Science and the Bible
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Science and the Bible Robert M. Bowman Jr., Instructor Course Description A course surveying the issues and major views in contemporary controversies focusing on science—Bible issues, especially creation and evolution. Course Schedule Enter schedule for your venue here. Assigned and Recommended Readings Students will want to study carefully the assigned pages from the instructor’s course handout, Science and the Bible: Outlines and Notes, available free from The Theology Program. Students will also be assigned readings accessible free online representing varying perspectives on science and its relation to the Bible and Christian theology, on the assumption that students should be directly familiar with primary sources representing these perspectives. Inclusion of these readings in the curriculum does not, then, imply any endorsement of the views those readings express. See the detailed schedule below for a list of all these readings. Students are encouraged but not required to read one or more introductory books on science— Bible issues. Any of the following would be a very good choice: Carlson, Richard F., ed. Science and Christianity: Four Views. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000. Collins, C. John. Science & Faith: Friends or Foes? Wheaton: Crossway, 2003. Davis, John Jefferson. Frontiers of Science and Faith: Examining Questions from the Big Bang to the End of the Universe. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002. Moreland, J. P., ed. Three Views on Creation and Evolution. Counterpoints series. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999. Poe, Harry L., and Jimmy H. Davis. Science and Faith: An Evangelical Dialogue. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2000. Honors Reading: Any of the books listed above or elsewhere in this syllabus are acceptable for those doing honors reading. In general, online articles are not acceptable for honors reading. Bowman/Science and the Bible: Course Syllabus—page 2 Course Assignments 1. Complete all assigned readings as listed in the schedule that follows below. 2. Quizzes: There will be three quizzes, one following the third class, one following the sixth class, and one following the last class. Once the student looks at the quiz, he or she must take the quiz. In other words, you cannot look at the quiz and then study the terms. A study guide is provided below (following the course schedule; see below, page 12) with the terms and names you should know. Only very basic questions about the persons listed will appear on the quiz. Class Schedule Date Topic History of Science Revelation and the Philosophy of Science Creation, Evolution, and God Genesis 1-3 and Creation Genesis and the Age of Creation Genesis 4-9 and Early Human History Physical Sciences and Creation Biological Science and Creation Human Sciences and Creation Class Lecture and Discussion Format In each class session, the instructor will lecture for approximately one hour, after which will be a discussion/Q&A period of about half an hour. Priority will be given in this discussion period to those individuals who are formally enrolled in the course. Please keep in mind that many of the issues discussed in this course are controversial. We welcome and encourage those with viewpoints differing from the instructor to ask questions or make comments, but to do so in a way that is not contentious or inflammatory. Bowman/Science and the Bible: Course Syllabus—page 3 Week 1 History of Science Topic to be covered: Christianity’s influence on science Origins of modern science Myths about science and religion Assigned readings: Kobe, Donald H. “Luther and Science.” http://www.leaderu.com/science/kobe.html. Larsen, Timothy. “‘War Is Over, If You Want It’: Beyond the Conflict between Faith and Science.” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 60, 3 (Sept. 2008): 147-55. http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2008/PSCF9-08Larsen.pdf. Schaefer, Henry F., III. “Scientists and Their Gods.” http://leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scientists.html. Recommended online readings: Bergman, Jerry. “The Flat Earth Myth and Creationism.” Journal of Creation 22, 2 (2008): 114- 20. http://creation.com/images/pdfs/tj/j22_2/j22_2_114-120.pdf. Boa, Kenneth D., and Robert M. Bowman Jr. “The Evolution Revolution: Naturalism and the Question of Origins.” Chapter 1 in An Unchanging Faith in a Changing World: Understanding and Responding to Critical Issues That Christians Face Today. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997. Online: http://www.kenboa.org/text_resources/free_articles/5401. Bumbulis, Michael. “Christianity and the Birth of Science.” http://www.ldolphin.org/bumbulis/. Iannone, Carol. “The Truth about Inherit the Wind.” http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9702/articles/iannone.html. Machamer, Peter. “Galileo Galilei.” In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [online]. Rev. May 21, 2009. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/galileo/. A few recommended books: Ferris, Timothy. Coming of Age in the Milky Way. New York: William Morrow, 1968; updated ed., New York: Harper Perennial, 2003. History of science focusing on astronomy and cosmology. Larson, Edward J. Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate over Science and Religion. New York: Basic Books, 1997; new afterword by the author, 2006. Pulitzer Prize-winning account that seeks to correct the Inherit the Wind mythology and put the Scopes trial in historical and cultural context while remaining even-handed. Numbers, Ronald L., ed. Galileo Goes to Jail: And Other Myths about Science and Religion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009. Interesting collection of essays, including several by well-known authors, on the history of science and religion. Week 2 Revelation and the Philosophy of Science Bowman/Science and the Bible: Course Syllabus—page 4 Topics to be covered: General and special revelation Relationship between general revelation and science Models for relating theology and science Realist and nonrealist philosophies of science “Revolutions” in science: How science changes Assigned readings: Bowman, Robert M., Jr. Science and the Bible: Outlines and Notes (2009), p. 5. Bube, Richard H. “The Relationship between Scientific and Theological Descriptions.” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 38 (1986): 154-63. http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1986/PSCF9-86Bube.html. Kulikovsky, Andrew S. “Scripture and General Revelation.” Journal of Creation 19, 2 (2005): 23-28. http://creation.com/scripture-and-general-revelation. Recommended readings: Hutchinson, Ian W. “Warfare and Wedlock: Redeeming the Faith—Science Relationship.” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 59, 2 (June 2007): 91-101. http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2007/PSCF6-07Hutchinson.pdf. Swanson, Dennis M. “Extra-Biblical Evidence, General Revelation, and Scripture: A Response to Davis A. Young’s The Biblical Flood.” http://www.narnia3.com/articles/bibflood.pdf. A few recommended books: Boa, Kenneth D., and Robert M. Bowman, Jr. Faith Has Its Reasons: An Integrative Approach to Defending Christianity. 2d ed., Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster, 2006. Analyzes four major approaches to Christian apologetics; relates each approach to four ways of understanding science from a Christian perspective (see pp. 98-102, 192-94, 296-302, 404-407, 517-18). Carlson, Richard F., ed. Science and Christianity: Four Views. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000. Moreland, J. P. Christianity and the Nature of Science: A Philosophical Investigation. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989. An absolute must for those wishing to pursue the philosophy of science in depth; argues for an eclectic realism. Bowman/Science and the Bible: Course Syllabus—page 5 Week 3 Creation, Evolution, and God Topics to be covered: Young-earth creationism Old-earth creationism Theistic evolution Pantheistic (and panentheistic) evolution Atheistic evolution Naturalism: metaphysic, method, or mistake? Assigned readings: American Scientific Affiliation. Commission on Creation. Aug. 2000. http://www.asa3.org/ASA/topics/Evolution/commission_on_creation.html. Bowman, Robert M., Jr. Science and the Bible: Outlines and Notes (2009), pp. 2-3, 17-20. Scott, Eugenie C. “The Creation/Evolution Continuum.” Dec. 7, 2000. http://ncseweb.org/creationism/general/creationevolution-continuum. Recommended readings: Martin, Steve. “The NCSE Creationism-Evolution Continuum: It is Time for a New Model.” An Evangelical Dialogue on Evolution [blog], May 18, 2009. http://evanevodialogue.blogspot.com/2009/05/ncse-creationism-evolution-continuum- it.html. In contrast to the complex NCSE continuum of views, Martin proposes a simpler three-view typology (evolutionary creation, non-evolutionary creation, and materialistic evolution). Plantinga, Alvin J. “Methodological Naturalism?” In 2 parts. Origins & Design 18.1 and 18.2 (1997). http://www.arn.org/docs/odesign/od181/methnat181.htm and http://www.arn.org/docs/odesign/od182/methnat182.htm. A few recommended books: Craig, William Lane, and J. P. Moreland. Naturalism: A Critical Analysis. Routledge Studies in Twentieth Century Philosophy. London and New York: Routledge, 2000. For advanced students with some background in philosophy. Moreland, J. P., ed. Three Views on Creation and Evolution. Counterpoints series. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999. Essays defending young-earth creationism (Paul Nelson and John Mark Reynolds), old-earth or progressive creationism (Robert C. Newman), and theistic evolution (Howard J. Van Till), with responses from Walter L. Bradley (a scientist), John Jefferson Davis (a systematic theologian), J. P. Moreland (a philosopher),