Faith and science

Faith and Science—St Teilo’s 2010-11-22

FAITH AND

A Personal Journey to Faith via Science

Science


KEITH UNDERDOWN-THE SCIENTIST

Cardiffian, educated at Canton High School ABB in Chemistry, Physics, Pure & Applied

Maths 2.2 in Biochemistry University of Sussex

Worked with John Maynard-Smith & Brian Goodwin

Mathematical Modelling of Biological Processes Research Assistant in Psychology Dept

Nottingham University Hand-eye co-ordination model Departmental programmer

Main career in IT—ICL, Girobank, A&L, Consultancy


KEITH UNDERDOWN-THE CHRISTIAN

Brought up a Congregationalist in Ely Felt the tension between science & faith in

teens Lacked courage not to become church

member Fell away at university Met and married Meg, a vicar’s daughter Confirmed as an Anglican in my 30s Meg has had a 15yr path to ordination

Made me question my Christian Commitment Conclusion:

I’m a happy Theist but struggle with Salvation


Science & Faith are not inimical but: Science deals with the material universe Therefore science cannot prove or disprove the

existence of God

But Understanding the universe through science

Reveals the Creator Not physics but metaphysics Evolution is random but built in to the universe

This is only a step towards the full acceptance of the Love of God

PERSONAL CREDO


SOME DEFINITIONS

Science is a shorthand for “the scientific method” or “a body of knowledge” Comes from Latin “scio—I know” (not Welsh

to ski!) Science is a process I will not use “Science” except at the

beginning of a sentence Using “Science” is a reification; but a short

stop from “deification” Saying “Science tells us...” is a religious

statement! I have exactly the same view of evolution

It’s a process (in fact a contigent process) Using “Evolution” is a deification


WHAT IS “FAITH”

“Faith” is tricky because in English we use it in many ways: “I have faith in him” “She was always faithful to him, despite

everything” His Christian Faith carried him through

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see," (Heb. 11:1)

http://bible.logos.com/passage/nasb/Heb.%2011.1


FAITH—IMPORTANT WORD IN NT

Faith is where the Promises and Work of God are made real to His redeemed. Ephesians 2:8-9, We are saved by faith. Rom. 1:17, We live by faith. Rom. 4:13, We receive righteousness by faith. Rom. 5:1, We are justified in Christ by faith Rom. 5:2, We have access to God's grace by

faith. 2 Cor. 1:24, We stand firm in our belief by faith. Gal. 3:14, We receive the promise of the Spirit by

faith. 1 Tim. 1:4, We do God's work is by faith. Gal. 5:5, We wait for the return of Christ by faith.

http://bible.logos.com/passage/nasb/Ephesians%202.8-9

http://bible.logos.com/passage/nasb/Rom.%201.17




http://bible.logos.com/passage/nasb/2%20Cor.%201.24

http://bible.logos.com/passage/nasb/Gal.%203.14

http://bible.logos.com/passage/nasb/1%20Tim.%201.4

http://bible.logos.com/passage/nasb/Gal.%205.5


“FAITH “AS A SYNONYM FOR “RELIGION”

Why do we say “Christian Faith” but “World Religions”?

Religion derives from Latin: “re”—a thing “ligare”—to tie or bind (c.f. Ligature) So religion is “that which binds one”

Properly expressed, Christianity does not bind The love of God sets us free Love God and do as you please (St Augustine of

Hippo) But fundamentalist Christianity is a religion

Thou shalt not....


WHAT FAITH IS NOT:

Webster’s dictionary: an unquestioning belief that does not require

proof or evidence. Richard Dawkins

“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.” (1977)

“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.”


WHY I NEVER ABANDONED MY FAITH

My best friend was the son of Salvationists literally believed the Bible But grew into gay man & a non-believer

I had major argument with RE teacher I claimed that science made the Bible outmoded

If I had someone to talk things through with I might have rejected church membership and

lapsed Or I might have resolved this issues a lot sooner

in my life I struggled on

Because ice freezes from the top!


THE SCIENCE BIT

Water is seriously weird H2O “weighs” 18 units H=1, O=16 O2 “weighs” 32 units Boiling point directly related to “weight” O2 Boils at -182.9C H2O Boils at 100C H2O essential for life H2S smells horrible, is toxic and gaseous H2Se & H2Te incredibly unstable, very toxic &

unimaginably smelly and gaseous Frozen water less dense than liquid water

So ice floats


WEIRD WATER


WHY IS WATER WEIRD?

The hydrogen bond Water is electrically neutral O atom drags electrons towards it -ve*2 Each H +ve

Molecules clump together Densest at 4C because clumped closest

together


ICE &WATER

Water at 4C

Ice at 0C


HYDROGEN BOND KEY TO LIFE

Gives structure to biological molecules DNA Proteins Everything

Genetic Information carried by 4 bases Thymine & Adenine

pair up with 2 hydrogen bonds Cytosine & Guanine

pair up with 3 hydrogen bonds

3 base pairs code to one amino acid


MOLECULAR ZIP FASTNER

Easy to copy accurately Force the hydrogen bonds apart Add complementary base to new backbone Two copies


HYDROGEN BOND & THE CREATOR

It’s counter-intuitive but it works Suggests an intelligence

How can I tweak the rules to make the game more exciting?

Suggests a tendency towards organisation Emergent behaviour => life


THE CREATOR & EVOLUTION

The universe is structured so that life emerges

What’s my evidence for that All matter built by stars—”We are stardust” Several peculiarities in that

Carbon likes to bond with itself There’s too much iron The hydrogen bond

Building blocks exist in inter-stellar space Pre-life was “just” chemistry Chemicals became organised into cells Cells grouped into organisms Genes are conserved


GENES ARE CONSERVED

Genes control development as well as defining proteins

Called HOX genes. Switch on hox genes for eyes

in the wrong place creates extra eyes

There’s a mammalian HOX gene for eye development too

Introducing the mouse HOX gene into developing fruit flies Creates extra fruit fly eyes!

This implies that “eyeness” was conserved from the earliest point it emerged but the eyes developed in different ways. Molluscs have eyes that are better constructed than ours!


GOD CREATED A UNIVERSE IN WHICH EVOLUTION WOULD HAPPEN

We’ve already seen that the Universe it self is evolving

At some point its complexity could support life (about 4.5 billion years ago) God did not inject the spark of life

That life increased in complexity A random process so sometimes seems to go

backward Produces bizarre forms that work in a given

niche From life will emerge consciousness

No input from God Emergent behaviour


Science & Faith are not inimical but: Science deals with the material universe Therefore science cannot prove or disprove the

existence of God

But Understanding the universe through science

Reveals the Creator Not physics but metaphysics Evolution is random but built in to the universe

This is only a step towards the full acceptance of the Love of God

PERSONAL CREDO


PSALM 19 (FROM THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE)

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

1THE HEAVENS declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. 2Day after day pours forth speech, and night after night shows forth knowledge.

3There is no speech nor spoken word [from the stars]; their voice is not heard. 4Yet their voice [in evidence] goes out through all the earth, their sayings to the end of the world.


THE HEAVENS ARE TELLING

“The images, especially the butterfly, don't just show science, but can evoke a sense of spirituality.” Leckrone said. “What I see is the grandeur of creation, however it got

there.”


DOUBLE HELIX GALAXY

An interesting parallel between the cosmological & the biological


THE EYE OF GOD


GALAXIES COLLIDING

Faith and science

Spiritual

Transcript of Faith and science