President Gordon B. Hinckley Let thy Holy Spirit abide constantly within these walls and be felt by all who teach and learn. May there be an absence of intellectual arrogance; rather, may there be that humility which comes of recognition that man, with all of his knowledge and understanding, shares only a feeble light when compared with the wisdom of the almighty. ( BYU as a Covenant Community p.24 (from the dedication of the Joseph Smith Building at BYU).

God created the world, and my faith does not hinge on the detailed procedures he used Henry Eyring The Faith of a Scientist.

And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me. Moses 6:63

Evolution The Cell Metabolism Cellular Reproduction Ecology Critical interrelationships in Energy utilizations Leads to unity of Allows continued Existence of Critical relationships Found in Explains relationships Leads to common Processes in Occurs through processes of

Setting some terminology straight

HYPOTHESIS tentative explanation can be tested must be falsifiableA tentative explanation of one or more phenomena in nature that can be tested by observations, experiments, or both. In order to be considered scientific, a hypothesis must be falsifiable, which means that it can be proven to be incorrect.

Fact A natural phenomenon repeatedly confirmed by observation.

Law description consistently occurA description of how a natural phenomenon or relationship will consistently occur under a given set of circumstances.

Theory explanation incorporates many confirmed observations, laws, and successfully verified hypothesesA well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that typically incorporates many confirmed observations, laws, and successfully verified hypotheses. The theory of evolution is a collection of explanatory concepts which seek to make sense of the accumulated knowledge about the relationships between living things and how organisms have originated. Theories allow us to predict what we may expect to see in new investigations, in other words theories give us a framework for doing new and different investigations that may further help to explain the given phenomena.

TRUTH “ A scientific statement is true if all attempts to falsify it have failed. Truth in science is not some final statement that is correct for all time. It means ‘true beyond all reasonable doubt’. “ John A. Moore (Science as a way of knowing pg Harvard U. Press)

INDUCTION from the specific to the generalinvolves reaching a conclusion based on observations, moving from the specific to the general. This is the method of reasoning used by Darwin to develop his theory of Natural Selection

DEDUCTION specific conclusions from some larger assumptionsInvolves drawing specific conclusions from some larger assumptions (from general to specific). The formulation of a prediction based on a hypothesis is an example of deductive reasoning. When new data are added in support of the theory of evolution, they are often the result of looking for specific results we would expect to see based on the theory which is already in place… In other words what the theory would predict we might see.

Science as a way of Knowing  Science is empirical (based on observation and experimentation)  Data collected from experimentation must be reproducible.  Many different groups of scientists can do the same experiments and get the same results.  Experimental design must be falsifiable.

Religion as a way of knowing  Based on faith, feelings and subjective experiences  Not based on visual senses  One person’s experience cannot be replicated exactly by another  Knowledge is gained by individuals as a sum total of that individual’s experiences and study

These differences could lead to a potential conflict between science and religion. There is value and need for both “ways of knowing”. It is important not to be closed minded or dogmatic in either direction. Just because they are different does not make one way of knowing more important or more correct than the other.

Discussion Evolution packet defined BYU Evolution packet A Lester Allen Kenneth J. Brown