Teaching science/Christianity to middle schoolers

I've been asked to speak to Middle Schoolers at our church in a couple
weeks on "creation/evolution." This age group scares me! <G>

Last week they were given by the teacher the following outline on the
subject. Any comments? I do not wish to be confrontational. But a couple
of the statements don't seem quite right.

Burgy
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Origin of Life, the Universe and Everything

When these 3 sources of evidence agree perfectly you can be 99% sure of
yourself!
        Observation (scientific method)
        Revelation (Scripture)
        Reason (logic)

Assumptions behind Revelation:
        God is the source of all truth
        Scripture is the Word of God
        Truth exists, even if we don’t know what it is

Assumptions behind Science:
        Matter is real
        Cause and effect are connected
        Effects can be observed and causes can be deduced
        Identical conditions will produce identical results (repeatability)

Assumptions behind Reason:
        There is a difference between truth and untruth
        There is a difference between real and unreal

What factors affect a Christian’s view of origins?
        Degree of literalness in interpreting Scripture
        Degree of understanding of the scientific process
        Ability to reason and use logic

The range of beliefs about origins:
1. Everything was created in six 24-hour days
2. God created basic animal types and man in six ages or periods of time
3. God guided evolution by using mutations
4. God created the primordial soup from which life sprung
5. There is no creator and no creation. What exists has always existed.

Difficulties in arriving at truth:
        Past history is not directly observable
        Geologic and fossil records are discontinuous
        Both scientists and theologians come to the discussion with many
assumptions
        Almost all mutations are harmful—was this always the case?
        Dating methods produce inconsistent results

Do you have to know the answers to these dilemmas in order to be a child
of God, loved and cherished by Him, forever safe in His care? NO! So
don’t be afraid of your own questions. Use all the brains God gave you
and explore His glorious universe.

This outline is gratefully adapted from material by Harold Steinhoff,
retired biology professor, Fort Lewis College. yg

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Received on Tue Mar 23 09:15:02 2004