 2007 by David A. Prentice Contents: Overheads to be used with Chapter 1 of “Truth in the Balance,” copyright 2003 by David Prentice, M.Ed., M.A.S.T. REVISION DATE 09/19/2010 This material is made available by the author at no charge. It may be reproduced for use in a Christian environment such as Sunday schools or Bible classes, but it may not be used for any commercial purposes. To be certain that you have the most up-to-date version of this material, go to the Origins Resource Association website, Follow the links to “Bible College Materials” and check that the revision date shown online is the same as shown above. If not, download the latest version.

 2007 by David A. Prentice Review n “6 days of creation are really 6,000 yrs.” n “God used evolution to create” n “Millions of years” n “Natural Process”

 2007 by David A. Prentice HOW DO YOU K NOW WHAT YOU K NOW? Or at least what you think you know? HOW DO YOU K NOW WHAT YOU K NOW? Or at least what you think you know? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 

 2007 by David A. Prentice Map of Course n Where did we come from? n How can we be sure? n Why does it matter? n How can we be sure about anything? 1-5 n Why does creation vs evolution matter? 4 n What are the scientific arguments about where we come from according to each side? 6 and on

 2007 by David A. Prentice WHAT MOST PEOPLE THINK: Evolution is science... Creation is religion. 

 2007 by David A. Prentice BOTH ARE RELIGION n Religion: “any specific system of belief, worship, conduct, etc., often involving a code of ethics and a philosophy.” & held with great devotion n Who or what started everything, why, and what does it all mean?

 2007 by David A. Prentice Initial Complexity vs. Disorganization n Creation: Everything started complex and is slowly becoming worse n Evolution: Everything started disorganized and is slowly becoming better

 2007 by David A. Prentice T I M E EVOLUTION: Initial Disorganization with later increase in complexity and unlimited diversification. Not just change, but change in the direction of increasing complexity. EVOLUTION: Initial Disorganization with later increase in complexity and unlimited diversification. Not just change, but change in the direction of increasing complexity. Evolutionary “Tree” All life came from one simple cell And all genetically related 

 2007 by David A. Prentice 2 GENERAL MODELS OF EVOLUTION: 2 GENERAL MODELS OF EVOLUTION: Materialistic (Atheistic - few) Evolution Everything evolved by purely natural processes Theistic Evolution God used evolution as His method of creating 2 Specific Models About Evolution of Living Things: 2 Specific Models About Evolution of Living Things: Neo-Darwinism: Evolution occurred slowly and gradually. Many have abandoned this belief because of the fossil evidence. Punctuated Equilibria: Evolution occurred in sudden jumps. The biological evidence against this belief is overwhelming. 

 2007 by David A. Prentice TIMETIME CREATION: Initial Complexity with later deterioration and diversification within limits Not just change, but change in the direction of decreasing complexity. CREATION: Initial Complexity with later deterioration and diversification within limits Not just change, but change in the direction of decreasing complexity. Creationist “Forest” All life came from multiple complex ancestors. 

 2007 by David A. Prentice 3 VARIATIONS OF CREATION: 3 VARIATIONS OF CREATION: Recent Rapid Creation (perhaps within the last 4,000 years) The Gap Theory (creation and ruin in the distant past, recent re-creation) Progressive Creation or the “Day- Age” Theory (creation spread out over billions of years -- really a theistic version of Punctuated Equilibria evolution) All are forms of Intelligent Design. 

 2007 by David A. Prentice CONTRAST OF BASIC MODELS: CONTRAST OF BASIC MODELS: CREATION: Initial Complexity with later deterioration and diversification within limits (complex to simple) EVOLUTION: Initial Disorganization with later increase in complexity and unlimited diversification (simple to complex) 

 2007 by David A. Prentice THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD 1. Define the problem. What do you want to know? (E.g. “Does music affect how plants grow?”) 2. Gather information about the subject. (AUTHORITY) 3. Formulate a hypothesis. 4. Devise a way to test the hypothesis. 5. Observe the results of the test. (EXPERIENCE) 6. Draw a conclusion (INDUCTIVE LOGIC) and report your results so others can repeat the test. 