Download Revision Science and Religion

Key Words
Scientific truth: based upon observation, hypothesis experiments and repeated testing
Religious truth: truths that are spiritually revealed and part of the doctrine of religion
Evidence: facts that indicate whether something is true
Hypothesis: an idea, based on known facts, that is yet to be proved as being correct
Theory: a hypothesis that explains facts that are widely accepted or well-tested
Creationism: a view which only accepts that God created the universe, as laid down in the sacred text
followed by the believer (e.g. Book of Genesis)
Big Bang: the beginnings of the universe according to many scientists took place when a singularity
exploded and from this explosion, all the matter that makes up the universe came into being
Creation: the act by which God brought the universe into being
Evolution: scientific belief that life forms have changed over time, developing from simple to complex
creatures
Darwin: Charles Darwin naturalist who developed the theory of evolution
Fundamentalist: a person who believes in the basics of a religion, particularly believing that what is
contained in a sacred text is accurate, almost factual, record that cannot be questioned
Middle Ages: a period of history roughly from the 5th century CE to the 16th century CE
Cosmological Revolution: development of scientific ideas that challenged religious belief in the late
Middle Ages, for example, that the earth is round and the sun is the focal point of the universe
Evolving, changing truth: the idea that what is considered true changes over time, developing from
simple to complex creatures
Absolute truth: fixed, unalterable facts. Something which is true for all times and in all cultures.
Authority: something or somebody accepted as having the power or right to expect obedience
Different truths
Scientific truth
Many people will only accept the truth of something when it is proved true using scientific evidence.
Scientists use observation, hypothesis (an idea based on known facts that are yet to be proved),
experiment and repeated testing to prove something is true. Scientific truths are objective because they
are not just one person’s opinion. Scientific truth is constantly changing because observation and
experiment may result in new evidence that proves earlier scientific theories untrue or inaccurate. For
many people, scientific truths are the most trustworthy type of truth because of the painstaking evidence
used to support them.
Religious truth
Religious truth is what believers claim to be true about the existence of God, the origin of the universe
and the purpose of life. The evidence they use to support a particular religious truth involves experience,
belief, trust and faith. When believers make claims about the truth of their religious beliefs, they offer
evidence drawn from religious authority revealed through sacred writings, their conscience, religious
experience, the history of the religion, and from observation of the natural world. However, the
main source of evidence that believers use to support the truth of their religion is their faith.
Origins of the universe
Big Bang
This is an explanation for the origin of the universe and it is thought to have taken place 10 to 15 billion
years ago. This theory supports the idea of an ever-changing universe because the world is still evolving.
The universe is continuing to expand out from the point at which it began. After approximately half a
million years, the temperatures had cooled to allow the gases, hydrogen and helium to form. It took
another billion years before the stars and galaxies began to appear.
Creation account – Genesis 1 and 2:1-3The Genesis account of creation explains that in the
beginning there was darkness and God. In this story, we are told that God created the world in seven
days from nothing. On each day God created something new to improve his creation. On day one God
created light. On the next five days he created the land, sea and vegetation, the sun, moon and stars,
fish and birds, animals and finally man. On the seventh day, God rested. At the end of each day, God
saw that his creation was good.
Believers’ view of Genesis:
1) Fundamentalist
The scripture is the direct Word of God. Everything is the literal, exact truth and Genesis is a
factual historical record. The world was created in six days. This belief that the creation account
in Genesis is the true account, in the sense of a true scientific account, is known as creationism.
2) Non-literal view
Many Christians believe that the writers did not record God’s message word for word but
brought their own personalities and writing styles to each event. The writers were inspired by
God. The account teaches a religious idea – that God created the universe – and was written in
a way that the people of the time with limited scientific knowledge would understand.
3) Myth
For some believers, including some who hold a non-literal view, the Genesis account of
creation is a myth. A myth is believed to have truth within it, but it is not scientific or
historical truth; it is a religious or moral truth. It is a story to help people understand God’s
role in creation; it is not intended to be taken as a scientific account of creation.
Are Genesis and the Big Bang theory compatible?
Atheist view
Fundamentalist
Many religious believers/theists
religious believer
No, don’t believe in God. No, Big Bang conflicts
Yes, if Genesis not taken literally. If accepted as
Only accept scientific
with Genesis and Genesis a myth, then it is possible God made the Big
account.
is the truth.
Bang happen. Science suggests nothing
happened before the universe began and this
agrees with Genesis. Stages of creation are not
so different.
Other religious creation account - Sikhism
Sikhs believe that God created the whole universe. God was all that existed before creation. While alone,
God planned the universe and then, when God had finished the planning, everything needed for creation
was an enclosed in an egg. When God decided that the time was right, the shell burst and elements to
create the universe started to move out and away from the point of bursting. Sikhs believe that there is
nothing in science that contradicts this teaching in the Guru Granth Sahib.
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Why is this creation story compatible with the Big Bang theory?
Cosmological Revolution
In the Middle Aged, religious and scientific views of the world agreed with each other. However, in the
16th century, new scientific developments led to a change in the way in which people understood God’s
place in the universe. The changing world-view is known as the Cosmological Revolution.
Earth-centred universe
Genesis
Everything on the flat earth decayed
and always changing
Science based on Bible’s account in
Medieval world-view
Everything above the moon in
God’s realm did not change and
moved in perfect circles
Authority of the Bible was regarded as final
End of the Middle Ages, there was a new interest in learning, including the study of astronomy and
science.
Copernicus: earth went round sun and only the moon revolved the earth. The sun is the focal point of
the universe.
Kepler: discovered planets moved in elliptical orbits
Galileo: movement of planets not God, it is natural
Challenge of Cosmological Revolution:
Challenges idea God had special relationship with humanity because God had not put humans at
the centre of everything – the sun is the centre of the universe.
Scientists no longer referred to God to explain the way the physical world works. Science and
religion began to separate.
Religion became the explanation for those things that were still not understood by science.
Parts of God’s creation were like a machine that ran itself. God might have created the world
and moved on.
Evolution
Evolution is the process by which plant and animal life developed from the earliest and most primitive
life forms to reach their present state. A chain can be established going back through time to trace the
origin of each species. Charles Darwin first published his theory of evolution through natural selection in
The Origin Of Species in 1858.The process of natural selection is the species changing over a period
time by adapting to their situation. The survival of the fittest is the species that are best suited for life
in their environment. The species have got used to the change and adapted e.g. finches, pollen peepers.
Darwin suggested that human beings had developed (evolved) from apes through natural selection over
hundreds of thousands of years
Are Genesis and the theory of evolution compatible?
Atheists
No, don’t believe in
God.
Creationist
No, evolution conflicts with
Genesis and Genesis account is
the truth. All life forms were in
their final form by day six
and, therefore, one species
cannot evolve into another.
Religious believers/theists
Yes, if Genesis not taken literally and it is
accepted as a myth, a story with religious
truth. Evolution could have been God’s plan.
Both accounts, first life appears in the sea
and the final form is humanity.
Challenge of Darwin
Brought up as a
Christian.
Darwin believed evolution
would support the existence
of God
1809
Darwin became convinced
that although God created life,
God had left the details to
random chance
1860s
His research caused him to
reject the evidence for God
in nature and ultimately, doubt
the Bible
1871
Challenge to Genesis:
1) Animals and plants were not in their final form by the sixth day of creation.
2) Natural selection occurs by random chance, rejects the work of a designer God.
3) Evolution showed that things changed to fit with the environment. This conflicts with God
creating the
Reasons for rejecting Darwin:
 Humans were made in the “image of God”, so not evolved from other species.
 Humans have spiritual soul that distinguishes them from animals, so not evolved.
 Gaps in fossil records, therefore no conclusive evidence that the evolutionary
process took place.
 No clear fossil evidence to support the link between the apes and humans.
 Conflict in time, place of human life and process.
Reasons for accepting Genesis:
o Evolution process through which God’s creation took place.
o Evolution shows the power of God and God’s design for the development of humanity.
o Evolution looks at how things occur and religion looks at why things occur.
o Genesis is thought to be a simple picture-language answer to the same sort of questions that the
theory of evolution tries to answer.
o Both versions tell the same truth but they tell it in different ways.
Can science and religion agree?
Yes
If the Bible’s creation stories are not taken literally,
then science can be regarded as revealing the laws
by which God created the universe
Islam has always taught that science proves the
truth of the Qur’an, and Islam encourages scientific
research.
Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism all agree that
scientific findings do not conflict with the teachings
of their religion
No
Scientists who are atheists can never agree with
religion as they totally reject any aspect of
religious belief.
No if take scriptures literally
It is dangerous to change religious truths to fit
scientific laws as this leads to the rejection of other
teachings of the Bible.
Religious believers must be willing to adapt their
interpretation of the scriptures and their religious
teachings to keep up with scientific discoveries
Many believers feel that the conflict between
science and religion is over unimportant points.
A fundamentalist believer would state that it is not
possible to accept the Big Bang theory as it
conflicts with the Genesis account and the Genesis
account is the truth.
A creationist believe all forms were in their final
form by day six and, therefore, one species cannot
evolve from another and so they cannot accept
evolution
Conclusion
Many religious believers argue that it is possible to accept the Big Bang and evolutionary theories
without rejecting their faith. They believe that evolution is the process through which God’s
creation took place. In fact, they say, their faith can be supported by scientific theories as they
show how God acts in the world in which we live. Whether someone accepts both science and
religions depends on how they interpret the scriptures and teachings of their religion.
Absolute truth versus evolving, changing truth
Absolute truth is when it is thought that what is believed to be true cannot be changed.
Fundamentalist Christians believes that the Bible contains the absolute truth. Richard Dawkins argues
that God does not exist because there is no evidence to support a belief in God. For Dawkins, this is an
absolute truth.
Evolving, changing truth varies, depending on the knowledge and understanding at the time. For an
agnostic, belief in God could be an evolving, changing truth.
The main source of authority for people is themselves, what they personally believe to be true. This
means that truth is subjective. How people interpret an illusion shows the relationship between science
and religion: it depends on what people believe to be true.
Are science and religion trying to find the answers to the same questions?
Answer is probably yes, but not in the same way. Both asking questions about origins and development
of universe and life. But, science puts emphasis on ‘how’ and religion puts an emphasis on ‘why.’
Science questions
How did the universe begin?
How did life begin?
How did the universe develop?
How did life on earth evolve?
Religious questions
Why did the universe begin?
Why did life begin?
Why did the universe develop?
Why did life on earth evolve?
Science versus religion in the modern world
In the 19th century the philosophy of ‘god of the gaps’ became known, role of religion filled gaps
science could not explain. Deism is the belief that once God set things going, he moved on and didn’t
again intervene in his creation. There was a belief science would find answers to everything but this has
not happened and some scientists e.g. John Polkinghorne turn to religion for answers to what cannot be
explained. Many religious believers and scientists argue that the modern world needs both religion and
science. Science can explain facts, but the spiritual needs of people have to be catered for.