practical applications for teaching science from a

biblical perspective(or patsfbp!)

mark ritterreasons to believeswordandspirit.com

reasons to believe and sword&spirit ministries present

overview

purposeme me mespecific exampleslingo,attitudes,ideassummary

multi-purpose building

it’s for these kids:

Christian kidsso they can have a more Rock-solid foundation and not fear science, and…

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

= win/win situation

me me me

experiencebeingdisconnected :(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

anything anthropicgoldilocksbig bangmr flatcopernicuschem/bioelementary

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

the ultrathin outer layer

of our planet - the

crust - is just the perfect

thickness…

any thicker, it doesn’t move, and we end up with no continents, just oceansany thinner, we have continuous destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity

our mass is just enough to keep this thin layer of gases above us

any more mass ( more gravity)any more mass ( more gravity)means a heavier, more destructive means a heavier, more destructive atmosphere with more deadly gases atmosphere with more deadly gases staying herestaying here

less mass (less gravity)less mass (less gravity)and we can’t hold onto oxygen and and we can’t hold onto oxygen and other life-support gasesother life-support gases

our atmosphere is 20% oxygenour atmosphere is 20% oxygen

any less?humans aren’t hereany more?everything burns alot faster, and ourbodies age quicker

the thin invisible ozone layer keeps us alive by absorbing nasty radiation from spaceless ozoneand we roast in uv lightfrom the sunany moreand we don’t getenough of the sun’slife-giving energythrough to thesurface

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

any less,we freeze,plants chokeany more,we fry in arunawaygreenhouseeffect

lightning strikes once a second on this planet

more often?too many firesless often?not enoughnitrogen wouldget “fixed”into a formusefulfor life

the Moon has slowed us,kept us steady,given us tides,stabilized our orbit

without it, life couldnot existits whole creation storyis a thing of amazingwonder in itself…

creation of the moonvery early on, a Mars-sized planet struck “Earth1” at exactly the right angle and velocity to shear off our crust, strip off our heavy atmosphere, give us a thicker core and more radioactive material, and provide us with a life-sustaining Moon

Venus, closer to the sun, has...

an atmosphere so heavy with carbon dioxide it’s like being under a

kilometer of watera 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 or plate tectonics, 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 perfectage,

mass,brightness,

& generationfor 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

tempfor 4 billion years

our sun is a bachelor, a single star - most stars have at least one other companion.of course, having no star means 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 we live in the perfect perfect typetype of of

galaxygalaxy for life, too, - the for life, too, - the spiralspiral..

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…

copernicus & family

the revolution that changed the ways of astronomy can be used to discuss philosophy & theology(e.g. myth that center of universe = good, aristotelian influence, frame of reference, “the Bible is all wrong,” etc.)

big bangthe big bang implies a beginning

a beginning

implies a Beginnera discussion of the philosophical implications follows

mr flat & family

extra-dimensions can give them the Big(ger) Picture and subtly introduce the transcendence of God

[demo Mr Flat]

chemistry connections

water: the perfect molecule shape all states exist 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 discussionspurpose of mass extinctionsend of the universe!other intelligent life?UFOs?origin of life?Cambrian explosionpurpose to lima beans?

elementary, my dear!

one can emphasize things at the elementary level as well!

the attributes of dinosaurs(Design-o-saur)the water cycle

seasons…

elementary, my dear!

body systemsthe lives of plantsastronomy (duh!)they may not make the God connection now but your excitement and insight will have a great positive effect

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 themwith opposing

interpretations of the facts (!) often kicks this door wide

open

suggested lingo

clearly distinguish interpretationsand factsuse “designed” or “created” or “changed through time” insteadof ______try to avoid calling evolutionists “hell-bound scumsuckers”

suggested growth

subscribe to a science journal!read sci-bi books!listen to radio programslisten to your MOM!

share ideas and insight 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 growth

suggested attitude

learn to: lose the fear passionately love the creation

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

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

remember: the truth, in the truth, in lovelovetrust God

summarysummary

celebratecelebrate all parts of the all parts of the creation in your class through a creation in your class through a variety of methodsvariety of methods

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

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