Science & Revelation

Revelation

Revelation is an uncovering or disclosure via communication from the divine of something that has been partially or wholly hidden or unknown

Two Main Categories

General Revelation(also called natural

theology)

Special Revelation (also called revealed

theology)

Nature

Reason

History

Bible

Miracles

Jesus

Deduced naturally Divine intervention

Why revelation is important

• God’s way of communicating with humans – shows God exists and cares

• Contains the truth about God and humanity

• Reveals the purpose of creation

• For many Christians Bible contains no errors and should be trusted, others believe it is inspired and contains truths

General Revelationor Natural Theology

Universe Reveals

God

•The universe exists. •Everything that exists has a cause.•God is the cause of the universe •The universe is complex.•Complex things require design.•Design requires a designer.•God is the designer of the universe

•All humans have a sense of right and wrong.•There is a common code of what is right and what is wrong across cultures.•God provides the common code.

Reason Reveals

God

HistoryReveals

God

•Humans have developed ways of knowing God throughouthistory.•Religion has progressed from pagan beliefs to monotheism•Humans have learned about God’s nature throughout history.•Humans have learned about God’smorality throughout history

special Revelation orRevealed Theology

Revelationin theBible

•Men were inspired to write God’s words•God inspired primitive people to describeCreation and the Fall•The Ten Commandments•The prophets foretold the future•The Gospels and the news of Jesus•The teachings of Paul the Apostle•The decisions of the early Church•The work of the Holy Spirit

Revelation in the

Miracles

•The miracle of creating the universeout of nothing.•The escape of the Hebrews in Exodusto carry his message to the world•The miracles of Jesus to demonstratehis love of humans and divine power•The Resurrection of Jesus to conquerdeath and show God’s love for the world

RevelationIn

Jesus Christ

•The Virgin Birth•The Baptism of Jesus•The Temptations•The Teaching and Miracles of Jesus•The suffering and death of Jesus•The Resurrection of Jesus•All show God’s sovereignty over andlove for the world

Theophany: appearance in some form e.g. Burning Bush

Voice from Heaven: people hearing God’s voice e.g. Adam and Eve

Angels: people being visited by angels with Messages e.g. angel tells Mary

about baby

Vision: seeing God e.g. Isaiah the Prophet saw God sitting on a throne

Natural stuff: earthquakes, floods, good harvests all at the command of God

Other Forms ofSpecial

Revelation

Leads humans to fulfilling their potential

Key Features of Revelation

Can come from within the individual

Can come from the Bible

Can be a combination of the two

Can come from nature

Affirms God as creator

Affirms Jesus as his son

Affirms humans have a special purpose

Approaches are changing all the time

High degree of interpretation involved of Bible, history and personal experience

Problems/Weaknesses of Revelation

Veracity of the Bible

Authority of the Bible

Variety of interpretations of the Bible

Range of revelatory experiences

Reliability of revelatory experiences

Limited understanding of human psychology

Finite beings trying to understand an infinite being

Ignorance of whether or not the revelation is complete

My word against yours

Other world religions

Not based on empirical evidence

Personal experience of God is beyond everyday experience so it will always be difficult to understand using everyday human knowledge and experience

Strengths of Revelation

Consistency of message.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

High degree of agreement amongst Christians of key principles

Flexibility -God allowed to approach us in his own way

Empirical evidence is not required to support many human experiences

Other world religions answer the same needs as Christianity

Evidence, empirical or otherwise, is open to interpretation in all fields of human knowledge

Biblical Interpretation

1. Fundamentalist- inerrant word of God.

2. Conservative- divinely inspired with some factual errors.

3. Liberal- documentary hypothesis

Fundamentalist STRENGTHS

• It is absolute and certain.

• No scope for interpretation.

• No picking and choosing what is to be read literally.

• Clear for believers.

FundamentalistWEAKNESSES

• Ignores inconsistencies.

• Ignores contradictions

• does not account for cultural considerations.

• interpretation is always done no matter what the approach.

Conservative Strengths

• Recognizes the problems of literal interpretation.

• Takes into account new discoveries.

• Retains the core facts and teachings of scripture.

• Not a radical move away from the Bible as a source of divine revelation.

ConservativeWEAKNESSES

• Ignores inconsistencies.

• Ignores contradictions

• Does not fully account for cultural considerations.

• Interpretation is always done no matter what the approach.

• Picks and chooses what is literal and what is not.

Liberal Strengths

• It is absolute and certain that the Bible must be understood in its context.

• Accepts new discoveries and scholarship.

• No picking and choosing what is to be read literally- none of it should be.

• Clear for believers, do not read literally.

LiberalWEAKNESSES

• Confusing for believers.

• Weakness- Undermines much of Christian teaching.

• Weakness- casts doubt even on the mission and purpose of Jesus.

• Weakness- which liberal interpretation is right?

• Weakness- too skeptical.

Scientific Method

Method used by scientiststo understand the universe

Observation Hypothesis Experiment Verification

Look at differentthings in natureand watch what

is happening

Whilst looking atdifferent things

in nature explainwhat is going on

Experiment to see if the

explanation is right

Peers to check it,open to furthermodification and

change

ONLY HIPPOS EAT Vomit

• http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml

• Deduction & Induction

Tools of the Trade

Hypothesis An idea used to explain somethingwhich has not yet been proved

ModelA picture or model of somethingthat cannot be seen e.g. gas or atoms

ParadigmsThe current thinking and rules in science. E.g.gThe Big Bang started the universe

InductiveReasoning

If something happens in all observedsituations then it must happen in allsituations no matter where.

DeductiveReasoning

If something is an established fact then it can be applied in all situations

FalsificationScientist must be prepared to have their theory disproved or modified

Occam’s Razor

The simplest explanation is usually thecorrect explanation

Strengths

Bases statements on what is observed

Uses empirical evidence.

Evidence has to be tested by peers.

No absolutes

Methodical and standardized.

Lack of emotional investment.

No pre-requisite of having faith.

It is open-ended.

Does not claim anything it cannot support.

Scientific Method

Scientists are influenced by their historical context and their peers.

There is always an element of guesswork in science.

There is more to the world than what you can sense

Scientists put faith in their theories.

Science can be influenced bynon scientific things

Scientists disagree

Disagreement about the best way to approach descriptions of reality.

Weaknesses

The Christian World View

God created the world and everything in it

God appointed humansto have a special purpose in it

God cannot be known only through nature

There is more to the world than its physical appearance

Humans are Comprised of body, mind and soul

Humans are alienated from God through sin

The universe is where God is working out His plan for all things

Through Jesus our sins are forgiven

The Scientific World View

The universe began with a huge explosion

Life is the result of evolution

Everything has a scientific explanation

Humans are one of many billions of living species

The Earth has no special place in the universe

What cannot be observed cannot be studied

Human morals are naturallydeveloped not divinely given

Life after death is a matter offaith not a matter of fact

Revelation and Science

Both try to explain reality.

Both require a degree of faith.

Both can accept that present knowledge of the universe is not complete.

Both interpret reality based on the paradigms of their communities.

Both are influenced by their social, cultural and historical context.

Both recognize that there are limits to what we can know about reality.

Both make mistakes.

Similarities DifferencesScience uses physical evidence alone

Spiritual truths cannotchange like scientifictheory

Religion is based on beliefScience is based on fact

Religion is subjectiveScience is objective

Scientific statements aretestable and verifiable

Religion is based on theassumption that God existsScience has no assumptions

Science explores how theUniverse works

Religion explores why theUniverse works