Science and the Bible

# Science and <br> the Bible

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+ **science**: observation of current real world
  + not scientists' **opinions** / theories
+ **Bible**: you can read for yourself
  + not **commentaries** about Bible
  + pastors / theologians' **opinions**
+ Bible itself does not **avoid** science
  + in fact, in very **first** verse:

---

In the **beginning** <br>
**God** created the **heavens** and the earth

[Genesis 1:1](# "ref")

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+ **Creation** important: where did we come from?
  + **who** made us and the universe?
+ **Time**, **space**, and matter had a beginning
  + but God was **pre-existent**
+ **Why** is creation important?

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## The Designer

![photo of car](img/sentra.jpg)

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![photo of gas station](img/wm-Union_76_Gas_Station.jpg)

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+ car **owner** must listen to **manufacturer**
+ e.g., **fuel**: gasoline, not green tea
+ Creator defines **right** vs **wrong** for us

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## The Manual

![photo of owner's manual](img/ownersmanual.jpg)

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![photo of Bible](https://sermons.seanho.com/img/bg/unsplash-fgmf2Eyrwm4-bible.jpg)

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+ manufacturer includes **owner's manual**
  + the **Bible** is our manual!
+ not just moral **fables** / allegory
  + not just great **literature**
  + or Western **culture**
+ tells us how we were **designed**
  + and **consequences** if we disobey
+ applies to **all** people, all cultures
+ Bible **invites** us to ask **questions**
  + engage the **mind**

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But ask the **animals**, and they will teach you, <br/>
or the **birds** in the sky, and they will tell you; <br/>
or speak to the **earth**, and it will teach you, <br/>
or let the **fish** in the sea inform you.

[Job 12:7-8 (p.1/2)](# "ref")

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+ Bible not **opposed** to science
+ zoology, ornithology, geology, marine biology
+ all evidence will point to the **Creator**:

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Which of all these does not know <br/>
that the **hand of the Lord** has done this? <br/>
In his hand is the **life** of every creature <br/>
and the **breath** of all mankind.

[Job 12:9-10 (p.2/2)](# "ref")

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+ **purpose** of science: proclaim God as
  + **Creator** and **Sustainer** of all life
+ so don't be **afraid** to study science!
  + but ask **questions**
  + discern **fact** vs **opinion**

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## Matthew Maury (1806-1873)

![photo of Matthew Maury](img/maury.jpg)

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![map of oceans](img/maury-atlantic.jpg)

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+ Christian, US **naval** commander,
  + father of modern **oceanography**
+ He and his 8 siblings **memorized**
  + the Psalms from a young age.
+ Ps8:8, "all that swim in the **paths** of the seas"
+ used ship **records**, drift **bottles**:
  + map the **ocean currents**
  + used by ships to this day
+ God is the best **scientist** there is:
  + He made it, so
  + He knows what He's talking about!

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**Knowledge** puffs up while **love** builds up.

Those who **think** they know something <br/>
**do not** yet know as they ought to know.

But whoever **loves God** is known by God.

[1 Corinthians 8:2-3](# "ref")

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+ quest for **knowledge**: becomes self-serving
  + to puff up own **ego**
+ "Knowledge is **power**": for **own** prestige
+ seek **wisdom** from God: more than **information**
+ even **more important**: to be **known** by God
  + than to know about the world.
+ Better to be a **child** loved by God
  + than PhD / CEO think self expert

---

| The **Bible** | **Evolution** |
| --- | --- |
| **Design** and purpose | **No** intelligence |
| Distinct **kinds** | **Common** ancestry |
| **Good** creation, <br/> corrupted by sin | Increasingly **complex** organisms |
| **Short** history, <br> short future | **Billions** of years |

>>>
+ **origins**: history, not **repeatable**.
+ **test** claims about **present** world
  + ⇒ **evidence** in support
+ define **evolution**: "molecules-to-man"
  + no God, no intelligent Designer
+ Kinds: a wide diversity of life was present in the original creation
+ "And God saw it was very good": originally a paradise, now degenerating (arrow of time goes downward, not upward)
+ Chronology of ~6000-9000 years also reminds us of the imminent judgment
+ focus on the **second** point:

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## Evolutionary tree

[![Evolutionary tree](img/apeman-tree.jpg)](http://culturedvultures.com/evolution-will-one-day-disproved-using-human-model/)

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[![Phylogenetic tree from 16 ribosomal proteins per organism](img/hug-new_view_tree_of_life.jpg)](http://www.nature.com/articles/nmicrobiol201648)

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+ **common** ancestry of all life
+ computer-generated **phylogenetic** trees
  + from organisms' DNA
  + (here, ribosomal proteins)
+ how much is **real**
  + alive today or recorded in fossils
+ how much is "artist's rendition"
  + (or computer simulation)?
  + Where are the **transitional** forms?

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## Each according to kind

![Evolutionary tree vs creationist orchard](img/lawn-tree-orchard.jpg)

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[![Variation within a kind](img/purdom-cat-kind.gif)](https://answersingenesis.org/creation-science/baraminology/variety-within-created-kinds/)

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[AiG: Variety Within Created Kinds](https://answersingenesis.org/creation-science/baraminology/variety-within-created-kinds/ "caption")

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The phrase "each according to its kind" (10x in Gen1, and also elsewhere) implies the existence of **boundaries** between kinds of life.

"Kind" is not necessarily "species" (the "Linnean lawn"), but there would be divisions, say, between fish vs frogs, or reptiles vs birds, and certainly apes vs humans. The idea is a forest of trees, with variation within a kind (e.g., tall dogs, short dogs, wolves, etc) but not crossing over into another kind (e.g., sheep).

Which model fits better with what we see in the world? Not scientists' opinions, but what we see.

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## Origin of life

![Miller-Urey experiment](img/Miller-Urey_experiment-en.png)

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+ Only amino acids 
+ No oxygen
+ Chirality mix

![DNA double-helix](img/DNA_simple2.png)

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[ICR: The Problem with Chirality](http://www.icr.org/article/evolution-hopes-you-dont-know-chemistry-problem-wi/ "caption")

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- Miller's experiment: ammonia + reducing atmosphere + spark: produced amino acids
- Chirality: property of molecules. Proteins in life only use left-handed amino acids. DNA uses only right-handed nucleotides (essential for double-helix)!
- Any experiment only reinforces the need for a designer: the experimenter put intelligence into selecting for a desired result.
- Similarly with "genetic algorithm" computer simulations: the intelligence is all in the goal function
- origin of life is still problematic for evolutionists today! Seeded by comets / meteors? Aliens?

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## Pasteur's soup

![Louis Pasteur](img/wm-Louis_Pasteur.jpg)

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![Pasteur's swan-necked flask](img/pasteur-swan-Wellcome_M0012521.jpg)

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[Creation.com: Louis Pasteur](http://creation.com/louis-pasteur "caption")

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- spontaneous generation: life (e.g., mold) from non-life (e.g., boiled soup)
- Pasteur's germ theory of infection: life only comes from life
- pasteurisation of milk
- "The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator"

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## Natural selection

Peppered moths

[![Black pepper moth, © Jerzy Strzelecki](img/moth-black-jerzystrzelecki.jpg)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Biston_betularia)

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[![White pepper moth, © Jamie McMillan](img/moth-white-drinkermoth.jpg)](https://www.flickr.com/photos/drinkermoth/7889770032)

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[Creation.com: The Moth Files](http://creation.com/the-moth-files "caption")

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- Peppered moths, black and white, in England, resting on pale lichen
- Industrial revolution killed lichen, blackening trees, shifting proportion of W to B.
  - Evolution in action?
- Before: B+W moths.  After: B+W moths.  Still moths, not bees!
  - Pollution actually had little effect on moths
  - Moths don't rest on trunks in daytime!
  - Had to be glued on for photos
- No new information, only loss of information if white went extinct

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## Degeneration, not Evolution

![Dodo bird](img/dodo.jpg)

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![Passenger pigeon](img/passenger_pigeon.jpg)

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[![Mastodon, Charles R Knight](img/Knight_Mastodon.jpg)](http://research.amnh.org/paleontology/artwork/knight/index.html)

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According to the Bible, we would never see *new* kinds of life appearing
(new genetic information), but only extinction.

We need to protect endangered species because genetic diversity
is *decreasing*, not increasing.  We're not evolving, but devolving.

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## Homology (similarity)

[![Chimp at Kibale, Uganda. © Dror Feitelson](img/wm-Kibale_chimp.jpg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibale_National_Park)

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![Sheet music](img/mozart-zweig_MS63.jpg)

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[AiG: Homology: Evidence of Creation?](https://answersingenesis.org/biology/homology-comparative-similarities/ "caption")

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- But we look so similar!  Two eyes, two ears, DNA, etc.
- => Common ancestry, or common Designer?
- We hear music and recognize, "it sounds like Mozart" -- why?
  - Same composer

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## Implications

+ Is there a Creator we are **accountable** to?
+ Who defines what is a "**good**" person?
+ How much **longer** will our world last?

⇒ **Science** is not independent of **morality**!

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- These scientific questions are not merely academic curiosities.
- If there really is a Creator, then He defines what is right and wrong,
what is sin and what is justice.
- In addition, the Bible's timeline for the universe is very short:
creation was a few thousand years ago, and also the judgment is coming
very soon, not in a billion years.

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But they **deliberately forget** that long ago <br/>
by God’s word the **heavens** came into being

and the **earth** was formed <br>
out of water and by water.

By these **waters** also the world of that time <br/>
was **deluged** and destroyed.

[2 Peter 3:5-6 (p.1/2)](# "ref")

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The Bible reminds us of the importance of both Creation and the Flood.
The Flood was God's judgment on a wicked world.
After the Flood, God promised never again to use water to wipe out
the earth.  The symbol of this promise is the rainbow.

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By the same word <br>
the **present** heavens and earth <br/>
are reserved for **fire**,

being kept for the **day of judgment** <br/>
and destruction of the ungodly.

[2 Peter 3:7 (p.2/2)](# "ref")

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However, this world is getting just as wicked, if not more so, as
the world of Noah's time.  And God has a coming judgment, this time
by fire.

God provided an Ark to save all who would enter, and Noah
was surely telling all his friends and family of the coming judgment
and inviting them into the Ark to be saved.

In the same way, the only salvation from the coming judgment is through
Jesus Christ -- and we must, like Noah, spread the word with urgency.

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The **heavens** declare the **glory** of God; <br/>
the skies proclaim the **work** of his hands.

[Psalm 9:1](# "ref")

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The more we study the creation, the more it leads us to glorify the Creator.
We should not be afraid of science, but discern clearly between scientific
fact and scientists' opinions.

The Creator has revealed Himself, via His Word and His work, and He will
glorify Himself again in the coming judgment.

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