Religion and ScienceThis module covers 5 main areas:

•Origin of the universe

•Origin of the world

•Origin of Humanity

•Stewardship

•The Environment

For each topic you will need to know a range of Christian views as well as

your own viewpoint

Fist we need to know what Christian denominations we are discussing

The Christian Denominations

The Roman Catholic ChurchThis denomination is a

traditional group of Christians who believe in Natural Law: doing what God intended in a natural way. Up until the C16th Catholics were the dominant group of Christians in Europe. Catholics are controlled by the Pope in Rome

Protestant ChurchesThese are the Christian

groups that developed after Martin Luther’s debate in 1517.

These are modern Christians who have re-interpreted the Bible and have a different view to the Roman Catholics.

These Christians are NOT controlled by the Pope.

Christian do NOT all believe the same thing and are divided into different groups depending on faith and establishment

Origin of the Universe Since time began people have asked how did we get here, who

made us and who made the universe? The two main ideas are the Big Bang and Creatio Ex Nihilo

The Big BangIn the 20th century Stephen Hawking discovered that we could pick up the sound of a massive bang travelling through space, that first occurred 12 billion years ago. This sound is the sound of the Big Bang: an explosion of matter throughout the universe that caused the existence of everything we see today

Creatio Ex NihiloSomething cannot come from nothing. It is impossible. Therefore, for the universe to exist, something had to exist before it. Something outside time and space (as they didn’t exist yet). Christians believe that this is God – a being so powerful that it can create a universe but is not affected by that universe

The Origin of the WorldThe Scientific View is that the world is a creation of chance,

random particles joining together following the Big Bang to create a planet which was then an appropriate distance from a star to create an atmosphere that would allow species to grow and develop.

In the 16th century, Copernicus (an astronomer) made a discovery: we were not the centre of the universe, everything in space was not made for our benefit and it did not revolve around Earth. In fact, the Earth revolved around it’s nearest star, the Sun. This is called heliocentricity. It resulted in Copernicus being excommunicated from the Church for teaching against Christian beliefs about the world

The Christian view on the origin of the world is that it is made by God in 6 days.

The Origin of the WorldChristians believe that God created the world one stage at a time. Most Christians see this story as symbolic and not literally true. Therefore, they understand the timing to be eras not 24hour days.

Understanding the TextThere are three different ways in which Christians understand

the Bible:

1

•Literal Truth

•The text is 100% true; the book contains fact

2

•Symbolic Truth

•The text is not 100% true – it is made simpler to help people understand

3

•Mythical Truth

•The stories in the Bible are not true, they are fables that show power in an easy to understand manner

The Origin of HumanityScience tells us that our existence is due to chance; we are in

the right location and circumstances to allow life to develop

In 1859 Charles Darwin published his book ‘On the Origin of the Species’ outlining his view on we developed. He stated that we all originated from a single celled organism that developed over millions of years in order to survive and gives us all the variations that we see on Earth today.

This takes God out of the equation.

We are a product of natural selection and survival of the fittest.

We adapt to survive

The Origin of HumanityWhen God created the world in 6 days, the last thing he created

was humans. They were made ‘imago dei’ (in the image of God) and are seen as the most special part of God’s creation.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the

birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Humans are more special than animals; humans rule over the animals.

Humans have souls which sets them apart from animals; some people think it is this that is the ‘image of God’

StewardshipChristians believe that the Earth does not belong to us; we are

simply tenants that look after the planet in order to give it back to its rightful owner at some stage.

“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living

creature that moves on the ground.”

However, there is a problem with this: How should we rule?• Do we rule are parents?• Looking after everything and protecting it?1• Do we rule to progress the human race?• Developing the land for human use?2

The EnvironmentThe environment is a great cause for concern among Christians,

although they, obviously, do not have a monopoly on it.Their view that they are a stewards of the Earth leads them to

think seriously about the need to protect the Earth for their creator as well as future generations.

There are plenty of problems with the environment that are human caused:

PollutionDeforestationEnergy WasteNuclear power plantsLandfill sites

There are plenty of organisations that campaign for the protection and preservation of the planet. One of these is Greenpeace.

The Environment

We are passionate about protecting the Earth – the only life support system we have. We are independent. That means we can tackle power, not

problems. We do this by investigating, documenting and exposing the causes of environmental destruction. We work to bring about change through

political lobbying, citizen action and consumer pressure. And we will take peaceful direct action to protect this fragile planet and promote the solutions

for a green and peaceful future.

Greenpeace is not a Christian organisation but Christians would support it due to its policies and principles.

Some Christians believe in the Gaia hypothesis which links to the Greenpeace ideal

In the early 1970s James Lovelock proposed The Gaia Hypothesis, arguing for an interdependence between the living and non-living worlds. Lovelock developed his theory in which the planet is an organic whole, rather than a lump of rock that supports life. We need to look after the planet because it sustains all living things – we need it to survive.

The Environment

The Gaia Hypothesis links to the Christian belief of stewardship due to the fact that we must ensure the survival of the planet and all that exists on it – it is a our duty as this

is the only planet that we have.

a) What is heliocentricity? (1)b) Give two examples of solutions to environmental problems (2)c) What are the main scientific theories regarding how the world

and humanity were made? (3)d) Explain why some Christians might not agree with scientific

theories about the origin of the humanity (6)e) “God does not exist, so we don’t have to look after the planet”

Discuss this statement. Give different, supported viewpoints including a personal viewpoint. You must refer to Christianity (12)

Practice Exam QuestionReligion and Science: this exam question is worth 24 marks

Remember: Part E is an ESSAY question and must be written in an essay style with PEE paragraphs in order to attain all 12 marks