God and Science and the Bible The Bible
God and Science and the Bible The Bible and Evolution 8/17/19 West Covina, CA John Oakes Ph. D
Thomas Huxley, Darwin’s “bulldog” “We are as much the product of blind forces as is the falling of a stone to earth, or the ebb and flow of the tides. We have just happened, and man was made flesh by a series of singularly beneficial accidents. ”
RICHARD DAWKINS In the universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt and other people are going to get lucky: and you won’t find any rhyme or reason to it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at the bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good. Nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is, and we dance to its music.
Accident or Design? William Paley
The Teleological Argument Evidence for Design in Nature The Anthropic Principle Boeing 747 Design or Accident?
Water 1. Ideal solvent to support life (dissolves ions and molecules 2. Right boiling and melting points 3. High specific heat 4. Solid floats on liquid 5. Contracts from 0 to 4 degrees centigrade
Designed Elements?
Carbon: The Central Element of Life 3 -D molecules Large, complex yet flexible molecules
The Ozone Layer: Is oxygen a designed element?
NO URANIUM, NO PLATE TECTONICS
DNA a) b)
Protein
Nature creates order, but not information
A House of Cards: Order and Information. A much better analogy for living things.
“It is mere rubbish to think at this point of the origin of life. One might as well think of the origin of matter. ” Charles Darwin
Science before the 1950 s: The universe was NOT created. Hebrews 11: 3 “By faith we understand that the universe was created… so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible. ” Genesis 1: 3 God said “Let there be light, ” and there was light. The Big Bang · 1929 Hubble. The Red Shift: The universe is expanding. · 1965 Penzias and Wilson, background microwave radiation. Physicists now: The universe was created.
Physics: The Finely Tuned Universe
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Fine Tuning of the Universe Constant 1. Gravitational constant 2. Ratio of electrons to protons 3. Strong Nuclear Force 4. Weak Nuclear Force 5. Electric Force 6. Expansion rate of universe 7. Ratio of matter to antimatter and many more…. A Little Bigger A Little Smaller very short-lived stars no stars or galaxies no hydrogen, fusion only hydrogen all H 2 He at big bang no heavy elements no chemical bonding no galaxies universe collapses quickly too much radiation for life not enough matter for galaxies to form
A finely-tuned instrument built by humans. Good to one part in a billion?
Fred Hoyle on Fine-Tuning “… a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology. ”
Antony Flew Considers God. . . Flew is increasingly persuaded that some sort of Deity brought about this universe. He says he has in mind something like the God of Aristotle, a distant, impersonal "prime mover. " It might not even be conscious, but a mere force. In formal terms, he regards the existence of this minimal God as a hypothesis that, at present, is perhaps the best explanation for why a universe exists that can produce complex life
Conclusion: “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. ” Romans 1: 20 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour fourth speech. Night after night they display knowledge Psalms 19: 1 -2
Part II Science and the Bible Delos B. Mc. Kown: “Christianity is scientifically unsupported and probably insupportable, philosophically suspect at best and disreputable at worst, and historically fraudulent. ”
Papyrus Ebers
The Ebers Papyrus: “To prevent hair from turning gray, anoint it with the blood of a calf which has been boiled in oil or with the fat of a rattlesnake. ” “A mixture of six fats, namely those of the horse, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cat, the snake and the ibex. . to prevent hair loss. ”
Drugs of Choice in Papyrus Ebers: Lizards blood Swine’s teeth Putrid meat Moisture from Pigs’ ears Excreta from animals including human beings, donkeys, antelope, dogs, cats and flies
“I will not bring on you any of these diseases. . . ” Exodus 15: 26 “The pig. . . is unclean for you. . . those that walk on their paws. . . the weasel, the rat. . . are unclean for you. ” Leviticus 11
“The sting of a hornet is healed by the house-fly, crushed and applied to the wound. ” “The gnat, feeble creature, taking in food but never secreting it is a specific against the poison of the viper. ” An ancient Hebrew medical manuscript.
“Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with the water on the third and seventh day. . . take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and furnishings and the people who were there. ” Numbers 19
Semelweiss
Vienna, 1847 In maternity wards one out of every six women dies. Obstetricians ascribe deaths to constipation, fear and poisonous air.
Death Rate falls from 18% to 0. 5%
Thymol: A Powerful Disinfectant
Leviticus 13: 46 “As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp. ” Quarantine for infectious disease
LEPROSY Killed millions of people in Europe and around the world for thousands of years. “Fear of all other diseases taken together can hardly be compared to the terror spread by leprosy. ” —Dr. George Rosen
Leprosy
MEDICAL COMMUNITY HAD NO ANSWERS They taught that it was brought on by eating hot food, pepper, garlic and the meat of diseased hogs. Other physicians said it was caused by a malign conjunction of the planets. Leviticus 13: 46 “As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp. ”
The life is in the blood Leviticus 17: 14 “… the life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, ‘You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off. ’ ”
Bloodletting The most common medical practice in 1700 s and 1800 s
Bloodletting Instruments from 1800 s 1693). George Tiemann & Co. American armamentarium
“For the generations to come, every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised. . . ” Genesis 17: 12 Vitamin K Prothrombin: a clotting protein.
Clotting Protein Peaks on Day Eight Available Prothrombin
How Did Abraham Pick the Eighth Day? Day Circumcised Number of Hebrew Boys Number of Deaths 1 823 4 3 759 6 5 693 8 7 855 3 9 770 2 11 698 4
Other reasons I believe the Bible is inspired by God Fulfilled messianic prophecies Fufilled types, prefigures and foreshadows Historical accuracy Consistency of message and lack of contradiction 2 Tim 3: 16 All scripture is inspired by God….
Public Forum: Four Christian Views of Kevin Anderson Evolution John Clayton June 12 7: 00 $12/$10 Students 10 Goodyear, Irvine CA Young Earth Creationism Progressive Creationism John Oakes Denis Lamoreax Intelligent Design Evolutionary Creationism
Our Outline n Science and Religion: The Limits of Science n The Age of the Universe and the Age of the Earth n Genesis 1 and Creation n Evolution: The Evidence n Four Christian Views of Evolution
Science The use of experiment to test theories about the laws of nature. Science is about things which can be measured.
Science Scientific knowledge is quantitative n Scientific knowledge changes and improves over time n Scientific knowledge is neither true nor false, but rather consistent with the observations and consistent with prior knowledge n
Questions Science Can Answer When? n What? n Where? n How many? n By what means? n
Questions Science Cannot Answer: (That Religion Does Answer) Why am I here? n Is that the right thing to do? n How valuable am I? n Does God exist? Does God act (theism)? n Will that God respond if I pray? n Do supernatural events (miracles) happen? n In other words, Religion answers the questions people actually care about! n
n A statement a scientist should not make (if he or she is well trained and is not manipulating you): n n Evolution is true. The Big Bang happened. n Better statements: n The theory of evolution is by far the best model we have to explain both the fossil evidence and the genetic evidence with regard to the origin of all species. The Big Bang model is in dramatic agreement will all known facts about the origin and history of the universe. n n Science seeks consistency, not “truth. ” What is the simplest and most consistent explanation of the observation.
Conclusions about Science and Religion n Religion and science ask different kinds of questions and define words differently n Religion and science are two very different world views but at times they address the identical information area n If Christianity is true, then the Bible should not contradict what we know from science.
Unanswered questions which seem to relate to science n Consciousness (what is consciousness and why are we conscious? ) n Origins of life n Origin of the universe. Why is there anything (as opposed to nothing) n Origin of Species* (this is our topic)
Galileo Galilei (1564 -1642) “The Bible was written to tell us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go” “In discussions of physical problems we ought to begin not from the authority of scriptural passages, but from the sense-experiences and necessary demonstrations. ”
“It is mere rubbish to think at this point of the origin of life. One might as well think of the origin of matter. ” Charles Darwin Might the origin if species be deistic—governed by natural processes?
Can Science and Religion peacefully coexist? The Language of God n Head of Genome Project n Head of National Institutes of Health (NIH) n
Reasons Collins believes in God 1. There is something instead of nothing. 2. The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics. 3. The Big Bang. 4. Nature does not solve the problem of why. 5. Fine tuning of the universe. The “Goldilocks Paradox. ” 6. The existence of moral law.
The Age of the Universe and the Age of the Earth Bishop Ussher 1640: The universe was created on Sunday October 23, 4004 BC
Obtaining the Age of the Universe n Extrapolate the current expansion rate (Hubble constant) back to the Big Bang n n Look for the oldest stars (in globular clusters) n n 13. 5 billion years 13. 0 billion years old Best current estimate is 13. 4 ± 0. 4 billion years M 10 Globular Cluster
How Old is the Earth? n James Hutton, 1787 Uniformitarianism “No vestige of a beginning, no concept of an end. ”
Deep Time
Radiometric Dating Techniques mother/daughter isotope pair half-life U 238 → Pb 206 4. 5 billion years U 235 → Pb 207 704 million years K 40 → Ar 40 1. 25 billion years Th 232 → Pb 208 14. 8 billion years
Genesis Chapter One: Creation n n Young Earth Theory n Earth is young and science supports this conclusion. n Earth is young because God created it “with an appearance of age. ” Day/Age Theory Literary Theory It’s all just a myth Each view has its problems
A Quick Summary of Genesis One: a. God pre-existed the universe b. God created the universe: “Let there be light” c. God created the earth d. God created life e. Last of all, God created mankind
Is the Metaphorical Day a Reasonable Interpretation? Pre-Science Theologians Who Said Yes. n Philo 1 st century n Origen early 3 rd century n Augustine early 5 th century n Thomas Aquinas 13 th century
Evolution and the Bible n What does the Bible say? n n God created all life in its various forms, but how did he do this? Remember, the Bible is not a science book. What does the physical evidence say? n n Fossil evidence Genetic/DNA evidence Is there “Irreducible Complexity? ” What about human evolution?
Finches discovered And drawn by Charles Darwin Evidence of Evolution?
Evolution of whales over time?
Evolution of horses?
Morphological Evidence of Common Descent
Human chromosome #2 and Great Ape chromosome #2 p, 2 q: evidence for common descent.
More Genetic Evidence for Common Descent n Pseudogenes n Vitamin C Pseudogene in great apes and humans n Retroposons, SINEs (short interspersed elements), etc. n Viral insertions n Bottom line, genetic evidence, at least in the big picture, strongly supports common descent.
table 1 Chimpanzee Gene sequence that codes for protein Random DNA segment between genes 100% 98% Dog 99% 52% Mouse 99% 40% Chicken 75% 4% Fruitfly 60% ~0% Roundworm 35% ~0% Typical random point mutation rates are about 1 x 10 -5 – 1 x 10 -7 mutations/generation. 5 million years = 250, 000 generations. Sufficient for random mutations to explain the change without the intervention of a guiding hand?
But………. . n The Cambrian Explosion n Statistical Arguments n Theistic Evolution
Fossils from creatures which appeared in the “Cambrian Explosion”
Life in the Cambrian
Some Tentative Conclusions n Evolution has happened. Microevolution has been observed. n Fossil evidence strongly supports the idea of change over time, but that change often happens in surprisingly sudden bursts. The Cambrian explosion raises real questions. n Genetic evidence gives rather strong support to the idea of common descent. n Like it or not, this is true of humans as well. n Statistical and other arguments give support for evolution being theistic, rather than deistic, but this is not a scientific argument. n God invented evolution; let us give him credit for a great idea.
Four Christian Views of Evolution n Young Earth Creationism n n n Scientific Young Earth Theological Young Earth Intelligent Design Theistic Evolutionary Creationism
Scientific Young Earth Creationism n A scientific hypothesis that the earth is young and, for all practical purposes, evolution has not happened. n The scientific young earth view rejects cosmology, geology and evolution. In effect, it rejects science altogether. n It requires rejecting science and general revelation. (Galileo and geocentrism) n This is not scientific. It is anti-scientific. Why? There is literally no evidence the earth is young.
Theological Young Earth Creationism n n n A purely theological hypothesis that God created the earth “with an appearance of age. ” Rejects cosmology, geology and evolution, but not science in general because the rejection is theological, not scientific. This view is NOT anti-scientific. How old was the wine Jesus created? Rejects general revelation? As a theological view, it is possible, but problematic. Is God tricking us?
Young Earth Summary n Scientific Young Earth Creationism is VERY bad science. n Theological Young Earth Creationism is not bad science, but it raises difficult theological questions.
Intelligent Design (ID)/Progressive Creationism n n n Accepts Cosmology, Geology Rejects macroevolution. Rejects common descent. Skeptical of evolution. Argues for “irreducible complexity. ” Uses God-of-the-gaps arguments n n Note: God-of-the-gaps arguments are NOT scientific (even if they are true!). Tends to confuse theological issues with scientific ones. I agree with theology of ID, but am hesitant about the science of ID. There is a sense in which it is not scientific.
Theistic Evolution n n Accepts cosmology, geology and evolution as scientific hypothesis. Accepts common descent as a good scientific hypothesis. Sees both free will and God’s sovereign will in history, in individuals and in nature. God works through evolution, but he directs the path, either by subtly directing it or by dramatic intervention. Although some scientific evidence and even statistical arguments support this conclusion it is a purely theological hypothesis.
Theistic Evolution (cont. ) n God gives us free will, in that choosing to reject God is not completely unreasonable. God uses nature to support our faith but not to demand it. n Although the evidence supports evolution of human beings, Adam and Eve were special creations. n The fish Jesus created had retroposons, pseudogenes and viral insertions.
Evolutionary Creationism n n n Accepts cosmology, geology and evolution. Accepts common descent as both a scientific and a theological hypothesis. Evolution was a purely natural, undirected process. God is the designer, who, in his incredible wisdom and foreknowledge, set the universe and evolution in motion. Hypothesizes a God-of-no-gaps. If God had to intervene in the free process of evolution, that would be to lessen God—a God who had to correct his mistakes.
Summary n There is no view without any problems, either logical, scientific or theological. n Obviously, I prefer the position described as Theological Evolution, but I may be wrong. n This is not a salvation issue. We should be tolerant of divergent views on unimportant doctrines. (Titus 3: 9) n All agree that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made. ” that all God’s works are wonderful (Psalm 139: 14)
Questions? www. evidenceforchristianity. org
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