Science and religion

An Introduction

By the end of the lesson students will be able to study a range of views and assess the links between religion and science

Starter: Key Words

EvolutionCreationCreationistFundamentalistAdaptationSurvival of the fittestOrigin of the Species

Liberal

Big Bang

Natural Selection

Cosmology

Expansion

Contraction

Infinity

Eternity

Put into either ‘Against believe in God’ or ‘For Believe in God’

What do the following images suggest about the links between science and religion?

Task

Draw speech bubbles and add comments for ‘Theistic Fleas’ and ‘Atheistic Fleas’

Some Questions for Development1. Is the universe finite or infinite in extent and

content? 2. Is it eternal or does it have a beginning? 3. Was it created? If not, how did it get here? If so,

how was this creation accomplished and what can we learn about the agent and events of creation?

4. Who or what governs the laws and constants of physics? Are such laws the product of chance or have they been designed? How do they relate to the support and development of life?

5. Is there any knowable existence beyond the known dimensions of the universe?

6. Will the universe expand forever or will it eventually end up in a ‘big crunch’?

Christian Arguments

The cosmological argument: the effect of the universe's existence must have a suitable cause. The teleological argument: the design of the universe implies a purpose or direction behind it. The rational argument: the operation of the universe, according to order and natural law, implies a mind behind it. The ontological argument: man's ideas of God (his God-consciousness) implies a God who imprinted such a consciousness. The moral argument: man's built-in sense of right and wrong can be accounted for only by an innate awareness of a code of law--an awareness implanted by a higher being.

In the very beginning, there was a void, a curious form of vacuum, a nothingness containing no space, no time, no matter, no light, no sound. Yet the laws of nature were in place and this curious vacuum held potential. A story logically begins at the beginning, but this story is about the universe and unfortunately there are no data for the very beginnings--none, zero. We don't know anything about the universe until it reaches the mature age of a billion of a trillionth of a second. That is, some very short time after creation in the big bang. When you read or hear anything about the birth of the universe, someone is making it up--we are in the realm of philosophy. Only God knows what happened at the very beginning.

Lederman

"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals Himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings." - Albert Einstein

Religion and Science: Irreconcilable?

There is no necessary conflict between science and religion if the nature of religion is properly understood.

Einstein

Religious Feeling in ScienceEveryone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe-a spirit vastly superior to that of man.... In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is indeed quite different from the religiousity of someone more naive. Letter to a child who asked if scientists pray, January 24, 1936; Einstein Archive 42-601

Is this enough to be conclusive?

Evidence?

1. Fossils

2. DNA

3. ?

4. ?

What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to govern? …  Although science may solve the problem of how the universe began, it cannot answer the question: Why does the universe bother to exist?  ––               Stephen Hawking, ––               The Hand of God, p. 72.

The size of the universe 

80,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles to the furthermost galaxy (80 octillion miles)

600,000,000,000,000,000 miles to the edge of our galaxy (600 quadrillion miles)

100,000,000,000 stars in our galaxy (100 billion)25,000,000,000 miles to the nearest star (25 billion miles)

4,000,000,000 miles to Pluto 4 billion miles)93,000,000 miles to the sun

To grasp these sizes, 

Earth a cricketballMoon a ping pong ball 10 feet away

Sun a 36 foot balloon about a mile awayPluto a ping pong ball in 35 miles away

The nearest star (Alpha Centauri) is 200,000 miles away, about to the moon.The edge of our Milky Way galaxy is at the orbit of Jupiter.

The furthermost galaxy is 625 trillion miles away.

"There is a sense in which every Christian is a "creationist," for every Christian believes that he or she lives in a universe that is a creation, and that the Source of creation is the God who is revealed in the Bible as "maker of heaven and earth." This is true, whether the Christian is a young-earth creationist, an old earth creationist, an intelligent design creationist, or an evolutionary creationist. While these various creationists may strongly disagree among themselves about the "how" of creation, and subscribe to different portraits of creation, they do agree on certain essential beliefs or doctrines about creation, and these beliefs are anchored in the revelations of Holy Scripture..  Dr. Robert SchneiderASA LISTSERV, Jan 12, 2003.

Plenary- In pairs- Is this the best approach?