GOD AND SCIENCE A STUDY OF THE COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE 1

OUTLINE What is science? Is science fallible? Where do science and Christianity appear to conflict? Climate Change: Natural or Human Driven? What’s the real problem? How do we deal with non-believers who quote science as fact? 2

Q. “WHAT IS THE REAL PROBLEM?” A. “ORIGINAL SIN” From Genesis 3 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” From the beginning mankind has wanted to “play” God We see this in the way most of the world works (human-caused famine, plague, war, etc.) 3

ATHEISM IS A SYMPTOM OF THIS PROBLEM “Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods.” “Atheism is not a belief system nor is it a religion.” “While there are some religions that are atheistic (certain sects of Buddhism, for example), that does not mean that atheism is a religion. Two commonly used retorts to the nonsense that atheism is a religion are: 1) If atheism is a religion then bald is a hair color, and 2) If atheism is a religion then health is a disease.” 4 From

YET A RELIGION IS DEFINED AS: : the belief in a god or in a group of gods : an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods : an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group 5 From Whereas Atheism does not meet the first two definitions, it certainly qualifies for the third!

HOW DOES SCIENCE COME INTO THIS DISCUSSION Science is commonly used by Atheists and others as a way to ridicule religion, in particular Christianity “Those of us who believe that scientific evidence should be the bedrock of policy formation, that logic should be the basis for argument and that uncertainty should beget tolerance are not honored in the political world. Rather, scientific evidence is ignored when it leads to politically unacceptable conclusions, logic is tossed aside when faith is involved, and tolerance for minority opinions is simply out of political fashion.” 6 From

CHRISTIANITY VS ATHEISM 7 John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Said Business School, Oxford University, and teaches for the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? The many topics we have discussed cover vast areas of science In them, we find both sides of this debate To paraphrase Lee Strobel: “Which direction is science pointing to: God or no God?” 8

NEXT WEEK How do we deal with non-believers who quote science as fact? 9