Science and the Bible Ross McKenzie revelation4-11.blogspot.com
My story • Becoming and being a follower of Jesus • Becoming and being a Scientist • Researching the amazing world that God made • I use quantum theory from physics to understand properties of complex materials. condensedconcepts.blogspot.com
Outline • Why science leads me to worship God • God’s Two Books: the Bible and the Book of Nature • What is science? • What do scientists believe? • What questions can’t science answer? • What can the Bible tell us? • What does the Bible not tell us?
Size of earth compared to sun
Size of sun compared to other stars
The immense scales of the observable universe • Our sun is just one star of two hundred billion stars in our galaxy. • There are almost two hundred billion galaxies in the universe. • It takes light from the most distant galaxies tens of billions of years to travel to us.
Psalm 8 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. …. 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
God’s Two Books • • • •
God is the author of two Books. The Bible is the Book of God’s Word. Nature is the Book of God’s works. Since there is one perfect author the two Books cannot contradict one another. • Both books require interpretation. • Apparent contradiction between science and the Bible is due to wrong interpretations.
Important books by Professor Peter Harrison, University of Queensland
Main points • The Bible was influential in the rise of modern science in 17th century Europe. • The Bible gave motivation for doing science. • Christians gave social and cultural support for science. • Belief in an ordered Creation led to the necessary assumption of scientific Laws of Nature. • Belief in the Fall of humanity led to new methods of scientific investigation (experiment and instruments).
What is science? • Science is a procedure for obtaining knowledge about the material world. • Scientific theories can be tested by experiments and observations. • The best theories are quantitative. They involve numbers, data, and mathematical equations.
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Science cannot tell us about meaning and purpose • Questions of meaning and purpose, cannot be tested by experiment. • Science is not philosophy. • Science answers When? and How? • Science cannot answer questions about Who? and Why?
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Why is the kettle boiling? • The stove produces heat that is absorbed by the water. • The temperature of the water is 100 degrees celcius. • I want a cup of tea. • My mother wants a cup of coffee. • I want to make the water pure by killing the germs in it.
Science does not give personal meaning and purpose “I consider myself an atheist. But I have a feeling of disappointment because the hope for contentment and a peaceful outlook on life as the result of pursuing a goal has remained largely unfulfilled…. I simply don't have that sense of harmony which I'd hoped for when I was young. I've persevered in science for over fifty years.”
S. Chandrasekhar Nobel Prize in Physics, 1983
A Scientist who follows Jesus Dr. Francis Collins • Director, National Institutes of Health, USA • Was an atheist until 27 years old. “I do believe in God's creative power in having brought it all into being in the first place, I find that studying the natural world is an opportunity to observe the majesty, the elegance, the intricacy of God's creation. “
What do scientists agree about? • Scientists agree about scientific facts. • But, scientists are human. • Scientists do not agree about politics, religion, or philosophy. • Scientists do not always agree about the interpretation of scientific theories. • Science can’t prove God does not exist. • Science can’t prove that God does exist.
Different interpretations of the same scientific fact Science: The earth is not the centre of the solar system. (Copernicus) • Person A: Humanity is not special. • Person B: Geographic location is no measure of significance.
Our galaxy
Different interpretations of the same scientific fact Science: The sun is just one star among 200 billion in the Milky Way galaxy, which is just one galaxy among 200 billion galaxies. • Person A: Humanity is totally insignificant in the universe. • Person B: Human life is just a highly improbable accident. • Person C: Human life is highly significant because it is so unique and improbable.
Are we significant? LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. …. When I look at the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, What is man that you are mindful of him, And the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8
Scientists do not agree about the interpretation of scientific facts Fact: The DNA of humans and chimpanzees is about 97 per cent the same. • Scientist A: Humans are no different from animals. • Scientist B: Animal life is equally valuable as human life. • Scientist C: The 3 per cent difference highlights just how unique and special humans are.
The Bible answers questions that science cannot • Why does science work? Because both humans and the natural world have the same Creator. • What is the purpose of humanity? To live in a personal relationship with our Creator and to honour Jesus.
Who is the Creator? ``[Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones of powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him….For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.’’ 23 Colossians 1:15-20
What do we learn from Colossians 1:15-20? • God made everything through Jesus Christ. • God sustains everything. • God is just as involved in natural processes as in supernatural processes. • The same God is our Creator, Redeemer, and Reconciliator. • Jesus is Saviour and Lord.
Summary • Science leads me to worship God. • God has given us two Books: the Bible and the Book of Nature. • The Bible influenced the rise of modern science. • Science cannot tell us about meaning purpose. • Science cannot answer Who or Why? • The Bible answers Who and Why? revelation4-11.blogspot.com
Discussion “He set the earth on its foundations. It cannot be moved” Psalm 104:5 How do you interpret this verse? Why? Does this verse contradict the Copernican view that the earth revolves around the sun?
Some important distinctions 1. Microevolution Small changes occur over time within species (Directly observable in the lab). 2. Macroevolution New species arise over long periods of time. (Cannot be observed directly, but there is substantial indirect evidence for this). 3. Evolutionism = Philosophical Darwinism Life arose as an accident and has no purpose. 28 Scientific validity of 1. or 2. does not imply 3. is valid.
Christianity provided social and cultural support for the development of science. Professor Stephen Gaukroger, The Emergence of a Scientific Culture, Oxford University Press, 2005
Theology drove science “a good part of the distinctive success of the consolidation of the scientific enterprise derived not from a separation of religion and natural philosophy [science], but rather from the fact that natural philosophy could be accommodated to projects in natural theology…far from breaking free of religion in the early modern era, its consolidation depended crucially on religion being in the driving seat.” Stephen Gaukroger, The Emergence of a Scientific Culture, Oxford University Press, 2005
‘…The Roman Catholic Church gave more financial and social support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries from the recovery of ancient learning during the later middle ages into the Enlightenment than any other, and, probably, all other, institutions.’" John Heilbron, The Sun in the Church (Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 3."
Influence of the Protestant Reformation • Martin Luther and John Calvin emphasised original sin and the complete corruption of human nature, both moral and intellectual. • Claimed Catholic church had embraced too much Greek philosophy (from Aristotle to Aquinas) which was overly confident about human reason. • Before the Fall Adam was the perfect man and a perfect scientist with complete knowledge about the universe. • Changed how people read God’s two Books; a shift from the allegorical to the literal.
The Biblical origin of the experimental method for science • The Reformation led to a shift away from the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. • The Bible taught that the Fall had corrupted human reason and senses. • Instruments and repeated and independent observations were necessary to correct for the Fall.
More limitations of natural science • Science cannot explain why it works. • Science cannot explain the purpose or meaning of things. • Science cannot tell us how to live our lives. • Some prominent popular science authors disagree (Dawkins, Atkins, Hawking, Weinberg, …) 34
God’s two books Metaphor used by Francis Bacon(1561-1626). He was arguably the founder of modern science because he systematised and rationalised the use of experiment and induction. “God has, in fact, written two books, not just one. Of course, we are all familiar with the first book he wrote, namely Scripture. But he has written a second book called creation. ” Advancement of Learning
The God of the Gaps "There is no 'God of the gaps' to take over at those strategic places where science fails; and the reason is that gaps of this sort have the unpreventable habit of shrinking.” Charles Coulson (1910-1974) Professor of Theoretical Chemistry, Oxford
A scientist who follows Jesus • Dr. Francis Collins “God's existence is either true or not. But calling it a scientific question implies that the tools of science can provide the answer. From my perspective, God cannot be completely contained within nature, and therefore God's existence is outside of science's ability to really weigh in. “
Two important points • Just because natural science can explain something without reference to God (e.g. the Big bang, evolution of life) does not mean that God is not involved in the process. • Just because science cannot explain something now does not mean that it necessarily requires an explanation involving God.
