Chp 1 page 2

A. God and Science 1. Scientism – belief that science can solve all problems 2. For most problems this belief does seem valid B. Importance of biology 1. Find cures 2. Produce food 3. Find ways to get rid of waste

4. Care for the earth (Gen. 1:28) 5. Discover more about God and his creation 6. Creation praises God (Ps 150:6)

a. Belgic Confession, Article 2 – We know Him by two means 1) First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letter to make us ponder the invisible things of God: His eternal power and his divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20

2) Second, He makes himself known to us more openly by his holy and divine word, as much as we need in this life, for His glory and for the salvation of His own. b. 2 ways to know God – creation (science) and the Bible – need to study both

1. Facts gained through observing things around you a. Facts – something that is true b. What is truth? 1) What every believes? 2) A hutch that works? 3) Repeated observation?

4) Logical a) Inductive – have observations and come to a general conclusion b) Deductive – start with general principles and come to a more specific conclusion

5) What is accepted by faith? 6) Truth – word of God

2. The goal of science a. Investigate and understand the universe b. Explain events in the universe c. Make useful predictions to better the future

1. Logical procedure for answering a question 2. Using the scientific method a. State the problem b. Hypothesis c. Experiment d. Collect data 1) Qualitative 2) Quantitative

e. Organize f. Conclusion g. Repeat

3. Experiments a. Need a controlled experiment b. Control group 1) Stays the same 2) Compare things to c. Variable 1) Thing that changes 2) Can only have one at a time 3) Independent – changed on purpose 4) Dependent – changes in response to independent variable

1. Difficult to answer how and why questions 2. Spiritual realm can’t be explained 3. Has biases 4. No experiment can be completely controlled 5. Observations could be faulty

6. Can’t deal with values or morals Are guns good or bad? 7. Cannot establish truth 8. Cannot prove a universal truth

1. Biology – study of life 2. What does it mean to be alive? a. Have movement 1) Could be locomotion 2) Could be internal movement b. Has growth

c. Can reproduce d. Comes from preexisting life e. Similar chemical makeup 1) Has to have carbon (organic) 2) All living things have similar makeup f. Responds to stimuli

g. Requires energy 1) Need food – organic energy containing substance 2) Plants = sun, animals = plants or animals

h. High level of organization i. Faces death

3. Study of life a. Anton Van Leeuwenhoek 1) Microbes, blood cells 2) Human tissue structures 3) Father of Microscopy

b. Validity of biological studies 1) Errors made in observations 2) Errors can result if the specimen is atypical 3) Errors are made with crude techniques 4) Means experiments need to be repeated many times

4. Diversity of Life a. Almost all places on earth have life b. Where there is life on earth is known as the biosphere c. Biodiversity – refers to number of different species d. Species – group of individuals that can breed & produce viable offspring