practical applications for teaching science from a

biblical perspective

mark ritterreasons to believe

swordandspirit.com

reasons to believe and sword&spirit ministries present

overview

purposeme me mespecific exampleslingo,attitudes,ideassummary

our multi-purpose

it’s for these kids:

Christian kidsso they can have a more Rock-solid foundation, and…

nonChristian kidsto expose them to the overwhelming evidence of the God of the Bible

me me me

experiencemy problems w/ scienceand the Biblebeing disconnected :(making the connection! :)

the God connection

God’s books = 66 in Bible +1 around us written revelation

can’t use… sorta

general revelationcan use… a lot!

if both have same Author,teaching from either can lead one to Him

specific examples

anythinganthropicgoldilocksbig bangmr flat& familycopernicuschem/life science

anthropic principle

the idea that The Whole Shebang was put together for us100+ evidencesrange from atomic to planet to solar system to universeincluding life!some examples…

our gravity is just enough to keep this thin layer of gases above us.any more gravitymeans a heavier, more destructive atmosphere with more deadly gases staying here.less gravityand we can’t hold onto oxygen and other life-support gases.

our our atmosphereatmosphere is 20% oxygenis 20% oxygen..

any less?humans aren’t here.any more?everything burns a lot faster, and our bodies age quicker.

carbon dioxide in our atmosphere acts like a blanket and keeps us warm.

any less,we freeze,plants choke.any more,we fry in arunawaygreenhouseeffect

the Moon has slowed us,kept us steady,given us tides,stabilized our orbit.without it, life couldnot exist.its whole creation storyis a thing of amazingwonder in itself

Venus, closer to the sun, has...an atmosphere so heavy with

carbon dioxide it’s like being under a kilometer of water

a surface temp around 900°Fa cloud cover of sulfuric acid

no waternot a shopping mall in sight

Mars, smaller & farther out, has almost no atmosphere, and

its water reservoirs are essentially frozen, so there is no

life-giving water cycle

Jupiter and Saturn are at theperfect distance to:

leave our sensitive orbit alone, but protect us from nasty, earthbound

comets and asteroids...

our sun is the perfect age, mass,brightness, and generation for

life.anything else, we’re not here.

the faint sun paradoxfaint sun paradox says that through an amazingly complex

list of “coincidences,” the sun increased in luminosity at the same

rate the greenhouse gases were removed from our atmosphere so

Earth could maintain a life-friendly constant temp

for 4 billion years

our sun is a “bachelor,” a single star. most stars have at least one other companion.of course, having no star = a bad day, but…

if the sun had a buddy,our orbit would destabilizeand we would not be here.

our sun wasn’t born in a cluster, near other big and destructive

stars like these four here in the Orion Nebula, the Trapezium Cluster.

this bright star in the Trapezium is clearing away planet-making material from its siblingsno planet-making material,no planets.no planets, no TV.no TV, no life.

as to the stellar explosions

called supernovae:

closer to us?life is exterminated

farther?not enough local

planet-building debrismore frequent?

life goes awaymore infrequent?

no planets

we live on the only street in our galaxy

which allows life, about 2/3 out...

closer to the nucleus,we get supernovaed,radiated to death,and thrown out ofa stable orbitby other stars

farther,no planet-building material

we live in the perfect type of

galaxy for life, too, - the spiral.

goldilocks

one can see a Goldilocks thing going on herenot too X, not too Y, juuuuust rightbut other areas of science can open up opportunities, for example…

copernicus & family

the revolution that changed the ways of astronomy can be used to discuss philosophy and theology(e.g. myth that center of universe = good, aristotelian influence, frame of reference etc.)

mr flat & family

extra-dimensions can give them the Big(ger) Picture and subtly introduce the transcendence of God[demo Mr Flat]

big bang

the big bang implies a beginning

a beginning

implies a Beginnera discussion of the philosophical implications follows

chemistry connections

water: the perfect molecule shape all states on Earth density of ice amazing solvent

the perfect nucleus-electron attractionbond anglesreliable and repeatable and predictable laws…

life science links

perfect design of anything in the body (any body)perfect, instantaneous ecosystems throughout historythe beauty of the structure and function of DNA

critical thinking discussions

purpose of mass extinctionsend of the universe!other intelligent life?UFOs?origin of life?Cambrian explosionpurpose to lima beans?

free extras!

Thanksgiving Foodfor ThoughtMormon implications no Kolob lack of life on planets end to universe

raised hand, open door

best times come when students ask,So what do you think?presenting them with opposing interpretations of the facts often kicks this door wide open

suggested lingo

interpretations v facts

“design” insteadof ______

suggested growth

subscribe to a science journal!read sci-bi books!

share ideas w/ colleagues - at school site, or on internetsome links: reasons.org godandscience.org swordandspirit.co

m

from these you can be led to a load of other sites

suggested attitude

learn to: lose the fear passionately love the creation

(there’s so much to love) see His hand in nature allow alternate ideas

(e.g. evolution!), w/o fear, then discuss them

remember: the truth, in lovetrust God

summarysummary

celebrate the creation in your celebrate the creation in your class through a variety of class through a variety of methodsmethods

you then present Him and His you then present Him and His glory glory

the Holy Spirit takes care of the Holy Spirit takes care of the restthe rest