People of the WorldFellowship

Cherrydale Baptist Church

Dr. Robert C. Newman

27 August 2000

Creation, Science and the Bible

The Bible=s Opening Words (Genesis 1:1-3)

Inthe beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over thesurface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ALet there be light,@ and there was light.

The Problem Stated

!Don=t the teachingsof science contradict these words from the Bible?

!Isn=t it impossiblefor a person to be a scientist and believe in God?

!No, that is what I am.

!It is true that many scientists have interpretednature in ways that contradict the Bible.

!It is also true that many Bible believers haveinterpreted the Bible in ways which contradict nature.

!But to see whether there is any real contradiction, wehave to see what the Bible and nature actually say.

!That is the purpose of this talk.

Cosmology: theOrigin of the Universe

!The Bible says there was a beginning, when God createdheaven and earth (Gen 1:1).

!Until recently, many scientists claimed that theuniverse has always existed.

!Now evidence has accumulated that the universeapparently began (from nothing) at a finite time in the past.¹

!Nature says there was a beginning.

Fine-Tuning: Design in the Universe

!The Bible pictures God as having made the universe byHis wisdom (Prov 8:22-31).

!Scientists who are atheists claim that the universe isthe way it is merely by chance.

!In recent years, strong evidence has accumulated thatthe universe is marvelously adjusted to allow life to exist.²

!Nature says the universe is designed.

Origin of the Earth: the Nebular Theory

!Bible believers often claim the earth was madeinstantly in its finished form, just a few thousand years ago.

!Nature seems to teach that the earth has a longhistory before it reaches the form it has today.

!The Biblical account of creation in Genesis 1 isconsistent with this evidence from astronomy and geology.³

Origin of Life

!The Bible says that God created life (Gen 1:11-27).

!Some scientists claim that life arose from non-life bypurely natural processes.

!The complex functionality of living things seemsclearly to surpass what could happen by chance in our universe.⁴

!Nature points to something beyond itself by containingthis phenomenon we call Alife.@

Diversity of Life

!The Bible says God made the diverse living things, butit does not give us much information about how He did so (Gen 1:11-27).

!Many scientists claim that all the variety of lifeevolved from the simplest living things by purely mindless, random processes.

!Detailed studies of the fossil record and of thenature of living things point to some sort of intelligent guidance orintervention.⁵

Origin of Humans

!The Bible says God made humans in His own image (Gen1:26-28).

!Many scientists claim humans developed naturally fromthe apes.

!Though humans are physically rather similar to theapes, there is a great chasm between them in regard to intellect, initiativeand spirituality.

!This does not look like something that happened bychance.

A Tour of Genesis One: Comparing Science and the Bible⁶

In the Beginning God createdheaven & earth (Gen 1:1)

Abeginning, perhaps the big bang

The earth was formless andempty (1:2)

Earth(and sun) formed from a thin, shapeless cloud of gas and dust.

Darkness was over the face ofthe deep (1:2)

Asit contracts, the gas cloud becomes dark within.

God says, ALet there be light@(1:3)

Withfurther contraction, the cloud heats up and begins to glow.

God separates light fromdarkness (1:4)

Materialthat will later form planets is pushed outside the central bulge.

God calls the light Aday,@ the darkness Anight@ (1:5)

Theplanet earth forms, its rotation giving the day/night sequence.

Let there be an expanse toseparate the waters (1:6)

Theearth=s atmosphere forms by outgassing from within theplanet.

Let the waters be gathered,let the dry land appear (1:9)

Earth=s crust forms into moving plates, which open toproduce ocean basins, collide to make continents.

Let the land producevegetation (1:11)

Plantlife appears on the land.

Let sun, moon and starsappear in the sky (1:14)

Theplants oxygenate the atmosphere, removing carbon dioxide, weakening greenhouseeffect, lowering temperature, clearing atmosphere so sun, moon, stars becomevisible, providing breathable air for animals.

Let waters and air fill withanimals (1:20)

Marineand animal life appear.

Let land produce variousanimals (1:24)

Landanimals appear.

Let us make mankind in ourimage (1:26)

Humansappear last in the fossil record.

Conclusions

!A striking correlation between the two.

!Both picture:

"Auniverse with a beginning

"Adesigned universe

"Anorigin of life that surpasses chance

"Adiversity of life that suggests intervention

!The details of Genesis 1 match our best scientificmodel for the early earth.

!The God who made the heavens and earth also wrote theBible.

For Further Reading

See the websites www.ibri.org and www.reasons.org

¹Hugh Ross, TheCreator and the Cosmos.

¹Fred Heeren, ShowMe God.

²Hugh Ross, TheCreator and the Cosmos.

^2,4Michael Denton,Nature=s Destiny.

³John Wiester, TheGenesis Connection.

^3,6Robert C.Newman and Herman J. Eckelmann, Genesis One and the Origin of the Earth.

^4,5Michael Behe, Darwin=s Black Box.

^4,5Robert C.Newman and John L. Wiester, What=s Darwin Got to Do With It?

⁵William Dembski,ed., Mere Creation.