SCIENCE AND FAITH

Notes on lessons delivered by Norm Herr at Valley Presbyterian Church

Quotes by Scientists

Philosophical and Scientific Arguments for the Existence of God

1. Introduction
2. Anthropological Evidence
3. Teleological (Design) Evidence
4. Cosmological Evidence

The Creation and the Creator

1. Different World Views
2. Evidence From Physics
3. Evidence From Astronomy
4. Evidence From Chemistry
5. Evidence From Biology

Science and the Bible

1. God Reveals Himself
2. Science
3. Development of Modern Science
4. Roles, Domains & Limitations of Science & Theology
5. Limitations of Science and Theology
6. Design and the Designer
7. Sources of Conflict
8. Correlation between Creation Events and Scientific theory
9. Cosmology and the "Big Bang" Theory
10. Need for Humility

Creation & Time (Dr.Wong)

Philosophical and Scientific Arguments for the Existence of God

1. Introduction
2. Anthropological Evidence
3. Teleological (Design) Evidence
4. Cosmological Evidence

Introduction

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." Galileo Galilei: 1564-1642 Italian Physicist

Love God with all of our Mind

"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27 He answered: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, `Love your neighbour as yourself.'" 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." Luke 10:26

Scriptures that indicate the importance of reason in our faith

Apologetics "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15 "

The term Apologetics" comes from a Greek root meaning to defend, to make reply, to give an answer, to legally defend oneself.

Presuppositional Apologetics

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Romans 3:4 Let God be true, and every man a liar.

"on account of sin man is blind with respect to truth wherever truth appears." Van Til taught that without the correct view about God, man cannot have the correct view of himself and the world". "People are not unbiased observers who allow the facts to determine their world view. Instead, people interpret the facts by their preconceived world view (their presuppositions or biases). Therefore, all apologetics must be by way of presupposition." Cornelius Van Til

Evidential Apologetics

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities –his eternal power and divine nature –have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Psalms. 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.

Anthropological Man is a moral, intelligent, and living being; therefore, he must have been originated from an eternal living being. Ge 1:26, Acts 17

Cosmological (Creation, Origin, Effect & Cause): "The universe is an effect which connotes an adequate cause" Ps.19:1-6; Rom.1:18-32

Teleological (Design, Anthropic Principle):. The purpose, order, and design we observe in the world calls for a designer" . Ps.19:2; Acts 14:15-18.Psalm 65:8

Anthropological Apologetics

Ge 1:26* Then God said, "Let us make man in our image…

Acts 17 When speaking to the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill Paul say, "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill."

Acts 17:29 "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone-- an image made by man's design and skill.

Man is a moral, intelligent, and living being; therefore, he must have been originated from an eternal living being. The moral nature, religious instincts, conscience, and emotional nature all argue for the existence of God.

Morality / conscience:

Romans 2:15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.

Justin Martyr and Tertullian, defended the moral superiority of Christianity over paganism and pointed out Christianity's fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. "To accept the absolute demands of ethical obligation is to presuppose that this is a morally structured universe; and that this in turn implies a personal God whose commands are reflected in the human conscience."

Love / virtue

1John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

"The human appreciation of beauty and harmony suggests a Creator who created these values and the ability to recognize and appreciate them. Team spirit and patriotism, although not capable of being chemically analyzed or held in one's hand, are real values that many people enjoy."

Need for meaning & purpose:

Psalm 42:1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

Blaise Pascal: 1623-1662 French Mathematician
"There is a God-shaped vacuum in every heart." There is food to satisfy our appetite, and there is God to satisfy our longing for meaning and knowing our Creator. Mankind has been described as "incurably religious".

Westminster Catechism, Q1: What is the chief and highest end of man? Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.

Rational thought

Ps.94:9 9 "Does he who implanted the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see?"

Isa 1:18* "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD

"Behind reason does not stand chance and fate but rather the rational Creator. He has created the universe and my mind in such away that by observation and study I can begin to understand how the universe functions. Johann Kepler, the father of modem astronomy, peered out in to the universe and exclaimed, "Oh God, I am thinking your thoughts after you!" If we do not believe there is a God, we must exercise blind faith in order to trust our reason which springs from chance. If we do believe in God, we trust our reason because we realize that both the universe and our minds were created by the rational Creator."

Consciousness: " How could sentience, self-awareness and free will arise in a purely material universe? They couldn't, maintained the 17th-century English philosopher John Locke: Consciousness must have existed from eternity, and the eternal mind must be God. In the 19th and much of the 20th century, this proposition came in for ridicule. When an organism's neural pathways grow sufficiently complex, materialists insist, their firings are somehow accompanied by consciousness. But despite decades of effort by philosophers and neurophysiologists, no one has been able to come up with a remotely plausible explanation of how this happens--how the hunk of gray meat in our skull gives rise to private Technicolor experience. One distinguished commentator on the mind-body problem, Daniel Dennett, author of "Consciousness Explained," has been driven to declare that there is really no such thing as consciousness--we are all zombies, though we're unaware of it."

Isa 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Teleological Apologetics

Teleology: The study of the evidence for overall design and purpose in nature (Augustine, Aquinas, Newton, Paley, Wheeler) The teleological (telos, "end") argument reasons that the universe not only proves a maker but also a designer (Rom. 1:18-20). There is a visible, observable purpose in the universe which argues for the existence of God as it's designer.

We know, logically, that every real thing must have a cause. Why propose that the universe is the exception to this rule, especially when we see such incredible design in the universe and in the laws of physics themselves?

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities –his eternal power and divine nature –have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Properties of Design: Complexity and Specification (principles used in archeology and communication sciences)

Ps 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

The SETI researchers in Carl Sagan’s book Contact took this signal as decisive confirmation of an extraterrestrial intelligence. "What is it about this signal that decisively indicates design? Whenever we infer design, we must establish two things–complexity and specification. Complexity ensures that the object in question is not so simple that it can readily be explained by chance. Specification ensures that this object exhibits the type of pattern that is the trademark of intelligence."

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In this sequence of 1126 bits, 1’s correspond to beats and 0’s to pauses. This sequence represents the prime numbers from 2 to 101, where a given prime number is represented by the corresponding number of beats (i.e., 1’s), and the individual prime numbers are separated by pauses (i.e., 0’s).

Elegance of physical laws: "The equations of physics have in them incredible simplicity, elegance, and beauty. That in itself is sufficient to prove to me that there must be a God who is responsible for these laws and responsible for the universe" astrophysicist Paul Davies; Superforce (1984)

"...we recognize God as Lawgiver....I postulate that man will never make a universal law of nature. Man can only discover the laws that already exist." chemist John A. Buehler

Job 38:12, we find the question posed, "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place?" The laws of nature stand as another evidence of God's existence.

Anthropic principle–everything about the universe tends toward man, toward making life possible and sustaining it. American physicist John Wheeler, describes anthropic principle as, "A life-giving factor lies at the centre of the whole machinery and design of the world."

"The impression of design is overwhelming". Astronomer and agnostic, Paul Davies

"A common-sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question. " atheist astronomer Fred Hoyle

"For in recent decades, physicists have noticed an astonishing thing about the fundamental laws of nature. The 20 or so parameters they contain--numbers governing the strength of gravity, the ratio of the proton's size to the neutron's, and so on--appear to have been fine-tuned so that, against astronomically unfavorable odds, conscious organisms could emerge".

A few examples of design: (a) sun-earth-moon system, (b) genetic code, (c) structure of water (see overhead transparency)

Irreducible complexity: "

"An irreducibly complex system cannot be produced . . . by slight, successive modifications of a precursor system, because any precursor to an irreducibly complex system that is missing a part is by definition nonfunctional. . . . Since natural selection can only choose systems that are already working, then if a bio logical system cannot be produced gradually it would have to arise as an integrated unit, in one fell swoop, for natural selection to have anything to act on."

There are numerous examples of irreducible complexity at all levels of biology, including the biochemical and cellular levels: Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences has said: "The entire cell can be viewed as a factory that contains an elaborate network of interlocking assembly lines, each of which is composed of large protein machines. . . . Why do we call the large protein assemblies that underlie cell function machines? Precisely because, like the machines invented by humans to deal efficiently with the macroscopic world, these protein assemblies contain highly coordinated moving parts."

"The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing factory." Professor Edwin Carlston, biologist at Princeton University.

Cosmological Evidence

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

Existence of Matter and Energy. "Why is there something rather than nothing?" Leibniz answered this question by arguing that something exists rather than nothing because a necessary being exists which carries within itself its reason for existence and is the sufficient reason for the existence of all contingent being. " Mathematician and theoretician, G.W.F. Leibniz.

So the very existence of a universe based on cause and effect shows that there must exist some entity separate from the natural universe that caused (created) it. While the cosmological argument does not tell us who or what this eternal creator is, it does show that an eternal creator does exist. Since the First Cause must be separate from the natural universe, it cannot be part of nature. Therefore, there is something other than the natural, something that is supernatural. The cosmological argument shows that the supernatural does exist."

First Cause: "The first-cause argument begins with the fact that there is change in the world. A change is always the effect of some cause or causes. Each cause is itself the effect of a further cause or set of causes; this chain moves in a series that either never ends or is completed by a first cause, which must be of a radically different nature in that it is not itself caused. Such a first cause is an important aspect, though not the entirety, of what Christianity means by God."

Contingency: "Everything in the world is contingent for its existence upon other factors. Its presence is thus not self-explanatory but can only be understood by reference beyond itself to prior or wider circumstances that have brought it about. If this explanatory regress is unending, explanation is perpetually postponed and nothing is finally explained. The existence of anything and everything thus remains ultimately unintelligible. But rational beings are committed to the search for intelligibility and cannot rest content until it is found. The universe can only finally be intelligible as the creation of an ontologically necessary being who is eternal and whose existence is not contingent upon anything else. This is also part of what Christianity has meant by God."

Expanding Universe "The first such scientific breakthrough [to Kantian philosophy] arose from Einstein's theory of general relativity. Subtracting one set of his famous field equations from the other yielded the surprising result that everything in the universe is simultaneously expanding and decelerating. The only physical phenomenon satisfying simultaneous expansion and deceleration is an explosion. But, if the universe is the aftermath of an explosion, then sometime in the past it must have had a beginning. If it had a beginning, then there must be a Beginner. Einstein's own world view initially kept him from adopting such a conclusion. Rather he proposed a new force of physics that would perfectly cancel out the deceleration and expansion induced by gravity. However, Edwin Hubble soon proved that the galaxies indeed were expanding away from one another in the manner predicted by Einstein's original formulation of general relativity. Confronted with this, Einstein gave grudging acceptance to "the necessity for a beginning,"¹ and to "the presence of a superior reasoning power.

Laws of Thermodynamics: The First Law or Thermodynamics (Conservation of Energy and Matter) states that no matter/energy is now being created or destroyed, and the Second Law (Entropy) stating that all existing matter/energy is proceeding irreversibly toward ultimate equilibrium and cessation of all processes. The Second Law shows that time (and therefore, the space/matter/time universe) had a beginning. The universe must have been created, but the First Law (Conservation of Enery) precludes the possibility of self-creation.

Kalam Cosmological Argument; The Law of Causality states that whatever begins to exist has a cause of its existence. No effect can be greater than its cause. A universe comprising an array of intelligible and complex effects, including living systems and conscious personalities, is itself proof of an intelligent, complex, living, conscious Person as its Cause.

"Given the intuitively obvious principle that whatever begins to exist has a cause of its existence, we have been led to conclude that the universe has a cause of its existence. On the basis of our argument, this cause would have to be uncaused, eternal, changeless, timeless, and immaterial. Moreover, it would have to be a personal agent who freely elects to create an effect in time. Therefore, on the basis of the kalam cosmological argument, I conclude that it is rational to believe that God exists."

Summa Theolgica: Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) proposed the "The existence of God can be proved in five ways."

Motion " Through sense experience we encounter things being "moved" to change "from potentiality to actuality." "Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, moved by no other; and this everyone understands to be God."

Efficient Cause We experience and come to understand "an order of efficient cause" among the objects of sense experience. Nothing can possibly be its own efficient cause since this would require that it "be prior to itself, which is impossible." But again, there cannot be an infinite regress from effect back to cause, back to cause of that cause, and so forth, for then nothing would be causally produced in the first place. "therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God."

Possibility and Necessity Starting with objects of our experience that continently exist; in other words, though they are, they could conceivably not have been. "But it is impossible for these always to exist, for that which can not-be at some time is not. Therefore, if everything can not-be, then at one time there was nothing in existence." However, since nothing comes from nothing, then nothing would now exist, which is absurdly contrary to experience. "Therefore, not all beings are merely possible, but there must exist something the existence of which is necessary." That necessary being either derives its necessity from another or it does not. If it does, that process of derivation cannot "go on to infinity," since then the chain would never be causally begun. "Therefore we cannot but admit the existence of some being having of itself its own necessity, and not receiving it from another. This all men speak of as God."

Gradation in All Things: We experience objects as representing degrees of qualities "some more and some less good, true, noble, and the like." But such qualitative degrees of comparison presuppose some maximum standard whereby something is best, truest, noblest, and so forth. "Now the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus," as fire, allegedly the hottest of things, is the causal source of all other heat. Some one being must be "greatest in being" and have all desirable qualities to the maximum extent. "Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God."

Governance of the World: We experience things that lack understanding regularly acting for intelligible ends. But this could not so consistently occur by mere chance. Whatever lacks understanding, if it is not moved by mere chance, must be "directed by some being endowed with knowledge and intelligence"; thus, for example, an arrow flies towards the target because of an archer's aim. "Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God."

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' Psalm 14:1

^[1] Gordon H. Clark, Three Types of Religious Philosophy, 115-142.

^[2] 10 Van Til, Defense of the Faith

^[3] /cornelius_van_till.htm#1

^[4] Christianity" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. <http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=108306&sctn=9>

^[5] Cliff Knechtle, How can you prove God exists? Copyright 1986 by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

^[6] Cliff Knechtle, How can you prove God exists? Copyright 1986 by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

^[7] Jim Holt. Dow Jones & Co., Inc. The Wall Street Journal (December 24, 1997)

^[8] Science and Design. William A. Dembski. Copyright (c) 1998 First Things (October 1998)

^[9] Jim Holt. Dow Jones & Co., Inc. The Wall Street Journal (December 24, 1997)

^[10] Molecular machines.Experimental Support for the Design Inference; Michael J. Behe

^[11] Michael Behe, Darwinís Black Box 1996.

^[12]

^[13] (Adapted from Consider Christianity: Evidence for the Christian Faith by Elgin L. Hushbeck, Jr.) http://consider.org/the.htm

^[14] "Christianity" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. <http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=108306&sctn=7>

^[15] "Christianity" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. <http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=108306&sctn=7>

^[16] Source: "The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe." Truth: A Journal of Modern Thought 3 (1991): 85-96.

^[17] The Philosopher's Lighthouse http://hyperion.advanced.org/tq-admin/week.cgi

Creation's Witness to the Creator

Rom. 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,:19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

Rom. 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities —his eternal power and divine nature —have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Westminster Confession on the Witness of Creation and the Scriptures: (II.1) Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation; therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his Church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.

Rev. 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Hebr. 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

DIFFERENT WORLD VIEWS

NATURALISM AND THEISM

Frame of reference for naturalism: "Man is the measure of all things"

(Scientism is a belief not demanded by science itself. Its reduction rejects personal meaning and human experience.) In naturalism there is an effort to explain everything solely in terms of natural law without any appeal to transcendent law or supernatural things or beings. Thus, naturalists use only empirical tools and believe that eventually everything can be explained in terms of that which you can access by the five senses.

Biblical frame of reference: "God is above all things"

Ps. 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

Prov. 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

"God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; he is the alone foundation of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom, are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth. In his sight all things are open and manifest; his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature; so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience he is pleased to require of them. Westminster Confession (II.3.

Evidence From Physics

Maxwell's equations: four equations that, together, form a complete description of the production and interrelation of electric and magnetic fields. The physicist James Clerk Maxwell in the 19th century based his description of electromagnetic fields on these four equations, which express experimental laws. The statements of these four equations are, respectively: (1) electric field diverges from electric charge, an expression of the Coulomb force, (2) there are no isolated magnetic poles, but the Coulomb force acts between the poles of a magnet, (3) electric fields are produced by changing magnetic fields, an expression of Faraday's law of induction, and (4) circulating magnetic fields are produced by changing electric fields and by electric currents, Maxwell's extension of Ampère's law (q.v.) to include the interaction of changing fields. The most compact way of writing these equations in the metre-kilogram-second (mks) system is in terms of the vector operators div (divergence) and curl. In these expressions the Greek letter rho, , is charge density, J is current density, E is the electric field, and B is the magnetic field; here, D and H are field quantities that are proportional to E and B, respectively. The four Maxwell equations, corresponding to the four statements above, are: (1) div D = , (2) div B = 0, (3) curl E = -dB/dt, and (4) curl H = dD/dt + J.

Details of the universe: "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God." Albert Einstein, renown physicist http://cliffe.com/cliffe_answers/Q4.html

Balance of forces: "Slight variations in physical laws such as gravity or electromagnetism would make life impossible . . . the necessity to produce life lies at the center of the universe's whole machinery and design," stated John Wheeler, Princeton University professor of physics (Reader's Digest, Sept., 1986).

"Cosmological coincidences": "Such properties seem to run through the fabric of the natural world like a thread of happy coincidences. But there are so many odd coincidences essential to life that some explanation seems required to account for them." Sir Fred Hoyle, the famous British astronomer and agnostic, in The Intelligent Universe commented

Elegance of physical laws: "The equations of physics have in them incredible simplicity, elegance, and beauty. That in itself is sufficient to prove to me that there must be a God who is responsible for these laws and responsible for the universe" astrophysicist Paul Davies; Superforce (1984)

Frame of reference: We view the universe with "feeble minds" from a earth-bound frame of reference, compared to the infinite wisdom and perfect perspective of almighty God: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts Isa. 55:8-9

"Where there is a plan, there is intelligence": "For myself, faith begins with a realization that a supreme intelligence brought the universe into being and created man. It is not difficult for me to have this faith, for it is incontrovertible that where there is a plan there is intelligence--an orderly, unfolding universe testifies to the truth of the most majestic statement ever uttered--'In the beginning God.'" Dr. Arthur Compton, Nobel Prize-winning physicist for his discovery and explanation of the change in the wavelength of X rays when they collide with electrons. Compton effect confirmed the dual nature of electromagnetic radiation as both a wave and a particle.

Creation vs building: We know that human beings can't create something from nothing. We may construct things, invent things, put things together, make things work, but with all our wisdom, we have never brought into being from scratch even the smallest spear of grass or the tiniest toad or the simplest flower.

Orderliness of the Universe

Reasonable: Intelligence, creativity, and elegance of God the Designer

Consistent: Immutability (unchangeableness) of God's character

Repeatable: Consistency of the character of God the Designer.

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Evidence From Astronomy

Ps. 19:1-3 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

The impression of design is overwhelming

"The very fact that the universe is creative, and that the laws have permitted complex structures to emerge and develop to the point of consciousness-in other words, that the universe has organized its own self-awareness-is for me powerful evidence that there is 'something going on' behind it all. The impression on of design is overwhelming."

Paul Davies: Physicist and Author of God and the New Physics, The Cosmic Blueprint, and The Mind of God; Time Magazine, December 28, 1992

Copernicus (heliocentric system)

"The Universe has been wrought for us by a supremely good and orderly Creator" Nicolaus Copernicus

Kepler (planetary orbits, optics, mathematical language of science)

...the harmony in the universe is "a sacred sermon, a veritable hymn to God the Creator".... "Oh God, I am thinking thy thoughts after Thee" Johannes Kepler

Galileo (kinematics, heliocentric system)

"Both the Holy Scriptures and Nature proceed from the Divine Word, the former as the saying of the Holy Spirit and the latter as the most observant executrix or God's orders." Galileo Galilei

Newton (calculus, gravitation, optics)

"No sciences are better attested to than the science of the Bible." "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.... This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all; and on account of his dominion he is wont to be called Lord God." Isaac Newton; Principles

Evidence of design within the sun-earth-moon system.

(From The Fingerprint of God, by Hugh Ross)

The following parameters must remain relatively constant and stay within certain limits to support life on earth. There are many other factors which must be considered when determining the status of a planet as a fit environment for life, but from these factors alone we can conclude that less than one trillionth of a trillionth of a percent of all the stars in the universe will have a planet capable of sustaining advanced life.

Evidence From Chemistry

Col. 1:15-17 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

"Coincidence" of Universal Constants (From: http://campus.leaderu.com/real/ri9403/evidence.html; Watlter Bradley, Ph.D., Texas A&M;

"One of the remarkable discoveries of the past 30 years has been the recognition that small changes in any of the universal constants produce surprisingly dramatic changes in the universe, rendering it unsuitable for life, not just as we know it, but for life of any conceivable type. In excess of 100 examples have been documented in the technical literature and summarized in such books as the Anthropic Cosmological Principle (1986).

Example 1 Strong nuclear force: "For example, if the strong force which binds together the nucleus of atoms were just five percent weaker, only hydrogen would be stable and we would have a universe with a periodic chart of one element, which is a universe incapable of providing the necessary molecular complexity to provide minimal life functions of processing energy, storing information, and replicating. On the other hand, if the strong force were just two percent stronger, very massive nuclei would form, which are unsuitable for the chemistry of living systems. Furthermore, there would be no stable hydrogen, no long-lived stars, and no hydrogen containing compounds.

Example 2: Relationship between strong force and electromagnetic force: As a second example, if the relationship between the strong force and the electromagnetic force were to vary only slightly, we would not have the quantum energy levels which allow the remarkable conversion of beryllium to carbon (nearly 100% efficient) and the partial conversion of carbon to oxygen. With slight changes in either of these constants, we would have had a universe either rich in beryllium and little, if any, carbon or alternatively, a universe rich in oxygen with no carbon." Since carbon is unique in its ability to chemically bond with almost all other elements in bonds that are stable but not too difficult to break (playing the critical role of the round pieces in a tinker toy set), it is remarkable that these forces are so precisely tuned to provide carbon in abundance, along with oxygen which is critical in its own right."

Example of Design: The water molecule: Water is essential for life, and yet if the bond angle within the water molecule varied even slightly, life as we know it could not exist. The following are a list of some of the unique properties of water that are dependent upon its unusual bond angle of 104.5º. Without any of these properties, life could not exist.

• Bond angle of water (104.5º; vs. 109.5 in methane), leads to polarity

• Hydrogen Bonding

• Polar solvent: dissolves ionic compounds

• High specific heat (1 cal/g)

• High heat of vaporization

• Surface tension; spherical shape of cells

• Adhesion

• Cohesion

Evidence From Biology

Ps. 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Agent of Causation: When an archaeologist finds a triangular piece of obsidian that appears to have chisel marks on it, he or she concludes that there was an agent of causation: i.e. it was an arrowhead designed by an intelligent being, yet when we find the fossilized bones of an organism billions of times more complex, we discount an agent of causation and blindly assume that it developed by chance.

"Only in atheism does the spring rise higher than the source, the effect exist without the cause, life come from a stone, blood from a turnip, a silk purse from a sow's ear, a Beethoven Symphony or a Bach Fugue from a kitten's walking across the keys." James M. Gillis

Cybernetics: If the genetic code were of one human zygote (the cell that results from the fusion of the egg and sperm) were transcribed as a series of letters representing its nucleotide bases (A=adenine, T=thymine, G=guanine, C=cytosine), it would fill 500,000 pages of text. Geneticists refer to the sequence of nucleotide bases as the genetic "code" or "program" because it determines all the various physical features. No one would argue that a computer program like Microsoft Word is the result of intelligent design, so how come we deny that the biological programs in DNA are, even though they are much, much more complex?

Insufficiency of purely mechanistic explanation for origins:

"The current scenario of the origin of life is about as likely as a tornado passing through a junkyard beside Boeing airplane company accidentally producing a 747 airplane," Sir Fred Hoyle ( prominent British astronomer and agnostic The Intelligent Universe)

"The origin of life appears to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to be satisfied to get it going." Sir Francis Crick (Co-discoverer of the double helical structure of DNA; Scientific American, February, 1991),

"The simplest bacterium is so damned complicated from the point of view of a chemist that it is almost impossible to imagine how it happened." Harold Klein chair of a National Academy of Sciences committee that reviewed the origin of life

"The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing factory." Professor Edwin Carlston, biologist at Princeton University

Engineering, chemistry, information processing--all are involved every time we open our eyes. "The human eye could not have evolved over long periods of time, because it is absolutely useless unless complete. The lens, which focuses light, would be useless without the retina, which senses light. And all the light received would serve no purpose without the nerve fibers which carry signals to the brain. Vision involves a complete system of organs--all interrelated, all thoroughly designed. That's the way it is with the whole human body. Lungs and heart, nerves and muscles, all perform incredibly complicated tasks that depend on other incredibly complicated tasks

Irreducible complexity

"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down." Charles Darwin (1872) Origin of Species

There are, however, many examples of irreducible complexity: including aspects of protein transport, blood clotting, closed circular DNA, electron transport, the bacterial flagellum, telomeres, photosynthesis, transcription regulation... virtually every page of a biochemistry textbook.

Example of design: Vision

Charles Darwin once stated that the thought of the eye, and how it could possibly be produced by natural selection, made him ill. This is because the eye is an example of a machine with "irreducible complexity"

Molecular Machines

"Now, are any biochemical systems irreducibly complex? Yes, it turns out that many are.

"Earlier we discussed proteins. In many biological structures proteins are simply components of larger molecular machines. Like the picture tube, wires, metal bolts and screws that comprise a television set, many proteins are part of structures that only function when virtually all of the components have been assembled. A good example of this is a cilium. (7) Cilia are hairlike organelles on the surfaces of many animal and lower plant cells that serve to move fluid over the cell's surface or to "row" single cells through a fluid. In humans, for example, epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract each have about 200 cilia that beat in synchrony to sweep mucus towards the throat for elimination. A cilium consists of a membrane-coated bundle of fibers called an axoneme. An axoneme contains a ring of 9 double microtubules surrounding two central single microtubules. Each outer doublet consists of a ring of 13 filaments (subfiber A) fused to an assembly of 10 filaments (subfiber B). The filaments of the microtubules are composed of two proteins called alpha and beta tubulin. The 11 microtubules forming an axoneme are held together by three types of connectors: subfibers A are joined to the central microtubules by radial spokes; adjacent outer doublets are joined by linkers that consist of a highly elastic protein called nexin; and the central microtubules are joined by a connecting bridge. Finally, every subfiber A bears two arms, an inner arm and an outer arm, both containing the protein dynein.

"But how does a cilium work? Experiments have indicated that ciliary motion results from the chemically-powered "walking" of the dynein arms on one microtubule up the neighboring subfiber B of a second microtubule so that the two microtubules slide past each other (Figure 2). However, the protein cross-links between microtubules in an intact cilium prevent neighboring microtubules from sliding past each other by more than a short distance. These cross-links, therefore, convert the dynein-induced sliding motion to a bending motion of the entire axoneme.

"Now, let us sit back, review the workings of the cilium, and consider what it implies. Cilia are composed of at least a half dozen proteins: alpha-tubulin, beta-tubulin, dynein, nexin, spoke protein, and a central bridge protein. These combine to perform one task, ciliary motion, and all of these proteins must be present for the cilium to function. If the tubulins are absent, then there are no filaments to slide; if the dynein is missing, then the cilium remains rigid and motionless; if nexin or the other connecting proteins are missing, then the axoneme falls apart when the filaments slide.

"What we see in the cilium, then, is not just profound complexity, but also irreducible complexity on the molecular scale. Recall that by "irreducible complexity" we mean an apparatus that requires several distinct components for the whole to work. My mousetrap must have a base, hammer, spring, catch, and holding bar, all working together, in order to function. Similarly, the cilium, as it is constituted, must have the sliding filaments, connecting proteins, and motor proteins for function to occur. In the absence of any one of those components, the apparatus is useless.

"The components of cilia are single molecules. This means that there are no more black boxes to invoke; the complexity of the cilium is final, fundamental. And just as scientists, when they began to learn the complexities of the cell, realized how silly it was to think that life arose spontaneously in a single step or a few steps from ocean mud, so too we now realize that the complex cilium can not be reached in a single step or a few steps. But since the complexity of the cilium is irreducible, then it can not have functional precursors. Since the irreducibly complex cilium can not have functional precursors it can not be produced by natural selection, which requires a continuum of function to work. Natural selection is powerless when there is no function to select. We can go further and say that, if the cilium can not be produced by natural selection, then the cilium was designed." From: "Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge To Evolution, Michael J. Behe; The Free Press ; Division of Simon and Schuster Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas ; York, NY 10020 ; Copyright 1996 ; ISBN 0-684-82754-9

Evidence in our own hearts

Eccl. 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end

Innate drive to understand our purpose: "Jean Paul Sartre, the French existentialist philosopher, wrote, "Man is absurd, but he must grimly act as if he were not." Why not? Why not face the logical ramifications of those assumptions? If there is no God, life is an accident. Humanity is absurd. Try and live out that view of reality. Most of us can't or refuse to. We insist upon attaching meaning and significance to our lives and actions. We have an innate drive to understand the purpose of our lives." Cliffe Answers Your Toughest Questions About Christianity; Cliff Knechtle.

"The question of the meaning and worth of life never becomes more urgent or more agonizing than when we see the final breath leave a body which a moment before was living." Carl Jung, founder of analytic psychology.

God-shaped vacuum: "There is a God-shaped vacuum in every man, and only God can fill it." Blaise Pascal (17th century mathematician, physicist, religious philosopher)

"Thou hast made us for Thyself, and the heart of man is restless until it finds its rest

in Thee." St. Augustine

Explanation of the human condition: "In the Apologie, Pascal shows the man without grace to be an incomprehensible mixture of greatness and abjectness, incapable of truth or of reaching the supreme good to which his nature nevertheless aspires. A religion that accounts for these contradictions, which he believed philosophy and worldliness fail to do, is for that very reason "to be venerated and loved." The indifference of the skeptic, Pascal wrote, is to be overcome by means of the "wager": if God does not exist, the skeptic loses nothing by believing in him; but if he does exist, the skeptic gains eternal life by believing in him. Pascal insists that men must be brought to God through Jesus Christ alone, because a creature could never know the infinite if Jesus had not descended to assume the proportions of man's fallen state. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Conscience / Morality: Naturalist explanation for the origin of the consicence and morality is bankrupt: " I ought to be unselfish because it is better for the group, which is better for the species, which is better for me.... I morally ought to be unselfish so that I can be more thoroughly selfish ".

"Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle" George Washington

"The wicked man flees though no one pursues" Prov. 28:1

"So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man." Acts 24:16

Science and the Bible

1. God Reveals Himself
2. Science
3. Development of Modern Science
4. Roles, Domains & Limitations of Science & Theology
5. Limitations of Science and Theology
6. Design and the Designer
7. Sources of Conflict
8. Correlation between Creation Events and Scientific theory
9. Cosmology and the "Big Bang" Theory
10. Need for Humility

(1) God Reveals Himself

Special Revelation (The Scriptures)

2 Tim. 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

General Revelation (Creation)

Ps. 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.

(2) Science

Science is the study of the physical universe.

Science relies upon the scientific method (observation, statement of problem, hypothesis, experimentation, and interpretation) . Science must be differentiated from the philosophies of naturalism or "scientism" that suggest that the scientific method is the only we to determine and understand reality.

Science is the study of God's Creation

Just as you can learn something about a painter by examining his paintings, so we can learn something about God through His creation:

Rom. 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities —his eternal power and divine nature —have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

"If we regard the Spirit of God as the sole fountain of truth, we shall neither reject the truth itself, nor despise it whenever it shall appear, unless we wish to dishonor the Spirit of God". John Calvin

"For astronomy is not only pleasant, but also very useful to be known; it cannot be denied that this art unfolds the admirable wisdom of God." John Calvin

(3) The Development of Modern Science

Science developed within a Christian civilization

Modern science was born as Christian men reasoned that the universe is the Creation of a consistent, intelligent, and orderly Creator. They reasoned that just as there are spiritual laws, so there must be physical laws, and they set out to discover these laws and principles. While polytheistic peoples viewed the universe as capricious and irregular and incapable of study, Christians believed that all creation is intrinsically orderly, therefore intelligible and predictable, and capable of being studied.

Leaders of the scientific revolution were devout Christians. Copernicus, Kepler, Brahe, Galielo, Newton, Pascal, Bacon and others viewed their investigation of nature as a sacred duty and privilege.

Copernicus (heliocentric system)

"The Universe has been wrought for us by a supremely good and orderly Creator" Nicolaus Copernicus

Kepler (planetary orbits, optics, mathematical language of science)

...the harmony in the universe is "a sacred sermon, a veritable hymn to God the Creator".... "Oh God, I am thinking thy thoughts after Thee" Johannes Kepler

Galileo (kinematics, heliocentric system)

"Both the Holy Scriptures and Nature proceed from the Divine Word, the former as the saying of the Holy Spirit and the latter as the most observant executrix or God's orders." Galileo Galilei

Newton (calculus, gravitation, optics)

"No sciences are better attested to than the science of the Bible." "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.... This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all; and on account of his dominion he is wont to be called Lord God." Isaac Newton; Principles

(4) Roles, Domains & Limitations of Science & Theology

Adapted from the "Galielo Connection" (Charles Hummel; 1986)

(5) LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY

The limitations of science:

Science can answer only those questions which have testable hypothesis capable of support by sensory data... a laboratory experiment can not be devised to test the existence of God.

" God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24)

[God] "who alone is immortal and lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see" (I Tim 6: 16).

Science is unable to make moral or value judgments

The limitations of the theology

"The Bible tells us how to go to Heaven, not how the heavens go." Galileo Galilei.

"The Holy Spirit had no intention to teach astronomy; and in proposing instruction meant to be common to the simplest and most uneducated person, he made use by Moses and other prophets of the popular language that none might shelter himself under the pretext of obscurity." John Calvin.

(6) DESIGN AND THE DESIGNER

If we see a crude picture of a deer on the wall of a cave we make the assumption that it was drawn by an intelligent being and not a mere product of chance. By contrast, the simplest atom, molecule, or cell has so many more characteristics of design than even a complex Rembrandt painting that the implication of a designer is overwhelming. Even apparent agnostics like astronomer Paul Davies have been lead to say "the impression of design is overwhelming". The following are a few of the many, many examples of design that can be found everywhere when one studies the natural world.

Example 1: Design within the sun-earth-moon system. (From The Fingerprint of God, by Hugh Ross)

The following parameters must remain relatively constant and stay within certain limits to support life on earth. There are many other factors which must be considered when determining the status of a planet as a fit environment for life, but from these factors alone we can conclude that less than one trillionth of a trillionth of a percent of all the stars in the universe will have a planet capable of sustaining advanced life.

Example 2: Water: Water is essential for life, and yet if the bond angle within the water molecule varied even slightly, life as we know it could not exist. The following are a list of some of the unique properties of water that are dependent upon its unusual bond angle of 104.5º. Without any of these properties, life could not exist.

• Bond angle of water (104.5º; vs. 109.5 in methane), leads to polarity

• Hydrogen Bonding

• Polar solvent: dissolves ionic compounds

• High specific heat (1 cal/g)

• High heat of vaporization

• Surface tension; spherical shape of cells

• Adhesion

• Cohesion

Example 3: Genetic Code: If the genetic code were of one human zygote (the cell that results from the fusion of the egg and sperm) were transcribed as a series of letters representing its nucleotide bases (A=adenine, T=thymine, G=guanine, C=cytosine), it would fill 500,000 pages of text. Geneticists refer to the sequence of nucleotide bases as the genetic "code" or "program" because it determines all the various physical features. The text of such code is far more "intelligent" than the text you are reading now and suggests the intelligence or a designer more than the words on this page suggest an author.

Example 4: The Second Law of Thermodynamics (Entropy): The second law of thermodynamics states that in any energy transfer the amount of useful or available energy decreases even though the total energy remains constant. In other words, there is always a tendency to go from a state of higher order to a state of lower order. The law of entropy suggests a creation event (because the universe is running down) and argues against a mechanistic atheistic spontaneous generation of life on earth that would defy the principle of entropy in going from a state of disorder to an orderly state of incredible complexity.

(7) SOURCES OF CONFLICT

It is not the facts which divide men but the interpretation of the facts: Aristotle

Confusion of the Purposes and Limitations of Theology and Science: Most "conflicts" arise when people do not consider the purpose and limitations of theology and/or science.

Confusion of "Naturalism" and "Scientism" with Science.

People confuse "scientism" or naturalism with science. The central axiom or Kant's natural philosophy (naturalism) is that knowledge can be obtained only through the human senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Naturalism is unscientific in that it limits other forms of knowledge without any basis or justification.

Interpretation of the Science and the Scriptures:

Literalism "A stringent literalism disregards the analogical medium of revelation about creation, raising meaningless questions about God's working schedule" Hummel

Principles of Hermeneutics: The following factors of hermeneutics should be considered when interpreting scripture: historical context; literary context (genre); and the author's theological intent. It should be noted that the chronologies of Genesis 1 and 2 differ; It is likely that chronology is not be the intent since Genesis 1 focuses on the words of God while Genesis 2 focuses on the acts of God, and the two chronologies vary.

Mis-Interpretations: There are great differences between the inspired Word of God and the Interpreted Word of God. Conflict arises because. Most of the apparent conflict between science & the Scripture stems from making the Bible say things it really does not say and from "scientism," a philosophic interpretation of facts."

Assumptions that get popularized: Perhaps the biggest controversies between science and the scriptures have resulted from a dating of the earth by Bishop Usher (Archbishop of Ireland in 1642). Using Biblical genealogies he declared that the creation began on October 3, 4004 BC. Unfortunately, many have assumed that this is a scriptural truth, not knowing that generations are sometimes omitted in biblical genealogies and that many Christians do not adhere to the interpretation of the days of Genesis 1 as 24 hour periods of time. A dating of the Creation event is impossible from scriptural information alone.

Purpose of Scriptures

One must not confuse the purpose of scripture. The "how" and "when" should not overshadow the "who" and "why". The purpose of Genesis is often lost in a wrangling over dates and mechanisms

Introduction of the Creator and His Creation: The central messages of Genesis must not be lost: God is the all powerful Creator; His world is orderly and consistent; Man and woman are the culmination of creation, made in the image of God and responsible for their stewardship of the earth; They are fallen sinners in need of forgiveness.

Counter False Doctrines: The historical-cultural principle of hermeneutics suggests that Genesis 1 was introduced to the people of Israel (and to us) to teach about God, His creation, and to counteract the pagan myths of neighboring peoples: Genesis 1 largely is an affirmation of monotheism against false religions (polytheism, idolatry, animism, pantheism, and syncretism); superstition (astrology & magic); and ungodly philosophy (materialism, naturalism, and nihilism).

Demythologizing Nature: It should be noted that Genesis 1 demythologized the natural world, allowing the development of a science that could study every part of the universe without fearing retribution from an angry deity.

Perspectives: Genesis 1 provides one account of Creation. It is not an exhaustive account, but provides what God wants us to know about Him and our relationship to Him. Imagine how the following four people might depict the same sunset: Newton, Beethoven, King David, and Monet. Newton might describe the relative motion of the earth and sun, Beethoven might compose the Pastoral Symphony, King David might pen Psalm 19, and Monet might draw a beautiful painting. All four are correct but quite different perspectives on the same event. The Genesis account provides us with a perspective that allows us to say " The heavens declare the glory of the Lord..."

A Falsely Assumed Conflict between "Faith" and "Reason""

"Faith is no detriment to the apprehension of reality. In fact, science itself rests on presuppositions which must be accepted by faith before research is possible. One such assumption is that the universe is orderly, that it operates according to a pattern, and that therefore one can predict its behavior." Paul Little.

Confusion of terms:

Terminology: Creationists commonly refer to macroevolution or evolutionsim when using the term evolution, while evolutionists use the term to refer to micro- and macroevolution. Most creationists accept microevolution, but most people think that when a person rejects evolution they are rejecting microevolution as well as macroevolution and evolutionism. Many evolutionists have faith that microevolution provides adequate support for macroevolution... while most creationists don't.

Microevolution (Special Theory of Evolution): Microevolution is accepted by nearly all creationists. It recognizes genetic diversity and describes the changing genetic compositions of populations and the variation of species and races.

Macroevolution (General Theory of Evolution): While the evidence for microevolution is abundant (e.g. plant breeding), the evidence for macroevolution is not . Renown evolutionist Leynard Stebbins has commented:

I do not believe that anybody can quarrel with the point of view which maintains that all questions concerning the evolutionary history of organisms, in the absences of a significant fossil record, are pointless guessing games. The biologist who enters this field must resign himself to the fact that he can never achieve certainty.... Hypotheses that embody these speculations are widely known and taught, and have acquired a credibility and illusion of certainty that is not justified by the facts and assumptions upon which they are based. Leynard Stebbins, evolutionist

"Probably more words have been written on the origin of life by scientist with fewer facts and direct evidence at hand than any other topic in biology." Thomas Emmel, Biologist

The General Theory of Evolution has at least 7 major assumptions, none of which are experimentally verifiable)

(1) non-living things gave rise to living material (spontaneous generation occurred)

(2) spontaneous generation occurred only once

(3) viruses, bacteria, plants, animals, fungi are all interrelated

(4) protozoa gave rise to metazoa

(5) various invertebrates are interrelated

(6) invertebrates gave rise to vertebrates

(7) fish gave rise to ambhibia, the ambhibia gave rise to reptiles, reptiles gave rise to birds, and birds gave rise to mammals.

Evolutionism: Evolutionsim is a philosophy which gave rise to Social Darwinism and its many expressions.

Oversimplification

Many people will ask "Do you believe in evolution or creation". Such questions greatly oversimplify the issues and polarizes the discussion so that it becomes an emotional debate rather than a rational discussion. The following chart shows a variety of interpretations of "evolution" and "creation" illustrating that the study of origins is extremely crowded.

(8) : CORRELATION between Creation Events and Scientific theory

(one of many interpretations of Genesis 1)

Genesis 1 (Creation Events; Notice that the frame of reference for this description appears to be from the surface of the earth: "and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters".)

(1) Creation of the physical universe (space, time, matter, energy, galaxies, stars, planets, etc.)

Gen. 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

(2) Transformation of the earth's atmosphere from opaque to translucent

Gen. 1:3 -5 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning —the first day.

(3) Formulation of a stable water cycle

Gen. 1:6-8 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning —the second day.

(4) Establishment of continent(s) and ocean(s)

Gen. 1:9 -10 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

(5) Production of plants on the land.

Gen. 1:11-13 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning —the third day.

(6) Transformation of the atmosphere from translucent to transparent. (Sun, Moon, and stars became visible for the first time)

Gen. 1:14 -19 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights —the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning —the fourth day.

(7) Production of fish, birds, sea mammals (nephesh)etc.

Gen. 1:20 -23 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning —the fifth day.

(8) Creation of land mammals and other land animals

Gen. 1:24 -25 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

(9) Creation of mankind (Adam)

Gen. 1:26 -27 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

(9) Cosmology and the "Big Bang" Theory

If the material and energy in the universe are infinite in quantity and in time then under the right physical conditions an infinite variety of random processes might conceivably explain the appearance of even highly ordered and complex life forms.... On the other hand, if mater and energy are finite in extent and in time, and if the ranges and the parameters for life are narrow, we have potent evidence for a personal Creator, specifically for the God of the Bible. Hugh Ross

The universe is at least ten billion orders of magnitude (10 10,000,000,000) too small or too young for life to have assembled itself by natural processes even if you make the rash assumption that matter arose without a creator. Such calculations have been made by theists and non-theists. Einstein's theory of General Relativity suggests that the universe is decelerating and expanding, implying that there was a creation event, commonly referred to as the "Big Bang", an event in which the matter in our universe transformed from pure energy, and in a very short time became hydrogen.

(10) Need for Humility

We do not know all the answers, but we can know the One who does.

"Let no one think or maintain that a man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God's Word or in the book of God's Works..."

Francis Bacon

"Happy is the man who can recognize in the work of today a connected portion of the work of life, and an embodiment of the work of Eternity."

James Clerk Maxwell (Devout Christian, physicist who discovered the relationships between electricity, magnetism and light and introduced the concept of field of EM force)

Isa. 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.