What do you think Einstein meant?Do you agree with him?

• Explore the difference between scientific knowledge and religious knowledge

• Explain the nature of ‘truth’ in each

• Discuss if religion and science are compatible, in conflict or mutually exclusive (co-exist but kept completely separate)

Today we will…

Thinking about Science

Which do you agree with most and why?

1. I only believe in things I can see

2. Most scientific theories which were held before the

nineteenth century have been proved wrong. What

does this say about scientific theories?

3. Science is based on what

facts you can see. Who was around

to see the start of the universe or

the fact we evolved?

4. Life on earth exists because random collections

of cells that change (mutate) and has no real

purpose5. Facts are true for ever and

do not change

BLIND VOTE

Heads on desks!

Conflict?

ORCompatible?

“Science and religion are based on different aspects of human experience. In science, explanations must be based on evidence drawn from examining the natural world. Scientifically based observations or experiments that conflict with an explanation eventually must lead to modification or even abandonment of that explanation. Religious faith, in contrast, does not depend only on empirical evidence, is not necessarily modified in the face of conflicting evidence, and typically involves supernatural forces or entities. Because they are not a part of nature, supernatural entities cannot be investigated by science. In this sense, science and religion are separate and address aspects of human understanding in different ways. Attempts to pit science and religion against each other create controversy where none needs to exist.”

The National Academy of Science

Compatible? Conflict? Co-exist?

Asks WHY

Asks HOWTries to explain the purpose of things

Tries to explain the nature of things

Explains value and importance

Explains processes and methods

Faith

Science or Religion?Tradition

Hypothesis

Testing

Eternal Truths

Revelation

Spiritual

EmpiricalObservation

Proof/Evidence

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/copernicus-and-galileo-the-movement-of-the-earth/5589.

html

Copernicus and Galileo

Galileo on trial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTA5vmY30NE

Galileo In Galileo’s time the Catholic Church in Italy had a lot of

control over the country and its laws.

Galileo was put under house arrest for going against the

church, when he said that his scientific research caused

him to believe that the earth goes around the sun, not the

other way around.

He was forced to stand before the church and say

that he was wrong, and that he was sorry for going

against the Bible

In 1993 the Catholic Church recognised that Galileo had

actually been right.

1 Chronicles 16:30 Tremble before him, all the earth!

The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved

Psalm 104: 5God set the earth on its

foundations; it can never be moved.

Scientific Method

How does science work?

Scientific MethodScience is trying to find

regularities and patterns in the world. There is something comforting about a world that

has order.We perform studies of the

world and observe patterns of the events in certain cases.

These patterns are then noted down and given to others who

find the same pattern of events. When enough people

have found that these patterns work for the majority of the time they accept them as

scientific fact.

We need to know that things in the world act following

patterns otherwise we could not build technology etc

Therefore Science enables the understanding and prediction of events in the physical world

Scientific Method

Are there any limits to Science?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/religion-and-science/451.

html

What question does

this cartoon raise?

Religious Method

Revealed Knowledge“O Muhammad! You are

the Messenger of Allah

and I am Jibreel”

Do you agree with

Dawkins?

Compatible? Conflict? Co-exist?

Do you agree with the implication we find on the Dawkins bus campaign – dispensing of belief in God means we

can ‘stop worrying and enjoy our lives’?

Dawkins says ‘there’s no such thing as a Christian child, only a child of Christian parents’.

What should be taught in schools?

The Butler Act, Tennessee, 1925"That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of

the Universities.. and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the Story of the Divine Creation of man

as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals."

Discuss:• What is this law banning?• Do you agree with this law?• Do you think it is a real law?

Scopes’ Defence

Clarence Darrow William Bryan

The Prosecution

John Scopes was a biology teacher from the small town of Dayton, Tennessee who was charged in 1925 for teaching the children at his school the theory of evolution.His lawyer Darrow was an atheist.

Bryan represented the World Christian Fundamentals Association at the Trial

He took to the stand as an expert to defend the Bible.

Scopes vs State of Tennessee Trial, 1925

What do you predict

was the outcome of the trial?

Do you think that the Law was kept?

What do you think happened to Scopes?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlKRkz7NM5o

The Prosecution

“Christians...oppose the teaching of [evolution] that encourages godlessness among the students....Evolution is not true... There is no more reason to believe that man descended from some inferior animal than there is to believe that a stately mansion has descended from a small cottage..................

Evolution is also creating doubt in heaven at the end of life...evolution disputes the truth of the Bible account of man’s creation and shakes faith in the Bible as the Word of God.”

Evolution is not the truth; it is merely a hypothesis....it is millions of guesses strung together

The DefenceThe defence pleaded for “freedom of education” and not education controlled by people with one particular religious belief. They said that there was no reason why the teaching of evolution should cause someone to lose faith in God.

The defence argued that not everything in the Bible is meant literally. The Bible is not a book of facts but a book of meaning , it tells people how to live their lives and love God not the detail of natures laws.

The defence said that humans could still come from God, but through the means of evolution. Evolution could be seen as God’s plan.

How did the defence try to win over Christian members of the jury?

Do you think that the prosecution understood the theory of evolution?

Epperson v. Arkansas (1967)

Ms. Epperson, who sings in the choir at her Presbyterian church and brought her Bible along on the trip, said, "The more you learn about science, the more magnificent God is.”

"I can look at a rainbow, and I know that white light can hit water droplets and it gets dispersed and the light spreads out and has lots of different colours," she said, "and I also say, 'Thank you, God, for the rainbow.' “

New York Times, 6th October, 2005

Plug the gaps in scientific knowledge with religious explanations

Scientists have found the matter is made up of atoms

Cosmologists know that stars were made by hydrogen collecting under gravity

Scientists trace the origins of the universe to a Big Bang

Amino-acid (the building blocks of life) have been constructed in a laboratory from simple chemicals

“They won’t be able to split the atom. You can’t unmake what God has made” - But they have!

“They’ll never unravel the mystery of “black holes” – That is God’s secret

“The won’t understand how the Big Bang started. God did that”

“Maybe, but they will never be able to make things live. Only God can do that”

Do agree that one day there will be ‘no need to invoke the ideas of a Supreme Being’?

“Science investigates religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is

power religion gives man wisdom which is control.” Martin Luther King

Compatible? Conflict? Co-exist?

“The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go” Galileo

“Clearly, then, both religion and science are founded on faith — namely, on belief in the existence of something outside the universe, like an unexplained God or an unexplained set of physical laws.” Paul Davies - Taking Science on Faith

“Science without religion is lame. Religion without Science is blind” Einstein

"Science and religion are two windows that people look through, trying to understand the big universe outside, trying to understand why we are here. The two windows give different views, but both look out at the same universe. Both views are one-sided, neither is complete. Both leave

out essential features of the real world. And both are worthy of respect." Physicist

Freeman Dyson

“One might as well say that conflict arises between men and women only when they stray onto each other’s territories and stir up trouble. Science produces discoveries that challenge long-held beliefs (not only religious ones) based on revelation rather than evidence, and the religious must decide whether to battle or accommodate secular knowledge if it contradicts their teachings.” Author Susan Jacoby

RELIGION AND SCIENCE ARE COMPATIBLE

(they can work together)

RELIGION AND SCIENCE ARE IN CONFLICT

(they can not both be true/they contradict each

other)

RELIGION AND SCIENCE ARE MUTUALLY

EXCLUSIVE (can co-exist but must be kept separate)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMzURpV7iS4

HOMEWORKWrite a personal response to the Einstein quote

Use information from today’s

lesson to help