1. Natural Sciences and the Christian Chapter 1

2. Science and Faith  What is Science?  what scientists do  results of what scientists do  Science - the total collection of knowledge gained through man’s observations of the physical world

3. Science and Faith (Con’t)  Earth Science - what man has observed about the planet Earth  Space Science - what man has observed about the universe outside our planet

4. Science and Faith  What is Faith?  confident belief in the authority or reliability of something  What is belief?  You believe that someone could walk a tightrope pushing a wheel barrow but would you get in the wheel barrow?

5. Scripture  Hebrews 11:1 - “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.”  John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  God gives us Faith so that we may Believe His word is true.

6. Evolution versus Creation  Both require faith.  Both are theories.  One is logical.  Scientism - the believe that scientific inquiry is the only path to truth.  believing evolution without trying to prove it

7. The Christian Worldview and Science  Worldview - a set of beliefs and assumptions about what is true in life  Christian - contains the premises of Creation, the Fall and Redemption  filters (lens) - everything is passed through a filter of a person’s worldview

8. Creation  Supernatural - God created our universe ex nihilo (out of nothing) and He created by speaking it into existence  Perfect - God stated that “it was good” after each day of Creation. When finished He called it “very good” - creational goodness

9. Creation  Man was created in God’s image. Gen 1:27  only item created in God’s image  humans are the only beings that can communicate with God  Creation Mandate - command that allows us to act like God in that He gave man dominion over all the earth just as He has dominion over all the world

10. Theories of the Origin of Earth  Gap - a gap of time between Gen 1:1 and 1:2 that could have lasted millions or billions of years  Day-Age - day is taken as a period of time and not the literal 24 hours

11. Theories of the Origin of Earth (con’t)  Theistic Evolution - God used the tool of evolution to create the world; compromise of Creation and evolution  The Big Bang Theory – The idea that the universe began in a gigantic explosion- like event about 15 billion years ago

12. The Fall and Curse  The first sin of man is known as the Fall  also called the “Fall from God’s Grace”  The Curse (punishment for the Fall)  snake - forced to crawl on it’s belly in the dust  woman - pain with childbirth, husband rule over her  man - work hard in order to survive and provide for his family  nature - thorn’s and thistles

13. Human Consequences of Sin  Total Depravity - since the Fall all humans are born into total depravity…separated from God in mind, will, and emotion  Solution - accept that Christ has paid the price for our sins

14. Creation and the Curse  The curse is still evident today in the pain and death happening in God’s creation.  God still expects man to rule over the Earth though now it is more difficult  Man and nature are also still to declare God’s glory

15. The Flood  Worldwide Judgment  Noah and the boat; animals  Change the face of the earth and possibly altered many of its basic characteristics such as climate, axis tilt, length of day  Uniformitarianism - principle that natural laws and processes today are essentially the same as they have always been; flood is a myth

16. Redemption  God’s purpose for redemption is to glorify Himself by restoring people to their original calling; to love God with their mind, will, and emotions; fulfilling the Creation Mandate  God left His people on this earth to declare His glory

17. Right and Wrong Science  Our purpose is to glorify God and therefore if our science processes and discoveries don’t then we are “doing” wrong science.  Even if the outcome is profitable, how you get there is important.  The foundation must be based on God and His Creation

18. Wrong Science Foundations  Materialism - only materials things are real  Uniformitarialism - the processes observed today are the same as they have always been.  Worldviews - everything is filtered through ones worldview.

19. Wrong Reasoning and Fallacies  Fallacy - an error in reasoning  Hasty Generalization  Circular Reasoning  ad hominem  post hoc  pretended-neutrality

20. Hasty Generalization  A person makes a general conclusion based on a small number of cases that are not necessarily typical of the whole group.  Weight loss commercials!

21. Circular Reasoning  Assuming what you are trying to prove.  Finding a fossil in a rock layer that has been previously aged then stating that if you see another rock layer with the same type of fossil then that rock layer is the same age.  You can’t define the age of the rock layer from the fossil that you aged according to the rock layer.

22. ad hominem  Attacking the person involved in the argument instead of the argument itself.  “Anyone who questions the fact of evolution simply demonstrates his own ignorance.”

23. post hoc  Assuming that something is the cause of an event simply because it happened right before it.  You took a bath last night and then did better on a test than last time, therefore the bath must have helped so you decide to take a bath before the next test also.

24. pretended-neutrality  People that claim that they have no presupposition (an idea that a person takes for granted)  I know that coat will keep me warm even though I have never worn it before.

25. Right Science  Deductive Reasoning  Inductive Reasoning  Laws of Thermodynamics

26. Deductive Reasoning  When reasoning is used to work from a general truth to a more specific truth.  Knowing that rapidly flowing water is needed to move large boulders, you can deduce that the presence of large boulders in sedimentary rock means that they were placed there by rapidly flowing water  Process of elimination

27. Inductive Reasoning  Working from specific observations to a general truth.  Scientists studying craters formed by meteorites will shoot projectiles into sand at different speeds and angles and then compare that information to the actual crater and determine how that crater was formed

28. Laws of Thermodynamics  Four Laws that describe the flow of energy in systems and the organization of matter.  These laws are based on consistent observations over a long scientific history.

29. Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics  If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other.  Three bottles of pop: A, B, and C. If A is the same as C, and B is the same as C; then A and B are the same.  In Math A=C and B=C; then A=B

30. First Law of Thermodynamics  The heat transferred to or from a system is equal to the sum of the change in the system’s internal energy and the work the system does on its surroundings.  Energy is not created or destroyed it is conserved! Law of Conservation of Energy!  Colliding Marbles

31. Second Law of Thermodynamics  Energy flows from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration, and in all natural processes entropy is increased.  Degeneration – things break down, living things die, clothing wears out; causes disorder

32. Third Law of Thermodynamics  Absolute zero is unobtainable.  Absolute zero is when all molecular motions ceases thereby creating absolutely no thermal condition.  All matter vibrates causing some thermal activity.  Super thermal conductors – lowest achieved is -269 °C or 4K; Room temperature is 22°C, body temperature is 37°C, and water freezes at 0°C

33. The Scientific Process  A set of specific steps that must be followed in order to arrive at scientific conclusions.  Applied only to scientific investigations. Cannot be applied to beliefs or thoughts that cannot be tested experimentally.  Scientific process helps to eliminate errors of misunderstanding, fallacies, or even inaccuracies.

34. Steps of Scientific Process  Make Observations  Create Hypotheses or Models  Test Hypotheses or Models  Collect Data  Evaluate and Report Data

35. Observations  Collect information using the five senses or using instrumentation that extends past the ability of our five senses.  Microscopes, Sonar, Fish finders  If something cannot be directly or indirectly observed it cannot be studied scientifically.  Must describe in detail how observations are made.

36. Observation Questions  Scientists must be curious people!  What causes this to happen?  What is the difference between these two similar things?  What is the structure of this thing that I cannot see?  What happens if I add these two things together?  The questions will lead to the hypothesis.

37. Hypotheses and Models  Possible explanations or answers to the question.  Must be reasonable  Must be testable  Must not contradict well-established laws  Must explain all current observations and predict new ones  Must be as simple as possible

38. Hypotheses and Models  Many things cannot be observed directly; too small (atoms), too large (the galaxy), or too fast (an explosion), unable to see (the inside of the earth).  Scientists create a model to represent their conclusions.  A model is a working representation of what the scientist thinks is going on.

39. Hypotheses and Models  Both hypotheses and models are strongly influenced by a scientists biases.  a bias is a belief that a person holds based on his experience or knowledge of the subject.  Scientists are known to accept or reject well- established principles because of their biases.  Evolutionists and Creationists take the same data and form very different models.

40. Testing the Hypotheses  All hypotheses must be able to be tested in some way.  Some by experiments  Some by surveys  The testing must be able to be repeatable so as to confirm consistent results.

41. Collecting Data  Data must be collected so that it can be duplicated in similar experiments.  Enough data must be collected to ensure sufficient evidence of information.  Conditions for collecting data must be reproducible.  External conditions and non-testing variables must be controllable.

42. Evaluating and Reporting Data  Data must be analyzed for validity.  If you were testing the height of something and obtained a negative value that data would appear invalid (false).  Does the answer make sense?

43. Evaluating and Reporting Data  Peer Review  Once the data is deemed valid then it must be presented to other scientists for their scrutiny.  These other scientists could repeat the experimentation to prove the accuracy.  They might catch minor or major errors in the scientific method that requires correction prior to being reported to the world.

44. Evaluating and Reporting Data  Finally after the peer review and the science is considered valid then all the information is published for the public.

45. Laws and Theories  After an hypothesis has been proven repeatedly it becomes a theory and many people will try diligently to disprove this theory.  If a theory makes many correct predictions over time it becomes a law.  A law is the most reliable idea in science, however they can still be proven false.

46. Limitations in Science  Only prove the observable  Prayer waves  Cannot prove universal negatives  There is no God  Cannot make value judgments  Value is attached to an object by humans and is different for everybody.

47. Limitations in Science  Cannot make moral judgments  Deals with the rightness or wrongness of an act, smoking, tattoos,  Cannot provide ultimate truths  It cannot produce a “final” answer  Science is fallible  Senses are limited therefore mistakes can happen

48. Limitations in Science  Models are not reality  Models can help to produce a visual idea but that does not mean that it is actual like that.  Atoms  Limited by God  Science is bound by God-ordained restrictions  Subject to bias  Evolution versus creation