Questions for Reflection - "Conversations: Sharing Our Faith with a Skeptical World"
"Doesn't Science Disprove Christianity?"
Genesis 1:1–10; Matthew 6:25–33
- Are you more a "materialist" or an "immaterialist"? Rate from 1 to 10 (least to most real) the following:
The person sitting next to you _____
What you are sitting on _____
God _____
The headache you had last night ______
The woman (or man) of your dreams _____
The number 7 _____
Water _____
Love _____
The theory of relativity _____
Beauty _____
The color red _____
Your own body _____
Your soul _____ - What assumptions lie behind the question, "Doesn't science disprove Christianity?"
- What are some possible reasons a person might ask this question?
- What lessons can we learn from the history behind this question?
- Talk about how material and immaterial interplay in Genesis 1.
- How do you understand "evolution"? Discuss Keller's approach to this question.
- Discuss the biblical view of "truth" as "what is real". What are the implications for science and Christian faith?
- Read Matthew 6: 25-33. How does Jesus show balance of material and immaterial understanding of reality?
For further reading:
Tim Keller. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Dutton. Chapter 6.
Francis Collins. The Language of God. Free Press. 2006
John Polkinghorne. Belief in God in an Age of Science. Yale University Press. 1998.
Stephen Barr. Modern Physics and Ancient Faith. University of Notre Dame. 2003.
Website: American Scientific Affiliation
Prayer of Confession
Our Wise and Loving God,
You want us to know you in way humanly possible. Every day you show yourself. You gave us these minds to learn from you. You also gave us hearts to yearn for you. Forgive us for confusing the evidence. Forgive us for thinking you do not care. Meet us in this hour, and even in this moment as we pray in this silence in Jesus' name.
|
Westminster Presbyterian Church |