RE: Teaching science/Christianity to middle schoolers

One must emphasize that science deals with the physical aspect of
reality and that there is a non-physical aspect that is the fundamental
ingredient of who we are. Reality, both the physical and the
non-physical aspect, can be approached and studied by human rationality
and consciousness. The latter are aspects of the non-physical. The
teaching of the Christian faith is both historical and theological. The
historical aspect is the most important and it is on the basis of faith
that we believe the content of the Gospels.

Moorad

-----Original Message-----
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of D. F. Siemens, Jr.
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 1:40 PM
To: jwburgeson@juno.com
Cc: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: Re: Teaching science/Christianity to middle schoolers

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 07:14:22 -0700 John W Burgeson <jwburgeson@juno.com>
writes:
> 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
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> 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
>
snip
Three comments to go with those of others. First, logic is a tool, not a
source of truth, except that which is empirically empty. Formal logic
and
mathematics tell us nothing about the world, but may be applied to all
empirical situations if properly interpreted. For example, 1 liter plus
1
liter equals 2 liters, unless it's something like water and ethanol,
where the molecules slide into a more complex framework. Then there are
little matters like Goedel.

Second, God as the source of all truth either applies to science and
"reason" as well as to revelation, or we are thoroughly limited as to
what may be true. Would you care to farm with no more information than
is
found in scripture? run a company? e-mail? etc. ad inf.

Third, because revelation requires interpretation and pure observation
tells us virtually nothing (e.g., that this poke in the nose produced
blood does not tell me that another will also), and reason is involved
in
interpretation, generalization and theory construction, a sharp division
is not adequate. Further, empirical fact and revealed doctrine
interact--consider ancient and modern cosmology.

Simplifying things to communicate to a younger audience without
misleading too far is a challenge. I wish you the best.
Dave
Received on Tue Mar 23 14:05:03 2004