God and Science

Beirut, Lebanon 6/29/2013

John Oakes PhD

Thomas Huxley, Darwin’s “bulldog”

“We are as much the product of blind forces as is the falling of a stone to earth, or the ebb and flow of the tides. We have just happened, and man was made flesh by a series of singularly beneficial accidents.”

In the universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt and other people are going to get lucky: and you won’t find any rhyme or reason to it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at the bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good. Nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is, and we dance to its music.

Accident or Design?

William Paley

The Teleological Argument

Evidence for Design in Nature

The Anthropic Principle

Boeing 747Design or Accident?

1. Ideal solvent to support life (dissolves ions and molecules

2. Right boiling and melting points3. High specific heat4. Solid floats on liquid5. Contracts from 0 to 4 degrees centigrade

Water

Designed Elements?

Carbon: The Central Element of Life

3-D molecules

Large, complex yet flexible molecules

The Ozone Layer:Is oxygen a designed element?

a) b)

DNA

Protein

Nature creates order, but not information

A House of Cards: Order and Information.

A much better analogy for living things.

Simplest life form: break it down

• E. coli: about 1 trillion bits of information.• E. coli have 3000-4000 different proteins.• DNA and RNA to make and be made by

these proteins.• Lipids (membrane), Carbohydrates, etc.• The simplest living cell is an unimaginably

complex nano factory

Charles Darwin

“It is mere rubbish to think at this point of the origin of life. One might as well think of the origin of matter.”

Science before the 1950s:The universe was NOT created.

Hebrews 11:3“By faith we understand that the universe

was created… so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible.”Genesis 1:3

God said “Let there be light,” and there was light.The Big Bang

· 1929 Hubble. The Red Shift: The universe is expanding.

· 1965 Penzias and Wilson, background microwave radiation.

Physicists now:

The universe was created.

Physics:

The Finely Tuned Universe

.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001

Fine Tuning of the Universe 

Constant A Little Bigger A Little Smaller  1. Gravitational constant very short-lived stars no stars

2. Ratio of electrons to protons no stars or galaxies no stars or galaxies  3. Strong Nuclear Force no hydrogen, fusion only hydrogen  4. Weak Nuclear Force all H2 He at big bang no He at big bang

no heavy elements  5. Electric Force no chemical bonding no chemical bonding  6. Expansion rate of universe no galaxies universe collapses quickly

7. Ratio of matter to antimatter too much radiation for life not enough matterfor galaxies to form

  and many more….

A finely-tuned instrument built by humans. Good to one part in a billion?

Fred Hoyle on Fine-TuningFred Hoyle on Fine-Tuning

“… a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and

biology.”

Conclusion:“Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

Romans 1:20The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour fourth speech. Night after night they display knowledge

Psalms 19:1-2

Part IIScience and the Bible

Delos B. McKown:“Christianity is scientifically

unsupported and probably insupportable, philosophically suspect at best and disreputable at worst, and historically fraudulent.”

Papyrus Ebers

The Ebers Papyrus:

“To prevent hair from turning gray, anoint it with the blood of a calf which has been boiled in oil or with the fat of a rattlesnake.”

“A mixture of six fats, namely those of the horse, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cat, the snake and the ibex.... to prevent hair loss.”

Drugs of Choice in Papyrus Ebers:

• Lizards blood• Swine’s teeth• Putrid meat• Moisture from Pigs’ ears• Excreta from animals including human

beings, donkeys, antelope, dogs, cats and flies

“I will not bring on you any of these diseases...”

Exodus 15:26

“The pig... is unclean for you...those that walk on their paws...the weasel, the rat...are unclean for you.”

Leviticus 11

“The sting of a hornet is healed by the house-fly, crushed and applied to the wound.”

“The gnat, feeble creature, taking in food but never secreting it is a specific against the poison of the viper.”

An ancient Hebrew medical manuscript.

“Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with the water on the third and seventh day...take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and furnishings and the people who were there.”

Numbers 19

Semelweiss

Vienna, 1847

• In maternity wards one out of every six women dies.

• Obstetricians ascribe deaths to constipation, fear and poisonous air.

Death Rate falls from 18% to 0.5%

Thymol: A Powerful Disinfectant

“As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the

camp.”

Quarantine for infectious disease

Leviticus 13:46

LEPROSY• Killed millions of people in Europe and

around the world for thousands of years.

• “Fear of all other diseases taken together can hardly be compared to the terror spread by leprosy.”

—Dr. George Rosen

Leprosy

MEDICAL COMMUNITY HAD NO ANSWERS

They taught that it was brought on by eating hot food, pepper, garlic and the meat of diseased hogs.

Other physicians said it was caused by a malign conjunction of the planets.

Leviticus 13:46“As long as he has the infection he remains

unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp.”

The life is in the bloodLeviticus 17:14 “… the life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, ‘You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.’ ”

Bloodletting

The most common medical practice in 1700s and 1800s

1693).

                                     

George Tiemann & Co. American armamentarium

Bloodletting Instruments from 1800s

“For the generations to come, every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised...”

Genesis 17:12

Vitamin K

Prothrombrin: a clotting protein.

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100120140

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

days

% o

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Clotting Protein Peaks on Day Eight

Available Prothrombin

Day Day CircumcisedCircumcised

Number of Hebrew Number of Hebrew BoysBoys

Number of DeathsNumber of Deaths

11 823823 44

33 759759 66

55 693693 88

77 855855 33

99 770770 22

1111 698698 44

How Did Abraham Pick the Eighth Day?

Part III Miracles What is a miracle?

Lewis: I use the word miracle to mean an interference with nature by a supernatural force.”

Webster: “A miracle is an event which apparently contradicts know scientific laws”

Oakes: An event which requires the intervention of God C. S. Lewis

Miracles?

Reggie Miller scores 9 points in last 11 seconds to win a playoff game.

1969 “Miracle Mets”

A man rescued after 28 days in the rubble in Haiti

Miraculous transformation of lives by God

Miracles: Acts 2:22

Jesus… accredited by… miracles, wonders and signs.

miracle = dunamis “Power or ability, physical or moral, residing in a person or thing.”

wonder = teras “Something strange… a marvel”

sign = semeion “Sign or signal”

In apologetics we are most interested in the third definition.

Do Miracles Happen?

If miracles happen then supernatural/God exists, but that is circular reasoning.

What does science tell us?

Science cannot answer the question of miracles; it can only help us to define the miraculous.

If that happened, it would definitely be a miracle!

Jesus and MiraclesJesus and Miracles

Four Possibilities:Four Possibilities:

• He neither worked miracles nor claimed to work He neither worked miracles nor claimed to work miraclesmiracles

• He claimed to work miracles, but he was a He claimed to work miracles, but he was a charlatan.charlatan.

• He worked genuine miracles, but as a sorceror/by He worked genuine miracles, but as a sorceror/by the power of Satan.the power of Satan.

• He worked genuine miracles and his claims about He worked genuine miracles and his claims about himself are validated by those miracles.himself are validated by those miracles.

Reasons to believe Jesus worked miraclesReasons to believe Jesus worked miracles

1. A great number of the miracles were done publicly, often in front of the greatest skeptics and harshest critics of Jesus.

2. There were tens of thousands of eyewitnesses from every background to these events.

3. The apostles openly proclaimed that Jesus worked a great variety of miracles during the lifetime of those who could have refuted the claims.

4. Both Roman and Jewish histories report at least the general fact that Jesus worked “wonders.”

5. Pharisees and Rabbis did not deny miracles, but instead claimed Jesus did his signs by the power of demons.

6. Those who recorded the miracles as eye-witnesses (the gospel writers except Luke) have every appearance of being credible.

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him. For the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.

Antiquities 18:3:3

Josephus AD 38-100

On the eve of Passover they hung Yeshu and the crier went forth for forty days beforehand declaring that "[Yeshu] is going to be stoned for practicing witchcraft, for enticing and leading Israel astray. Anyone who knows something to clear him should come forth and exonerate him." But no one had anything exonerating for him and they hung him on the eve of Passover. Ulla said: Would one think that we should look for exonerating evidence for him? He was an enticer and G-d said (Deuteronomy 13:9) “Show him no pity or compassion and do not shield him.” him? Babylonian Sanhedrin 43a-b

Talmud (1st and 2nd Century AD)

Why Did Jesus Do Miracles?

Because he had compassion. Matt 14:14

To fulfill prophecy. Matt 12:40

To validate his message. John 10:36-39

Because of people’s faith. Matt 15:21-28

To create faith in people. John 20:30-31

Because his mom asked him to. John 2:1-11

The Miracles of Jesus

Why he did it

What it tells us about Jesus

Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Matthew 11:4-5

John 2:1-11 Water to Wine

Jesus the Creator

Why? To meet a need and because his mom asked him to.

John 6:1-14 Feeding 5000

Surely this is the Prophet!

Jesus the creator and the sustainer of life

Jesus is “the bread of life”

Jesus is spiritual food

Jesus the source of eternal life

Jesus, Miracle Worker

John 6:35 “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty”

John 6:1-15 Jesus feeds 5000 men, plus women and children.

John 11:1-53 Jesus Raises Lazarus

Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Jesus will raise those who put their faith in him.

• Hundreds present• The smell of death was

strong• Lazarus came out• Look at the responses.

There are only two rational responses to Jesus the miracle-worker.

The Ultimate Miracle: The

Resurrection of Jesus

Why is the resurrection so important?

1 Cor 15:13-19 If Christ has not been raised then your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

If Jesus was raised, then there is life after death.

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof”David Hume

Jesus of Nazareth was crucified under Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem

From the very beginning, the church unanimously claimed that Jesus was resurrected

The tomb was empty

Jesus of Nazareth was crucified under Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem

Josephus AD 38-100

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him. The prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.

Antiquities 18:3:3

To squelch the rumor [that he had started the Great fire in Rome], Nero created scapegoats and subjected to the most refined tortures those whom the common people called ‘Christians,’ [a group] hated for their abominable crimes. Their name comes from Christ, who, during the reign of Tiberius, had been executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate.

Annals 15.44

On the eve of Passover they hung Yeshu Babylonian Sanhedrin 43a-b

Talmud (1st and 2nd Century AD)

Thallus 50 AD

Quoted by Julius Africanus in the 3rd century.Attempted to explain anecdotes about the

darkness that happened at the time Jesus died.

Claims it was an eclipse of the sun.There was no eclipse of the sun at that time.Proof that the darkness happened? Maybe.

Thallus believed it happened.

Evidence that it was common knowledge of the resurrection and miracle claims surrounding Jesus.

From the very beginning, the church unanimously claimed that

Jesus was resurrected

Acts 2:24 But God raised him from the dead…

How else to explain the growth of the church?

The tomb was empty

If not….

1. Jesus’ body was taken from the tomb.2. Jesus did not actually die (swoon

theory).3. Jesus was bodily resurrected from the

dead.

The Stolen Body Theory Who would have stolen the body?

• The Jews?• The Romans?• The disciples?

Could they have stolen the body?

Did they, in fact, steal the body?

The Swoon Theory

Beaten to the point of near death. No food or water for more than two

days. Crucified and died. Pierced with a sword. Separated blood and “water”

(plasma)

The Mass Hallucination Theory The women at the tomb. Peter and John. The twelve apostles, including

doubting Thomas. Many other appearances. Over 500 witnesses. Do hallucinations eat fish?

Genesis 22:1-12 Abraham received Isaac back from the dead on the third day. (Hebrews 11:17-19)

Jonah 1:7 Jonah was raised from the dead on the third day. (Matthew 11:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights….)

Prophecies of the Resurrection

Feast of Firstfruits. Lev 23:9-14

Jesus is the firstfruit from among the dead. His resurrection is a promise of ours. Colossians “the first fruit from the dead.”

Romans 6:2-7 If we have been united with him in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

Implications of the Resurrection:

Validates the claims of Jesus• John 11 I am the resurrection and the life

It confirms that we, too, will be resurrected.• 1 Peter 1:3-4

It confirms that there will be a judgment day.

Our doubts become much less significant.• What about…. Jesus was raised from the dead!

What Is Your Reasonable Response?

John 11:45-48 Either;• Put your faith in Jesus or• Radically reject him and all he stood for.

A Challenge:

Have Resurrection Faith.

Topics not touched on:

1. The origin of the universe.

2. The origin of life.

3. The origin of species; especially of humans.

4. The age of the earth.

www.evidenceforchristianity.org