identify a worthwhile problem
2. Observe
3. Hypothesize
4. Experiment
5. Verify
6. Accommodate
7. Predict
FACT: Despite the air of finality with which the
scientist speaks, everything he says falls
in the realm of probability, not certainty.
Why such animosity between
SCIENCE and RELIGION?
 The Early Church came to view Truth as
a closed system that God had given to
them alone; their word became edict!
 Yet, scientists observed phenomena that
did not agree with the Church’s ideas.
 In the 18th century, the Enlightenment
rejected the Church’s idea of Truth
altogether; scientism was born.
 SCIENTISM: Nothing is real if it cannot
be observed and scientifically tested
NEGATIVE REACTIONS OF
CHRISTIANS
 MISTRUST: view science as the enemy
 AMBIVALENCE: profess Christianity
with their mouths, but accept scientific
theory as fact in their daily lives
 SURRENDER: give up their Christian
worldview; “Science says it, so it must
be right!”
 ACCOMMODATION: tries to modify
science and religion so that they are no
longer incompatible
IMPLICATIONS OF THE CONFLICT
 Darwinian evolution believes that life
spontaneously arose from inorganic
matter; all creation evolved from that
 The evolutionist believes that human
knowledge is restricted to the evidence
accumulated through human experience
 Evangelical Christians believe in the
validity of knowledge based upon
spiritual experience.
 PROBLEM: Both sides start with
different a prioris!
Is there a Biblical synthesis?
 Rejects the notion that nature alone
is real
 Accepts natural order, but also
believes in a supernatural order
 Natural order is subject to a
supernatural God
 Allows for occasional suspension of
natural order which we call miracles
 Miracles are the exceptions; they do
not refute the natural laws
SOME DEFINITIONS
 COSMOLOGY: the field of study that
deals with questions about the
nature of the universe
 COSMOGONY: the field of study that
is specifically concerned with the
origin of the universe
 EX NIHILO: the idea that everything
was created out of nothing
 TAXONOMY: an orderly arrangement
into logical groupings
MAGNITUDE OF CREATION






Earth has a diameter of 12,750 km.
It is about 149 million km from the Sun
The sun’s diameter is 1,385,000 km
The nearest star is 4.6 light years
Our galaxy is 80,000 light years big
Over a billion galaxies have already
been observed
 199,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars
are visible (199 sextillion!)
Let’s make it understandable!
 Earth has a diameter of a marble on
one goal line of a soccer field
 The sun’s diameter is a basketball
on the other goal line
 The nearest star is 8 km from the
stadium!
 Our galaxy alone would cover 2/3rds
of our world!
 Over a billion galaxies have already
been observed
ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE
How did the universe get here?
1.
2.
3.
4.
BIBLICAL CONCLUSIONS
What God says in the Bible, He does
not contradict in natural revelation.
Biblical language is popular language,
not scientifically technical language
It is phenomenological description of
what common sense observes.
It is sometimes a poetic description,
i.e. “The trees of the field will clap
their hands…”
ORIGIN OF MAN
How did man get here?
SOME CONSIDERATIONS
1. The greatest debate between science
and Christianity is in the area of
evolution.
2. The logical mind of man tends to
group things into understandable
order, known as taxonomy.
ORIGIN OF MAN
How did man get here?
EVOLUTIONIST VIEWS
1. NATURALISTIC EVOLUTION: everything
evolved without any original cause (God)
2. THOMISTIC EVOLUTION: Evolution is the
method that God used to create everything
3. THEISTIC EVOLUTION: The ages of
evolution are creative stages in which God
created everything
4. EMERGENT EVOLUTION: Evolution is
viewed as a series of divine creative acts,
not mere chance
ORIGIN OF MAN
How did man get here?
1.
2.
3.
4.
CREATIONIST VIEWS
PROGRESSIVE CREATIVE CATASTROPHISM
THEORY: the “GAP” theory, a gap between
Gen. 1:1 and 1:2
DAY-AGE CATASTROPHISM THEORY: the
“YOM” theory (indefinite period of time)
PROGRESSIVE CREATIONISM THEORY: God
created everything is stages with no gap
ALTERNATE DAY-AGE THEORY: the universe
was created in 24 hour days separated by
vast geological ages
5. EDEN-ONLY THEORY: Eden was a special
creation of God; the rest of creation was
evolutionary
6. CONCURRENT AGES THEORY: Time is
irrelevant; God created in ages that may
have overlapped each other
7. SPLIT WEEK THEORY: Some things God
created instantly, others over long eons
8. REVELATION DAY THEORY: the days of
Genesis do not refer to days of creation,
but to days in which God revealed it to
Moses
9. LITERAL DAY THEORY: God created
everything in six 24-hour days
A Biblical Perspective Requires…
1. RECOGNITION OF THE UNIQUENESS OF
MAN: Man alone is created in the likeness
of God
2. MANKIND ORIGINATED FROM A SINGLE
PAIR: Adam and Eve were the parents of
the human race
3. THE BIBLE DOES NOT PRECLUDE
GENETIC ADAPTATION WITHIN LIMITS:
Man is lengthening his own lifespan
SOME CONCLUSIONS…
1. Science cannot prove evolution or the
“Big Bang” theory; they are still just
that…theories.
2. Christianity cannot prove that there is a
God or that He created everything; it is
still just a theory.
3. What a person believes about creation
is determined by his/her worldview a
prioris.
4. Given the possibilities of regret…which
worldview makes more sense?