Lesson One: Science Is Not a Sacred Cow

1. Lesson One: Science Is Not a Sacred Cow From Wayne Jackson’s book

2. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • Introduction • Has modern science made the Bible obsolete? • Fact: True science and the Bible are in perfect harmony. • The “spiritual” truths of the Bible cannot be meaningful but the “scientific” references be flawed. • “The sum of thy word is truth” (Psa. 119:160).

3. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • Science Is Not a Religion • To many people, “Science” has become a religion. Just hearing the word “Science” seems to have magic. • So enchanted with science, man has outgrown the need for God • “The discoveries of astronomers, geologists, and space explorers have undermined the faith of all but the most devout…and [even] among believers, God is more likely to be seen as a force or spirit than as an all-seeing watcher over human behavior” (Vance Packard, 1968). • With the advent of Darwin’s theory of evolution, “it [is] possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist” (Dawkins, Oxford, 1986). • There is a serious misunderstanding of what science is, what it can and cannot do!

4. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • Science Defined • From Latin term, simply means “knowledge” • “Knowledge based upon the observation and testing of facts worked into an ordered system acting as a base for new knowledge and a guide for ways of getting it” – Basic Dictionary of Science, Graham • “Knowledge derived from observation, study and experimentation carried on in order to determine the nature or principles of what is being studied” – Webster’s Dictionary • Problem: the word “science” can be used rather loosely to speak of matters that are not science

5. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • Scientific Method • A collection of rules or principles by which one arrives at true “scientific” knowledge

6. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • Scientific Method • Observation of Facts • Must be able to perceive the data empirically (with senses) • Statement of a Problem • Based upon observation, a question is asked or a problem is identified. • Formation of a Hypothesis • Before testing or experimentation, one may propose an hypothesis as a possible explanation – an idea based on observations.

7. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • Scientific Method • Testing/Experimentation of the Hypothesis • Testing will show if the hypothesis is true or false • Testing is repeated several times to make sure the first results were completely accurate. • Hypothesis Classified as a Theory • After many observations, tests & loads of experimental evidence, a hypothesis may become classified as a “theory.” • A theory is not “proof” of anything; merely suggests sufficient evidence to warrant further testing. • Theories are flexible enough to be modified if new data/evidence is introduced.

8. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • Scientific Method • An important note about scientific “theories” • Any view which cannot be subjected to a testing process cannot qualify as a hypothesis or a theory. • Ideas which deal with the origin of the universe or the origin of human beings cannot be labeled properly as “science.” They are not capable of being tested. • Some honest scientists have admitted that the idea of human evolution does not pass the criterion of a “credible theory” (R. Danson, 1971).

9. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • Scientific Method • Observation of Facts • Statement of a Problem • Formation of a Hypothesis • Testing/Experimentation of the Hypothesis • Hypothesis Classified as a Theory • Theory Established as Law • Theory formulated  widely tested  facts firmly established  receive the status of a “law” • Examples: Laws of Reflection, Laws of Thermodynamics • Laws stand the test of time, experimentally confirmed over and over.

10. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • Scientific Method • An important note about scientific “laws” • The Laws of Thermodynamics have been tested over and over, proven themselves, and are firmly established. • Evolution is not a scientific “law.” • By definition, evolution is not a scientific “theory.” • How absurd for some scientists to assert: • Evolution is a scientific law “as firmly established even as the rotundity of the earth” (quoted in Bales, 1976). • “Evolution [is as] well documented as any phenomenon in science, as strongly as the earth’s revolution around the sun” (Stephen Gould, Harvard, 1999).

11. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • The Limitations of Science • Science is limited to sense perception • If a proposition cannot be tested or subjected to empirical analyses, it does not fall within the domain of science. • Science deals with the present • True science demands experimentation in the here-and-now • Science is limited to how things work, not why they happen • Example: Forensic science can explain how a bullet is fired and enters a victim’s body, but it cannot determine whether the shooting was murder or a tragic accident.

12. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • The Limitations of Science • Science deals only with matter (the material) • Matter occupies space and can be perceived. • “Science does not embrace all phenomena and it has not, for its use, all the criteria of truth” (Evolutionist Louis More, 1925). • “Science deals with but a partial aspect of reality, and…there is [not the] faintest reason for supposing that everything science ignores is less real than the world it accepts” (a brilliant physicist, J.W.N. Sullivan, 1940).

13. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • The Limitations of Science • Science deals with phenomena that are repeatable • It cannot address unique events (like historical miracles) • In science, “observations and experiments must always be reported in such a way that they can be repeated and verified, and must always be repeated and verified before they are incorporated into the body of knowledge” (Evolutionist Helena Curtis, 1975). • Evolutionists claim that life accidentally jump-started (“spontaneously generated”) itself billions of years ago (passing it off as “science”), but that event can neither be repeated nor verified. Thus, it cannot be classified as “science.” • “Spontaneous generation” is a philosophical “belief,” not a scientific proposition.

14. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • The Checkered Past of Science • Blunders of a colossal magnitude along the way that have been called “science” & taught as “science”: • The eternality of matter • Spontaneous generation of life • Recapitulation theory (human embryo passes thru evolutionary stages) • “Vestigial” organs in human body from evolutionary past • “Steady state” theory (matter is being continuously created) • Geocentric theory (sun revolves around the earth) • The earth is flat (believed sail off the edge of the planet) • The earth is supported by solid pillars • Preformation theory (in ova are complete human beings in miniature) • The human brain is composed of “earth” • Astrology (planets determine human destiny) • Man-made global warming

15. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • The Checkered Past of Science • Blunders of a colossal magnitude along the way that have been called “science” & taught as “science” • Some who have posed as “scientists” have been the most gullible, egotistical people on earth. • Astounding Fact: The Holy Scriptures, the book that scientists disdain and discard, though it was composed over 16 centuries, never endorsed a single one of these baseless theories! The Bible is right every time!

16. Science Is Not A Sacred Cow • Conclusion • Not everything today that is called “science” actually is! • We need not be intimidated by the wild assertions that “science” disproves the existence of God or “science” undermines faith. • Science simply cannot deal with such matters, and we must not allow ourselves to be mesmerized by powerful sounding words that have no basis in fact or truth.