Christianity: Science and Belief Revision – things you may not have picked up on…

Revelation and Scientific Method Make sure you know the similarities and differences between the methods of both revelation and science (both use observation, draw conclusions from evidence, have an element of bias, require interpretation, etc BUT one is extremely personal and religious experiences cannot be re-enacted to confirm they were real, experiments can)

Viewpoints Creationists – These are extremely fundamental Christians who take the Bible literally (young earth theory, rejection of modern science, God would not lie). Progressive Creationists – These are fundamental Christians who are making an attempt to reconcile the ‘facts’ in the Bible with modern science. They may accept some fossils as evidence of Fixity of Species (not evolution), and may believe the 6 days are 6 time periods, but they still believe the Bible is fact and God wouldn’t lie. Liberal Christians – Those who are ‘regular’ Christians in Britain today who use the Bible to give meaning and purpose to life, but would accept scientific evidence as showing the way God ‘got things done’ Scientific Materialists – ‘Hard line’ scientists who give no room at all to belief. Truth is in the proof. Other scientists – not all scientists are scientific materialists. You get open minded scientists who are not religious, but may believe there are limits to what science can find out. You also get religious scientists (in the past many major scientific breakthroughs have been by scientists motivated by wanting to find out how their God did things, or to understand the world God had given them)

Bible Take note of the differences between Genesis 1 & 2 – 2 different stories from different times, cultures, and naturally with different emphases. Used for origin of universe, origin of life, and purpose of life arguments – creationists believe it is literally true, liberal Christians take it in context of the history and draw meaning from it. Remember the Bible is a collection of books (not one book by one person, more of a complex library)

First Cause Argument (Aquinas) To be used for Origin of Universe essays If asked KU on Cosmological / FC A then try and explain it using the Three Ways from Summa Theologica (Motion, Causality, and Potentiality, all drawing conclusion of God as First Cause / Unmoved Mover) Remember objections and possible replies.

Big Bang Theory It was NOT an explosion in space – there was no space to explode in! The ‘explosion’ contains all space and time – we don’t even know if there is an ‘outside’ or what it would be like, just that it is not space and time as we experience it. Remember words like singularity, expansion and cooling, BILLION years, etc

Design Argument - Paley Fits with Origins of Life essays Remember for KU on Teleological / D A to give in-depth step-by-step account Paley used human eye as evidence of design Know criticisms and replies

Evolution No need to discuss development in detail (e.g. bacteria in sea, oxygenation etc) Explain life developed from simple single celled organisms to more and more complex ones The ones best adapted to environments survive Also competition for resources gives a regime of ‘survival of the fittest’ The ones that are best adapted and survive the best have differences that make them better – these differences happen at a genetic level in DNA. Random genetic mutations give an organism an advantage or disadvantage that can be passed on to offspring. Over thousands of years these changes ‘take hold’ and species can change and survive, or change and die out. Not all members of a species will change, so evolution happens with ‘branches’ and is not linear (so we have not descended directly from primates!)

More on Creationists Bible = 100% true as comes from God and God would not lie (response is the contents of Bible interpreted by fallible humans) Reject BBT = it says billions of years, young earth theory says 10,000 ish (response – evidence in light etc) Reject Evolution = God created a Fixity of Species, not changing ones (Response – explain new strands of viruses etc) Reject Evolution = says we came from animals and are not special, Bible says we are special, image of God, soul so cannot be (is there evidence of a soul, or some other explanation?)