10,000 million years ago there was a huge explosion in space
Matter was hurled in all directions
Everything was created from this matter
Today
100 million galaxies each with 100 million stars have been formed
These galaxies are still moving apart
Cosmic radiation has been detected which is thought
to be the heat left over from the original explosion
Evidence
The further away the galaxy the more the light is red-shifted
The whole universe is expanding
The light from other galaxies is red-shifted
Other galaxies are moving away from us
Cosmic microwave background
Created by the big bang
Explains how the universe evolved
Does not explain how the universe began
Could it have been created by God?
So at a point in the past the conditions were right for this explosion
Produced hydrogen and helium
Where did the other elements come from?
What is the theory of evolution?
Explains how living things have changed over time
Not what caused this change
Could God have caused it?
Supported by the way bacteria evolve
Survival of the fittest is the idea that only the best adapted will survive
Most species will die out eventually
All species evolved from basic life forms
Discovered by Darwin who knew that...
Things reproduce freely in the wild
Animals prey on each other
Offspring are not identical to their parents
Many characteristics are inherited
The longer an animal lives the more it reproduces
He found this out by examining finches on the Galapagos islands
What is a humanist and what are their views on creation?
Believes there is no God (atheist)
Believes people should be morally right
Believe that everything is the result of a natural
process that Science will one day be able to explain
We should care for every living thing
What is the Christian account of creation?
Genesis 1
God created light and made the day
God created all the animals on earth
God created all the plants on earth
God created all the stars and the sun
Genesis 2
God created man
God gave man free will to eat from any tree
apart from the tree of knowledge of good and evil
God let the man name all the living beings he had created
God created woman from the man's bones
God rested
Why was it written?
As a history of how the world was created according to the Jews
Is it compatible with Science?
It can be taken as a metaphor
Science and Religion (quotes)
Einstein: 'Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind'
Professor Sir Ghillian Prance: 'For many years I have believed that God is the
great designer behind all nature... :one can be both a scientist and a Christian
Professor Lewis Wolpert: '...religious belief is incompatible with science...'
Richard Dawkins: 'successful mind viruses (i.e. religions) will tend to be hard for their victims to detect...'
Do we need to pick a team?
Science and religion have been working together for centuries
Science can not explain everything
It can normally explain 'how' but not 'why'
It addresses a different question to theology
The Layered Approach
Why can't we believe in God and Science?
Maybe God used evolution change the world
e.g. Genesis was a metaphor for evolution and
God caused things to evolve to how they are today