1. Chapter 1A
God and Science

2. Biology
Bio logy
bios + logos
life
study of

3. Biology
A Branch of Science

4. Science
A body of facts that man has gathered by observing the physical universe

5. Fact
Something that is true
So what is truth?

6. Is something true . . . … because people believe it?
… because it seems to work?
… because we have seen it happen repeatedly?
… because it is logical?

7. Is something true because people believe it?

8. Doctrine of Humors
Hippocrates
350 B.C.

9. Doctrine of Humors
Holds that living things are made up of four liquids, or “humors”
For a person to be healthy, his humors must be in perfect balance.

10. Black bile: spleen Blood: heart Yellow bile: liver Phlegm: brain
The 4 Humors
Black bile: spleen
Blood: heart
Yellow bile: liver
Phlegm: brain

11. Is something true because it seems to work?

12. Doctrine of Signatures
Ancient Babylonians

13. Doctrine of Signatures
Held that God left behind signs or “signatures” to indicate cures for the illnesses resulting from Adam’s sin

14. Examples Liverwort believed to cure liver disease
Yellow lichen used to cure Jaundice

15. Is something true because it is seen repeatedly?

16. Spontaneous Generation
Theory that nonliving materials change into living organisms—spontaneously (abiogenesis)

17. Spontaneous Generation
Read the section on page 17 about Jan Baptista van Helmont.
What was Van Helmont trying to prove?
What was Van Helmont’s hypothesis?
Mice will __________ inside the box with wheat and a sweaty shirt.

18. Spontaneous Generation
How did Van Helmont perform his experiment?
What were the problems with Van Helmont’s experiment? What are other possible explanations for his results?
What could Van Helmont have done to obtain more reliable results?

19. Spontaneous Generation
Read the section on page 17 about Francesco Redi.
What was Redi trying to prove?
What was Redi’s hypothesis?
How did Redi perform his experiment?

20. Spontaneous Generation
Why did Redi have to repeat his experiment?
Did Redi’s results support biogenesis or spontaneous generation?

21. Spontaneous Generation
Review the sections on pages 6-7 and 18 about John Needham.
What was Needham trying to prove?
What was Needham’s hypothesis?
How did Needham perform his experiment?

22. Spontaneous Generation
Did Needham’s results support his hypothesis?
Were Needham’s results valid?
What were the problems with Needham’s experiment?

23. Spontaneous Generation
What could Needham have done to make his results more reliable?

24. Spontaneous Generation
Read the section on pages about Louis Pasteur.
What was Pasteur trying to prove?
What was Pasteur’s hypothesis?
How did Pasteur perform his experiment?

25. Spontaneous Generation
Did Pasteur’s results support his hypothesis?
Were Pasteur’s results valid?

26. Spontaneous Generation Is spontaneous generation still believed today?
YES

27. Is something true because it seems logical?

28. Logical Reasoning
Inductive
Deductive

29. Inductive Reasoning
Begins with a number of observed facts and derives a general conclusion

30. Example
Plants are living things, and they are made of cells.
Animals are living things, and they are made of cells.
Algae are living things, and they are made of cells.
Therefore . . .

31. All living things are made of cells.

32. Begins with a general principle and draws conclusions about specifics
Deductive Reasoning
Begins with a general principle and draws conclusions about specifics

33. The general principle is assumed to be true.
Deductive Reasoning
The general principle is assumed to be true.

34. Example
All boys are smart.
Jim is a boy.
Therefore . . .

35. Jim is
Smart!!

36. If either of your premises is incorrect, your conclusion may be false.
Deductive Reasoning
If either of your premises is incorrect, your conclusion may be false.

37. The first premise is incorrect.
All birds fly.
Cardinals are birds.
Therefore, cardinals fly.
Is the conclusion correct?
Is the argument valid?
Yes No
The first premise is incorrect.

38. The first premise is incorrect.
All birds fly.
Ostriches are birds.
Therefore, ostriches fly.
Is the conclusion correct?
Is the argument valid? No No
The first premise is incorrect.

39. Is something true because it is accepted by faith?

40. Faith Truth is not based upon what we believe.
We should base what we believe upon truth.

41. Truth: The Word of God The only sure source of truth is God’s truth.
In John 17:17 Christ said, “Thy Word is truth.”

42. Truth: The Word of God The only sure source of truth is God’s truth.
In John 14:6 Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

43. Truth: The Word of God
God’s Word is truth. Nothing can disprove its claims.
I Peter 1:25 says, “The Word of the Lord endureth forever.”

44. Truth: The Word of God
God’s Word is truth. Nothing can disprove its claims.
Psalm 119:160a says, “Thy word is true from the beginning.”

45. Categories of Statements
God’s Truth & Science
Categories of Statements
Revealed truth—true because it is revealed in God’s Word
Theory—thought to be true
Fallacy—contradicts Scripture or scientific evidence
Truth by definition—defined by man

46. God’s Truth & Science Is there a Conflict?
The same One who created the physical world inspired the Bible.
God gave man his senses and mind to observe the physical world.
God did not reveal all truth in the Bible.

47. God’s Truth & Science Is there a Conflict?
We cannot have the same trust in what is not in the Bible as we can in what is in the Bible.
God’s truth will not contradict a proper interpretation of science.
Psalm 119:89—“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”

48. Conclusion
Science is man’s attempts to observe and describe the natural processes God established to govern the universe.

49. Science:
Science is the collection of observations, inferences, and models produced through a systematic study of nature that enables humans to exercise proper dominion over God’s world.