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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 How Great thou Art O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds thy hands have made; I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed When through the woods, and forest glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees. When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 Evolution Biological theory that explains the development of the diversity of life on our planet Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species by means of natural selection Or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life Published 1859 1. All current species have descended from common ancestors. 2. Changes in species occur gradually over time as a consequence of mutations. 3. Species change when beneficial mutations allow certain of them to have more offspring than others. William Henry Dallinger Wesleyan Pastor 18611880 and later president of Wesley College, Member of Royal Society 1887 – “unreserved acceptance of evolution” Sir George Stokes Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University 1849 – 1903 (position held by Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking) “Even an extreme adoption of evolution is not inconsistent with theism.” Asa Gray Christian biologist. Largely responsible for Evolution accepted by National Academy of Sciences in the United States in 1880 BB Warfield Great Princeton Theologian (1851-1921) “I am free to say, for myself, that I do not think that there is any general statement in the Bible or any part of the account of creation, either as given in Gen I or II or elsewhere alluded to, that need be opposed to evolution.” Theodosius Dobzhansky Christian Biologist “Nothing in biology makes sense except in light of evolution” Gregor Mendel Belgian monk called who was working on genetics on pea plants that people discovered how genetic traits were inherited. On the Origin of Species by means of natural selection Or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life Published 1859 1. All current species have descended from common ancestors. 2. Changes in species occur gradually over time as a consequence of mutations. 3. Species change when beneficial mutations allow certain of them to have more offspring than others. “He uses the metaphor of a river to represent the flow of information through time by means of DNA to argue that species come into existence gradually, by evolution, rather than being created by God. Reviewer – Sunday Times with writer of this book “proven that no God exists” On the Origin of Species by means of natural selection Or the Preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life Published 1859 Dawkins sub-titles another of his book “how the evidence of evolution reveals a universe without Design” Atheist Daniel Dennett – uses evolution to explain cosmology, psychology, culture, ethics, politics, and religion. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 Genesis 1:1–5 (NIV84) The Beginning In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. 1 1920’s astronomer Edwin Hubble Singularity - Big Bang Theory • • • • • Creation of universe Creation of light Creation of time Creation of laws of physics Creation of laws of chemistry Came from burst of light Arno Penzias Won Nobel prize for discovery of cosmic background radiation that corroborated the Big Bang: “The best data we have are exactly what I would have predicted had I nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms and the Bible as a whole.” Robert Jastrow Astronomer For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak. He pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. Franklin Harold Biologist “even a bacterial cell displays levels of regularity and complexity that exceed by orders of magnitude” anything found in the non-living world. River out of Eden Richard Dawkins But when the ricochets of atomic billiards chance to put together an object that has certain, seemingly innocent property, something momentous happens in the universe. Probability for conditions of life to exist 229 1/10 Stephen Hawking “If the rate of expansion one second after the big bang had been smaller by even one part of a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it even reached its present size.” Precision of Density change for no stars to exist 0.0000000000001 percent Richard Dawkins argument for chance writes: However improbable the origin of life might be, it happened this way because we are here. Fred Hoyle Cambridge University, Astronomer. “A commonsense interpretation of the facts suggest that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.” Freeman Dyson one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century “The more I examine the universe and the details of its architecture, the more evidence I find that the universe in some sense must have known we were coming.” Augustine Bishop of north Africa in early 5th century 400-450 AD He wrote that he did not have a literal reading of the opening chapters of Genesis. Thomas Aqunias 13th century theologian “did not feel there was a tension between science and the opening of Genesis” Origen 3rd century theologian “What person of intelligence, I ask, will consider as a reasonable statement that the first and the second and the third day, in which there are said to be both morning and evening, existed without sun and moon and stars, while the first day was even without heaven?...I do not think anyone will doubt that these are figurative expressions which indicate certain mysteries through a semblance of history?” Luke 1:1–5 (NIV84) 1Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. 5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Genesis 1:11–19 (NIV84) 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. ……. Genesis 1:11–19 (NIV84) 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. Day 1 - 3 Structure Creation of heavens and earth Day and night Sky and land Land and water Plants Day 4 - 6 Content Sun, Stars, Moon Living animals Man and Woman John 21:24–25 (NIV84) 24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. Romans 1:18–20 (NIV84) 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Reflection question: • Does Evolution really disprove God? Why or why not? Application question: • If God is the creator, what should be my response to him?