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Section 2: Questions & Answers

Study Questions

Science, Religion, Creation, and Evolution

1. What is science?

1. Explain something of what science is by listing four things that scientists do.

2. If a theory is designed so that it is not possible to perform experiments or new observations which could prove it to be false, even if it were actually false, is it a scientific theory? Why or why not?

3. Are theories in philosophy and religion usually testable by scientific experiments?

2. Does science discover absolute knowledge and thus lead to absolute truth?

4. Can science discover absolute truth? Explain why or why not.

5. Why should no idea or theory in science be protected from criticism?

6. Is any scientific theory certain never to be proved false or in need of modification? Explain why or why not.

7. What is the central policy of the scientific method?

3. Do not scientists approach their work with a completely open mind, totally free of preconceived ideas?

8. What influences everything that human beings do, including science?

9. Does a scientist usually expect that new experiments will contradict what he already believes about the world?

10. If new experiments do contradict what a scientist believes about the world, should the scientist simply ignore the new results? Explain why or why not.

4. Is not evolution a science and therefore based upon fact, whereas creation is religious and therefore based upon "blind faith"?

11. What is the idea about the world which is behind the evolution explanation of how things began?

12. What is the idea about the world which is behind the creation explanation of how things began?

13. Why do some scientists believe that they should search only for naturalistic explanations of how things began?

14. Why are scientists who believe in God the Creator usually not interested in finding naturalistic explanations of how things began?

15. If a scientist is a believer in God the Creator, with what body of knowledge does he expect his research results to agree? Explain why.

16. If a scientist is a believer in a totally materialistic world, does he believe that there is a scientific explanation for everything? Why or why not?

17. Are evolution and creation both in a sense religious? Explain why or why not?

5. Can any theory about supposed processes of origins--for example, the beginning of life or the origin of the solar system--be tested in a way that might conclusively falsify the theory?

18. What are the characteristics of the historical sciences, such as geology and paleontology(study of fossils), which make them different from the experimental sciences, such as chemistry and physics?

19. What is meant by the assertion that the evidence for theories of origins is "circumstantial" evidence?

20. Is a theory of origins usually able to be tested by new experiments or observations? Explain why or why not.

21. Do you think theories of origins meet all of the requirements for a scientific theory? Why or why not?

6. How can one make a decision about creation and evolution?

22. In deciding between creation and evolution as the better explanation of the beginning of things, what are the main factors one should take into account?

23. What is the place of faith in deciding between evolution and creation?

24. Does a person who has faith in creation of all things by God need to feel "unscientific" if he gives his religious faith an important place in making his decision between evolution and creation? Why or why not?

7. But could not God have created everything by some evolutionary process? Perhaps He created the universe and then let evolution do the rest.

25. Does the modern theory of Darwinian evolution accepted by secular scientists allow for any purpose, plan, design or goal for evolution, that is, for any divine control or guidance?

26. How does the idea of "theistic evolution" contrast with this modern theory of Darwinian evolution?

27. Can a person logically accept both the idea of theistic evolution and the modern theory of Darwinian evolution?Why or why not?

28. What difficulties must be faced by one who espouses theistic evolution?

8. I thought Darwin proved the theory of evolution in his book, The Origin of Species.

29. What kind of language did Charles Darwin use in arguing for his concept of natural selection in Chapter 4 of Origin of Species?

30. What did entomologist W.R. Thompson criticize about Darwin's method of argument?

9. Has Christianity hindered the progress of science? Some people think so.

31. What ideas from biblical Christianity provided the basis for the development of modern science in Western Europe some five centuries ago?

32. Can you name several great scientists of the past who were also Bible-believing Christians?

33. The biblical concept of a created universe was the basis for modern science. Furthermore, Bible-believing Christians laid the foundation for much of modern science. Why is it, then, that, in spite of these facts, so many scientists and teachers of science believe that one cannot be true to science and at the same time believe in divine special creation?

34. What does philosopher of science, Sir Karl Popper, say about the connection of Darwinian evolution with scientific theories?

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