1 Has Science Disproved the Bible? Part 1. 2 Simple Answer No !
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Transcript of 1 Has Science Disproved the Bible? Part 1. 2 Simple Answer No !
1
Has Science Disproved the Bible?
Part 1
2
Simple Answer
No !
3
• For many, trust in the Bible has been diminished because:-
• Theologians have undermined its authority
• It is believed that science has
disproved its teachings
Trust in the Bible
4
Scientists of the Past
• Important to recognise that most great scientists of the past were believers
• Some of them accomplished Bible students
• e.g. Sir Isaac Newton
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Scientific Believers• Many eminent scientists are
believers
• These include – Current & past fellows of the
Royal Society
– Nobel Prize winners
• 1997 Survey in Nature– 40% of all scientists in America
believe in God
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Scientific Believers“To postulate that the development and survival of the fittest is entirely a consequence of chance mutations seems to me a hypothesis based on no evidence and irreconcilable with the facts”
Sir Ernest Chain, 1945 Nobel Prize “I just cannot believe that everything developed by random mutations”
Dennis Gabor, 1971 Nobel PrizeThe burden of proof is on those who don't believe that "Genesis" was right, and there was a creation, and that Creator is still involved.
Richard Smalley 1996 Nobel Prize
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Scientific Believers
“Unless at least half my colleagues are dunces, there can be – on the most raw and empirical grounds – no conflict between science and religion.”
Stephen Jay Gould
The Bible is not a science text book – The Bible is not a science text book –
it deals with the why and not the how it deals with the why and not the how
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These are some of the things we These are some of the things we shall look atshall look at
If true, the Bible must be wrong talking about creation
Common Beliefs . . .
Scientists have proved that
• Universe started with a big bang
• Life developed by evolution
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Important to distinguish between facts and theories
• We will find that:– Both Bible & Science suggest the universe
had a beginning– Both Bible & Science indicate that life
appeared in a complete form
Overview
There is no conflict between scientific There is no conflict between scientific facts and what the Bible saysfacts and what the Bible says
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Overview
We shall look at:
• Facts and theories
• The origin of the universe
• The fossil record
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Facts and Theories in Science
Facts
• Science works with them
• A far-away nebula
• A rock formation
• A fossil in that rock formation
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Observable Facts
• Something that can be proved beyond doubt– Tangible
– Measurable
– Repeatable
Can be felt through our senses & Can be felt through our senses & experienced first handexperienced first hand
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GravityWe all experience gravity• Drop something & it always
falls• Scientific experiments
– Gravity well understood– Rockets launched into
space– Satellites put into orbit
• Gravity is real – Can be experienced &
measured
Gravity is an observable factGravity is an observable fact
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A theory is developed from extensive A theory is developed from extensive testing to gain confidencetesting to gain confidence
Fact and Theories
Developing a Scientific theory
• Scientist makes observations
• Assumptions made
• Assumptions tested
• Proven “assumption” becomes a theory
• Confidence gained by testing
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We only trust theories that have been testedWe only trust theories that have been tested
Fact and Theories
Developing a Scientific theory
• Theory only trusted when confidence gained
• Engineers can only use tested theories
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Theories
• Sometimes no way of knowing assumptions used in a theory are right – Often the case for the distant
past
• We can’t use experiments to prove it
Important to know what can be proved & Important to know what can be proved & what is a theory that can’t be provedwhat is a theory that can’t be proved
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Trusting Unproven TheoriesMid 19th Century
• “Miasma” theory– Disease caused by a
poisonous vapour
-“miasma”
• “Dyscrasia” theory– Disease caused by
imbalance in body’s temperament
What were the consequences?What were the consequences?
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Trusting Unproven TheoriesMid 19th Century• No problem in drinking water
contaminated with sewage– Thousands died in 4 cholera
epidemics between 1831 & 1854
• No problem in doctor or nurse moving from a dead body to a living one without washing– 1 in 3 women died in hospital
giving birth to children
All the facts needed to form correct theory All the facts needed to form correct theory Some facts may be unknownSome facts may be unknown
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“Big Bang” Observable Facts
1. Light from distant galaxies is “red shifted”
2. Cosmic microwave background radiation
3. Universe contains mainly light weight elements– Hydrogen & helium are
most common elements
4. Galaxies seem evenly spread through space
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“Big Bang” Theory
1. “Red shift” suggests galaxies are moving away– Universe expanding
2. Background radiation– Remains of “Big Bang”explosion
3. Light elements– “Big Bang” predicts the lightest
elements produced first
4. Galaxies evenly spread– Will be the case if universe is
expanding in all directions following a “Big Bang”
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“Big Bang” Assumptions
1. Physical laws that we know today are unchanged
2. The laws are constant throughout universe
3. Red shift is caused by light source moving away from us
If universe is expanding & we roll back time, If universe is expanding & we roll back time, everything goes back to a point in space time everything goes back to a point in space time from which it all started - The “Big Bang”from which it all started - The “Big Bang”
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“Big Bang” Assumptions
• What information would modern telescopes have given millions of years ago?
• Can’t do experiments to prove laws remain unchanged
• Facts we have support the theory if we accept the assumptions that we cannot prove
““Big Bang” must remain an interesting theory,Big Bang” must remain an interesting theory,and should not be regarded as a factand should not be regarded as a fact
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Theory of Evolution
• Gradual change over many millions of years
• Fossil record should show– Continuous progression
– All sorts of stages of development
• E.g. wings in different stages
The theory of evolution should fit the The theory of evolution should fit the observed facts in the fossil recordobserved facts in the fossil record
Trilobite fossil
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Phyla in the Fossil record
Time
Nu
mb
er
of
Ph
yla
Time
Nu
mb
er
of
Ph
yla
The Fossil Record
A. According to Darwin’s theory the number of animal phyla gradually increase over time
B. Fossil record shows that almost all animal phyla appear at same geological time
A
B
Theory does not fit the observed Theory does not fit the observed facts in fossil recordfacts in fossil record
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The Fossil Record
Testing the theory of evolution
• All fossils are well defined
• No intermediate fossils
But what about Archaeopteryx?But what about Archaeopteryx?
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Archaeopteryx
Fully formed features• Toothed jaw like a reptile• Feathers like a modern bird• Braincase similar to modern
bird
Everything needed for flight is present
Not a missing link for origin of birdsNot a missing link for origin of birds
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Lack of Transitional Forms“As by this theory, innumerable
transitional forms must have existed.
Why do we not find them embedded in
the crust of the earth? Why is all nature
not in confusion instead of being as we
see them, well-defined species? … The
explanation lies, however, in the
extreme imperfection of the
geological record”
Charles Darwin in “The Origin of Species”
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The fossil record
“There is no need to apologize any
longer for the poverty of the fossil
record. In some ways it has
become almost unmanageably
rich, and discovery is outpacing
integration … The fossil record
nevertheless continues to be
composed mostly of gaps”
G. T. Neville in Science Progress
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The fossil record
“The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record … (is) the trade secret of palaeontology
Steven Jay Gould
“The fossil material is now so complete that the lack of transitional series cannot be explained by the scarcity of the material. The deficiencies are real, they will never be filled”
Prof N. Heribert-Nilsson Lund, Sweden
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Lack of Transitional Forms
“The fossil record - in defiance of Darwin's whole idea of
gradual change - often makes great leaps from one form to
the next. Far from the display of intermediates to be expected
from slow advance through natural selection many species
appear without warning, persist in fixed form and disappear,
leaving no descendants. Geology assuredly does not reveal
any finely graduated organic chain, and this is the most
obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against
the theory of evolution.”
Steve Jones’ preface to Darwin’s Origin of Species 1999
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The Fossil Record
• Fossils give an important fact
• Fossil record does not contain partly developed animals that theory of evolution predicts
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Classification of animals
• Comparative studies of animals– “Cladistics”
• Animals that look alike are classified as similar
• Similarities used as evidence to say they are ‘related’ by evolution
Another argument used to support evolution
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Classification
• Horses, donkeys, zebras
– All look alike
• Evolutionist say they had common ancestor
• Can’t so any experiments to prove this
Classification of animals Classification of animals tells us nothing about how tells us nothing about how they came into existencethey came into existence
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Variations within species• Small variations seen
within species
• Over relatively short timescale different breeds of dogs produced
• “Given enough time, these variations can produce new species”
• But dogs are still dogs not new species
Different breeds are as a result of human Different breeds are as a result of human interference – not natural selectioninterference – not natural selection
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Variations within species
• Small variations seen within species
• Big assumption that same mechanisms caused appearance of– The heart
– Bone
– Feathers
– Warm-blooded creatures
– A backbone
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Variations within species
• Big changes never been observed
• Not good to extrapolate beyond what has been seen
Not sensible to use very minor changes as Not sensible to use very minor changes as evidence to support the great changes evidence to support the great changes required by the theory of evolutionrequired by the theory of evolution
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Summary• Fossil record contains only
fully formed animals
• Classification of animals tells us nothing about how they came into existence
• Minor changes are not scientific evidence of large changes
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Has science disproved the Bible?
• Scientists suggest evidence points to beginning of the universe
– “Big Bang”
About 3,500 years ago the Bible stated About 3,500 years ago the Bible stated that the universe had a beginning:that the universe had a beginning:
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Has science disproved the Bible?
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
Genesis 1:1
Science and the Bible are in agreementScience and the Bible are in agreement
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Has science disproved the Bible?
“The fossil record furnishes irrefutable proof that life on earth has changed through the ages … Fossils prove not only that life has changed but also that it has progressed from simplicity to complexity with the passage of time. These are the facts. To those who take an unbiased view of the matter, there is only one conclusion – that all past and present life has descended from simple beings”
William Strokes and William Lee in the book “Essentials of Earth History”
• Fossils are facts
• Progression of life is opinion
• Fossils provide no evidence to suggest progression
• Creation also explains the facts
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Does science support the Bible?
• No Bible comment on how our world and life began
• There was a Creator
• Organisation of living things
• Points to a Creator
• Here science supports the Bible
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1 v 1
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Summary
Important to distinguish between facts and theories
• We have seen that– Both Bible & Science suggest the universe had
a beginning– The scientific facts used to support evolution
could also be used to support creation
There is no conflict between scientific facts There is no conflict between scientific facts and what the Bible saysand what the Bible says