Achievements of science
10 minutes
Give the group two options for each question corresponding to a side of the room. They must run to their chosen side and are eliminated for a wrong answer.
• What percentage of the world is connected via the internet? [78 per cent]
• What percentage reduction in Atlantic crossing travel time have we seen in the last century? [99 per cent]
• Through medical advances, what’s the percentage increase in life expectancy in the last 150 years? [100 per cent]
• What is the furthest distance we have sent a probe into space? [The Voyager has travelled 12 billion miles from Earth.]
• Which came first, the chicken or the egg? [The chicken - egg shell protein can only be formed inside a hen’s ovaries.]
KEY POINT 1
Science is simply the process of studying things within our universe, finding patterns and then drawing conclusions via rational deduction. Science is arguably the greatest of human enterprises. With its understanding, we have been able to engineer communication systems, global travel and longer lives.
Red pill or blue pill?
10 minutes
Show the scene from The Matrix where Morpheus asks Neo whether he will take the blue or red pill. Explain what Neo is deciding between.
Say: You only need to skim the Psalms to see that God has filled us with a sense of fascination, wonder, and awe at the natural world. We, as a species, have a desire to understand, to know the truth. As in the video, we even choose truth over happiness! Science is the study of God’s creation, and so, like religion, it’s part of the human search for truth and ultimately God. It’s not an enemy, but something to be embraced. But can science tell us the whole truth?
What are the limits?
5 minutes
Boil a kettle and ask why the water is boiling. As they suggest scientific answers, explain that electricity from the socket is conducted through to the elements in the kettle, where the high current causes a heating process to occur in the elements, heating the water. As it heats up, individual atoms eventually have enough energy to escape liquid form and turn into a gas. Then propose an alternative answer: ‘It’s boiling because I want a cup of tea.’ Ask them if the answers contradict. Both answers are true. Why?
KEY POINT 2
There are different levels of meaning or truth. For the most part, science deals with questions about function: how something works (e.g. water boiling), but it cannot answer questions of purpose, origin or love, which tend to be answered by religion. However, there are some overlaps between science and faith.
X-Men
5 minutes
Say: Some interpretations of Genesis 1 overlap with the theory of evolution. Play the first game again, asking the group which of these X-men-like mutations actually exist (you can make up some false ones): trees sprouting from hands and skin (true); immunity to poisoning (true); ultra-strength (true, this mutation causes constant muscle growth, but you need to eat a lot); ultra-endurance (true, this mutation produces 50 per cent more red blood cells); no need for sleep (true, although very rare). Say: these are examples of mutations in human DNA today, which tells us that evolutionary change is happening in us! This is called microevolution. The main disagreement is not over this, but over macro-evolution, which says that these micro changes over millions of years will change one species into another (like humans coming from monkeys) for which there is substantially less evidence.
Dark matter
10 minutes
Show an image of the Pinwheel Galaxy from premieryouthwork. com/links. Say: Genesis overlaps with cosmology. Almost a century ago, scientists discovered that the universe did not behave as expected, given their understanding of gravity. They discovered that the matter that was visible in galaxies like this one only accounted for 15 per cent of their total mass. Even though scientists could not see it, they could see the effects it had. They called this dark matter. From the study of our universe, exactly the same can be said of God. We can see his fingerprints all over the place. Here are four examples:
• The universe had a beginning: the Big Bang.
• Something exists rather than nothing.
• The universe works in a predictable way, ‘guided’ by laws.
• DNA, the code for all life, unexpectedly appeared on Earth 3.8 billion years ago.
Discussion
15 minutes
Read Genesis chapter one, and discuss:
• How should we read Genesis chapter one? Is it written like a psalm, a Gospel or something else? Is it a scientific document?
• What are three main takeaways from the passage?
• How does the passage match up or conflict with evolution and cosmology? How can the conflicts be resolved? (The days represent undefined amounts of time and overlap etc.)
God’s not dead
5 minutes
To wrap up the discussion, watch Rice Broocks’ video ‘God’s Not Dead Introduction’ on Vimeo.
Pray
5 minutes
Say: The difference between God and dark matter is that God actually revealed himself. Uniquely, Jesus, the man who walked among us was also the creator of the universe. To finish, read through John 1:1-5, and ask the group to meditate and pray on the words as you speak them.
Tom Cozens studied engineering at Cambridge and apologetics and evangelism at the OCCA.
