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SLIDE 2 - INTRODUCTION
Firstly, let me say that I am here as an inquirer with you rather than as an expert. Each of us asks ourselves questions about God in our everyday lives. Since many of us study and work in the natural sciences we wonder about and look for God’s fingerprints in nature. I have found evidence of God’s handiwork in nature many places and I have been surprised. At first I never asked myself these questions at least not in detail. I felt science and faith to be two separate categories of my life, but now I see them as being complimentary; they inform each other. One area of their overlap is in nature and in the natural sciences.
SLIDES 3&4 - MY PERSPECTIVE
I need to say from the beginning that I will be speaking to you from a theistic world view. I believe in God as He is described in the Bible. God is personal, orderly, rational, loving, infinitely creative and transcendent, that is God exists apart from the natural, physical universe. At least acknowledging the possibility of God’s existence is the essential starting point for anyone looking for God’s fingerprints in creation. If I believe that there is no God in the universe, then no amount of evidence or searching will show me his fingerprints. Just like Hegel who proved philosophically that there could only be seven planets, no amount of looking or searching on his part would allow him to find Neptune and Pluto. Your acceptance of this lecture depends on your considering at least that God might exist. Of course there is no human proof, no evidence that anyone can show that can demonstrate or prove God. The starting point is faith. This is why the first Christian reformers said that faith is a gift from God. Only God can turn our hearts to Him and open our eyes to see His work.
SLIDE 6 - ORDER IN NATURE
A frequent comment by scientists after years of their research into a topic is that they marvel at the intricate workings and the order in nature. Scientists in various fields are amazed by the workings of the details of nature in their own discipline. Frequently, this leads them to the conclusion that the universe has been designed.
SLIDES 8-11 - COSMOLOGISTS – ASTRONOMERS
As astronomers and cosmologists explored the universe with better and better instruments they learned that the universe was expanding. They also perceived that there was an intensely hot and explosive beginning to the universe. The evidence of the expanding universe together with equations of Einstein’s general relativity tells us that the universe had a beginning about 4 billion years ago. There was a simultaneous beginning for matter, energy and space-time dimension. This also places the origin of the universe outside the dimensions of matter, energy, space and time. This discovery contrasted completely with the idea that the universe was eternal and unchanging. This discovery was labeled by astronomers such as Steven Hawking as the greatest discovery of the century, if not all time. This scientific discovery is consistent with the witness of the Bible that the universe was created by God out of nothing, by the Creator who is separate from the universe.
The big bang is a major piece of evidence that the universe is created and designed. Further evidence supports the idea that universe is designed for life. These observations are collectively called the Anthropic Principle. This principle is stated on the fact that the universe is finely tuned just right for life and ultimately human life on Earth.
Hugh Ross, a Canadian astronomer, has written extensively on the finely tuned constants of the universe. He has identified 60 various physical constants and factors that characterize the universe that must be what they are in order to support life as we know it on earth. Some of these astronomical factors are the following. The universe must have the right mass density for the correct rate of nuclear fusion. Fusion won’t form essential life elements C, N, O… < 1022 stars < nuclear fusion occurs too fast for universe to expand and cool to accommodate life.
Our solar system is in the right sized galaxy. The galaxy must be large enough to generate the right concentration of heavier elements necessary for life, C, N, O, etc. Furthermore the galaxy must be between 10 billion and 20 billion years old to allow for the accumulation of these life-essential elements. The earth must be in a solar system with the right sized and aged star. The sun must burn with consistent color and brightness. It must be large enough but not too large and middle aged in order to burn consistently. The life-supporting planet must be close enough to the sun to have surface temperatures to sustain life chemistry. For advanced life, the planet needs the gravitational pull of a single, large, and relatively nearby moon to stabilize the tilt of its rotation axis. The rotation period of the planet must fit within a certain range. If the period is too long, temperature differences between night and day will be too great. If the rotation period is too short, wind velocities will increase to catastrophic levels. These are a few of the astronomical factors that characterize the Anthropic Principle.
SLIDES 12-13 - PHYSICS
Physicists marvel at the simple and universal principles
that govern laws of nature. The fact
that these are universal laws and don’t just apply to the earth was quite
pronounced in
SLIDES 14-16 - CHEMISTRY
Chemistry describes and explores the interrelationship of matter and energy. Some basic energy principles govern chemical reactions and at the same time the elements and chemicals have their own unique qualities. The abundance and formation of elements, properties of certain elements reflect these elements’ role in living things. The chemical basis for life is awesome. These star-dust elements come together and arrange according to basic principles and their own unique qualities to form molecules, then structures and cells, and finally organisms. The selectivity of polar and non-polar interactions makes the activity of enzymes extremely picky about what process they will catalyze. The millions of proteins in the biosphere are all coded for in DNA. These complex and specific proteins are made from only twenty different amino acid building blocks. The specificity and diversity of chemistry in living things is amazing, even more striking when we realized that most molecules in our bodies are made of primarily 5 different non-metal elements (C, H, N, O and P).
SLIDES 17-18 - BIOLOGY
Biologists are also amazed by the chemical nature of life on one end and by the function and operation of organisms on the larger scale of biological structures. Biochemists are discovering sub-cellular machines with the detail and design of the finest nano-instruments. Geneticists are astounded by the quantity of information found in DNA, a large molecule common to every eukaryotic cell.
On the organism level, the immune system process are equally amazing. For example, a cancer patient whose immune system has been destroyed to wipe out the cancerous cells is injected with cancer-free donor T-Cells. When these T-Cells are injected they migrate by themselves to the patient’s bone marrow. How do they get there? What is the migratory and communication system that these cells use?
SLIDES 19-21 - COMPUTER SCIENCE
The study of computer languages and information theory has revealed remarkable characteristics of the nature and source of information. What is information? Information is contained in a complex and highly improbable arrangement of parts that are in a non-random pattern. For example, a sentence is a complex and highly improbable arrangement of letters that communicates a message. There are nearly an infinite number of possible, equally improbable arrangements of these letters, but only one arrangement will communicate the message of the sentence. These criteria constitute the basic requirements for information. DNA in the nucleus of cells is an information rich molecule. We know that the DNA in any nucleus contains the code for every protein in that organism. The nucleotides in the DNA molecule of an organism are in a complex and highly improbable arrangement, and clearly the pattern is non-random. Scientists have always sensed that information rich systems come from intelligent sources. The studies of computer languages and the development of information theory show that information can only come from an intelligent source, never from random processes.
SLIDE 22 - SUMMARY
Up to this point
we have seen that order is a characteristic observation in the natural
sciences. On the basis of these
observations many scientists conclude that an intelligent being, whom I and
many identify as God, lies behind and above nature.
SLIDES 23-24 - CLOSED SYSTEM VS. OPEN SYSTEM
Scientists investigate their questions in their field assuming a closed system. This assumption is extended to the universe. We can only explore a closed system with the hypothetico-deductive reasoning of the scientific method. However, what if we consider the universe to be an open system? Scientists can still study various aspects of the universe as a closed system, but when they encounter an information rich system, they could identify the source of the information as coming from outside of their defined system. There is no way for us as humans in the system to detect whether the universe is open or closed, but we can consider the source of information from an intelligent source that is outside of the universe if we consider an open system perspective. An open system can not be proved, but is supported by inference from the discoveries of science. For example, the Big Bang Theory and the sudden appearance of life with information-rich DNA points to an open system with an intelligent entity outside of the universe as the cause and creator of these.
SLIDE 25 - WHAT DO THE FINGERPRINTS REVEAL ABOUT GOD?
When these observations and questions are considered from a perspective open to God, it is awesome. Not only do these “fingerprints” indicate a divine creator, they actually point to God of the Bible. God in the Bible is personal, orderly, rational, loving, infinitely creative and transcendent, that is God exists apart from the natural, physical universe. God of the Bible is separate from history but reveals Himself in history. God of the Bible is incomprehensible to human understanding, but has engaged human beings. He has created us with minds and spirits to interact with Him. He has given us written record of humans’ experiences with Him and God has become incarnate in Jesus Christ, God become man in order to reveal Himself to us.
SLIDES 26-28 - BIBLE SAYS GOD REVEALS HIMSELF IN NATURE
Job 12:7-9, Ps 8:1-3, Ps 19:1-6, Ps 50:6, Ps 97:6, Rom 1:20
SLIDE 29 - MODERN SCIENCE EMERGED IN 17TH CENTURY
CHRISTIAN
The simple answer to this question is because of
Christianity! Christianity understands
God as a rational, responsive, dependable, and omnipotent being and the
universe as His personal creation, thus having a rational, lawful, stable
structure, awaiting human comprehension.
This sense of order in nature is what amazes those, who study
nature. This fundamental rationality has
been the basic assumption of all observers of nature from the Greeks to
today. Ps 119:89-90. Wisdom of Solomon (
SLIDE 30 - PERSONAL STORY
My Student’s Question:
Five years ago, one of my Chemistry students asked me: How can you teach
Chemistry and be a Christian at the same time?
At the time the question puzzled me.
What is the problem? As we
talked, I realized he felt that science and faith were in conflict with each
other. I had always thought that science
and faith were two totally separate topics.
So as a Christian who is also a science teacher I didn’t think about
these two beliefs together. However,
after talking with my student, I realized that I needed to look at this
question. I needed to think about the
relationship between these two topics so that I could help my students
understand the current controversy. So
my student’s question to me 5 years ago sparked a self-education process that I
have shared with you today.
SLIDE 31 – MY
I am a science teacher because I love showing my students the scientific perspective of the world. I feel that learning about the natural laws and principles from science gives me a way to understand something about God as the Creator. But the scientific explanations are limited. I know that there is more to my life than just living according to natural laws. For example, there is a spiritual interaction between me and other people. There is love within my family and between me and friends. These can’t be excluded from my understanding and teaching about life. They must be a part of my whole picture.
The apostle Peter writes in one of his New Testament
letters: “Always be ready to make your case to anyone who demands from you an
accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and
reverence.” (I Peter 3:15-16) I feel it
is my calling as a science teacher and a Christian to be ready to answer honest
questions about faith and science with honest answers. It is my calling to help students think about
science in the correct way, as an excellent profession, as a method by which
they can learn about themselves and the world and an exciting academic
discipline among many others. I also
encourage them to see that the Christian faith gives a serious and rational
picture of the world. Indeed, I believe
that the Christian worldview
commends itself as the best perspective on the world and human nature.
SLIDE 32 – RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND FAITH
In general, there are three main ways that people think about
the interaction of science and religious faith.
These are: (1) no interaction between the two; they are two separate
disciplines. (2) Science and religion are in conflict, and (3) that science and
religion are similar enterprises capable of positive or complementary
interaction. The view that science and
religion are entirely different in character is common. This was my opinion before the question of my
Chemistry student. The conflict position
is also common and explains why there is a design-evolution controversy in the
SLIDE 33 - CONCLUSION
I have pointed out a few of God’s fingerprints in nature in broad strokes from a few scientific disciplines. Yet before I can convince anyone with this evidence, we need to have the same perspective. This perspective is theistic, believing in a personal, transcendent creator God, such as the God of the Bible. Not only does this perspective allow us to see God’s fingerprints in nature, but I argued that this theistic perspective allowed our scientific forefathers to do science. Perhaps, belief in God is necessary to do science at all.