Christianity and the Development of Science
1. God created everything from nothing. (Heb 11:3)
God is __________.
2. God set up the laws of nature. (Job 38:33) God is in control of nature; it doesn't "run on its own." God sustains nature moment by moment.
God is _________.
God is at work in nature.
God is _________.
3. Nature is __________ because God is a God of order (God made nature logical).
4. Nature is ______________.
5. God reveals himself to us in two ways:
in the Bible
in nature
6. God intended humans to rule over nature (Gen 1:28).
Cultural Mandate:
Implications
1. We can and should try to understand and "control" nature (develop science & technology).
2. We must observe nature to learn about it. (reasoning + observations)
3. Science will reveal God's wisdom and glory (Ps 19)
There is an amazing degree of order in nature. The forces in the physical universe seem to be finely tuned to make life possible. (A Designed Universe by Robert Newman)
4. Science will benefit humanity and reverse some of the effects of the Fall.
Clarification: "Ruling over" nature does not mean exploiting it.
God's creation is good. (Gen 1:31)
God wants us to take care of nature. (Gen 2:15)
Nature ultimately belongs to God. (Ps 24:1)
God cares about all of His creation and wants us to redeem it. (Rom 8:19-22)
Conclusions:
1.
2.
3.
Assumptions of Science
1. The world is _______.
2. Nature is _______.
3. Nature operates by ______________.
4. The laws of nature are ______________. (?)
Worldviews
Naturalism:
Deism:
Christian Theism:
Historically: Christian Theism -> Deism -> Naturalism
level:
worldview naturalism Christian theism
science evolution instantaneous origins
(adapted from God Did It, But How? by Robert Fischer)
Worldviews deal mainly with "who?", "what?", and "why?" questions.
Science deals mainly with "how?" questions.
The most important conflict for a Christian is the conflict between Christian theism & naturalism.
Christian/Religious Scientists
Copernicus (Astronomer)
Galileo (Astronomer, Physicist)
Kepler (Astronomer)
Tycho Brahe (Astronomer)
Newton (Mathematician, Physicist)
Maxwell (Physicist)
Faraday (Chemist, Physicist)
Pascal (Mathematician, Physicist)
Boyle (Chemist, Physicist)
Dalton (Chemist, Physicist)
Mendel (Botanist)
Asa Gray (Botanist)
David Livingstone (Physician)
(Planck) (Physicist)
(Schroedinger) (Physicist)
(Heisenberg) (Physicist)
(Eccles) (Neurophysiologist)
C. Everett Koop (Physician, former Surgeon General)
C. A. Coulson (Quantum Chemist, Physicist)
Henry F. Schaefer (Quantum Chemist)
Ghillean Prance (Botanist, Director of Kew Gardens)
William Phillips (Physicist)
Ian Hutchison (Physicist, Director of Plasma Physics, MIT)
Francis Collins (Medical Researcher, Human Genome Project)
Scientific Method (Idealized)
Not a checklist; not cut and dried
Many scientific methods.
Largly unconscious.
It is a way of asking questions about nature.
observations/data
law/principle (rule or equation)
theory/model
Relationship of Science to Theology
1. Same subject matter
Same kinds of information
Problems
*
*
*
2. Different subject matter
Different kinds of info.
(science and theology are unrelated)
Problems
*
*
3. Same subject matter
Different kinds of info.
Science and theology are _________________.
*
*
(adapted from Putting it all Together by Richard Bube)
Dealing with Apparent Conflicts
When the Bible and science appear to conflict remember that:
1. Scientific theories are not absolute; they are often modified and replaced by better theories.
2. Our interpretations of the Bible are not infallible. We must always ask, "What was the author's intended meaning?"
3. Science and the Bible generally deal with different kinds of questions about the world which yield different, yet complementary answers. (why vs how)
Science & Theology: Similarities
1. Both are based on _______.
Science: experimental facts
Theology: *
*
*
*
*
2. Both often deal with things that are invisible so we must use _____________.
science:
theology: symbols for God
3. Models can be _____________ in science and theology. A good model should __________ and _________ facts. It should:
a) make sense out of facts (deal with "why?" questions)
science:
theology:
Why do we have the talents we do? Heredity & the environment or God's will?
b) be _________
science:
theology: