Science in The Bible

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Science in The Bible

• Lecture 1 Hour 1

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Introduction

• Syllabus
• Expectations
• Not a class to learn detailed science
• A class to learn critical thinking on scientific
  issues pertaining to Christians

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Course Goals and Objectives Cognitive Objectives
(knowledge, comprehension) The student will gain
an appreciation of the Creation narrative of
Genesis and how it relates to modern science.
The student will gain an appreciation of the
flood narrative of Genesis. He/she will explore
geology with an emphasis on Biblical explanations
for the earths formations and features. The
student will gain an appreciation of science and
how early scientists were actually seeking to
understand Gods creation. Affective Objectives
(feeling, appreciation, experience) The student
will grow in appreciation for the value of these
scientific principles and the relevance they have
in the Christians life. The student will broaden
his/her view and personal knowledge of God as
His character, His will, and His ways are
realized in the study of these subjects.
Volitional Objectives (behaviors,
disciplines) The student will grow in his/her
walk with the Lord through the spiritual lessons,
principles, and truths taught in these
subjects. The student will become more skillful
in discerning between fact and fiction from both
secular and religious sources.
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Reading Assignments (30) Scriptures
(30) During the term the student is required to
read each of the assigned Scriptures before the
lecture. Students can also listen to an audio
Bible to fulfill this requirement. The attached
reading log must be turned in on a weekly basis.
Each scripture must be read in its entirety in
order to receive credit. Supplementary Reading
(70) During the term the student is required to
read the supplementary course materials as it is
assigned. The materials will be available via
the Internet or printed materials given before or
during lectures. The reading must be done before
the lecture. The reading log must be turned in
on a weekly basis.
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Research Paper/Expositional Project (30) The
student is required to write a summary reaction
to each weeks lecture. This summary should be a
minimum of one page and a maximum of three pages.
(A page is defined as about 300 words). A
guideline for writing will be handed out on the
first day of class. A list of suggested
questions to answer will be given each lecture.
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Exams (30) There will be two exams (Mid-Term and
Final) given during the course of the term. The
Mid-Term exam will be given on Date, and the
Final Exam will be given on Date. The exams will
cover the materials from the class lectures,
reading, and any class notes. Class
Participation Attitude (10) The student is
expected to attend class on time and participate
in class discussions. The student is also
expected to show respect to the instructor, guest
lecturers, and fellow students. The attendance,
conduct, and attitude of the student will be
factored into this part of the grade at the end
of the term. Extra Credit (10)Various
opportunities for this will be discussed
throughout the term. Cloning a sheep will be an
automatic A
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Introduction

• Virgil Hebert
• Bachelors and Masters degrees in Chemistry
• Worked for HP for 33 years
• Industrial Waste Treatment
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computer analysis
• Machine Vision/Production Engineering

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Introduction

• Raised in a rules based religion
• Vietnam Veteran
• Married, 3 children
• Came to the Lord in Nov 99
• Love to teach His Word

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Rules

• Acts 1710-12 (NKJV)
• Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas
  away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they
  went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were
  more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in
  that they received the word with all readiness,
  and searched the Scriptures daily to find out
  whether these things were so. Therefore many of
  them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks,
  prominent women as well as men.

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Why?

• 1 Peter 315 (NKJV)But sanctify the Lord God in
  your hearts, and always be ready to give a
  defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the
  hope that is in you, with meekness and fear

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What is your answer for this?
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Or this?

• Everybody loves a good story, and when it's
  finished, this will be the greatest one ever
  told. It begins in Africa with a group of
  hunter-gatherers, perhaps just a few hundred
  strong. It ends some 200,000 years later with
  their six and a half billion descendants spread
  across the Earth, living in peace or at war,
  believing in a thousand different deities or none
  at all, their faces aglow in the light of
  campfires and computer screens. National
  Geographic, March 2006

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Or this?
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How did this come form the previous skeleton?
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What is Science?

• science \'si-?n(t)s\ n
• 1            the state of knowing  knowledge as
  distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding
• 2     a       a department of systematized
  knowledge as an object of study ltthe science of
  theologygt
•      b       something (as a sport or technique)
  that may be studied or learned like systematized
  knowledge lthave it down to a sciencegt
• 3     a       knowledge or a system of knowledge
  covering general truths or the operation of
  general laws esp. as obtained and tested through
  scientific method
•      b       such knowledge or such a system of
  knowledge concerned with the physical world and
  its phenomena  natural science
• 4            a system or method reconciling
  practical ends with scientific laws ltcooking is
  both a science and an artgt

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What is the Scientific Method?
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What happens

• If you cant test your hypothesis with an
  experiment?
• Global Warming
• Origin of the Species
• Use modelling
• If your funding is tied to your results?
• Recent forestry research at OSU
• Tobacco companies and cancer

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• Origin science uses analogies between the
  cause/effect relationships between what we see
  today and what is being studied. It therefore
  requires assumptions that these cause/effects are
  repeatable.
• It typically assumes linearity. (Non linear
  events earthquakes, volcanoes)

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• It is not necessarily valid to assume that unique
  and singular events such as the beginning of the
  universe or of first life should be studied in
  terms of a regular and repeated process.

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• To understand origins, we must use origin
  science, not operation science.

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What is a Scientist?

• To get a drivers license, you must pass a test.
  Then you get a certificate that qualifies you as
  a driver, good or bad.
• How does one become validated as a teacher or a
  pastor?
• Engineers can be registered
• How does one get validated as a scientist?

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• Romans 120For since the creation of the world
  His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being
  understood by the things that are made, even His
  eternal power and Godhead, so that they are
  without excuse,

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Passages such as these inspired the third-century
Alexandrian Father Origen (c.185- c.254) to
suggest that one of the very functions of the
visible creation was the communication of a range
of transcendental truths I think that He who
made all things in wisdom so created all the
species of visible things upon the earth, that He
placed in some of them some teaching and
knowledge of things invisible and heavenly,
whereby the human mind might mount to spiritual
understanding and seek the grounds of things in
heaven.
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An example?

• Matthew 21-2Now after Jesus was born in
  Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,
  behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
  saying, Where is He who has been born King of
  the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East
  and have come to worship Him.

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• How did the magi know?

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Summary
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Questions to Ponder