Religious Studies 3370/3396 The Bible and Modern Science Fall 2011 Syllabus. Jane Pearce

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1 Religious Studies 3370/3396 The Bible and Modern Science Fall 2011 Syllabus Instructor: Professor Lynn E. Mitchell, Ph. D. Office: A. D. Bruce Religion Center, 113B Telephone: cc: Teaching Assistant: Jane Pearce Textbooks Reconciling the Bible and Science: A Primer on the Two Books of God Lynn Mitchell and Kirk Blackard (ISBN ) God & Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science Edited by David C. Linberg and Ronald L. Numbers (ISBN ) Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues Ian G. Barbour (ISBN ) The Meaning of Creation: Genesis and Modern Science Conrad Hyers (ISBN ) Scientific Creationism Edited by Henry M. Morris (ISBN ) Recommended The Babylonian Genesis Alexander Heidel (ISBN ) Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life Stephen Jay Gould (ISBN ) ing/viewing Assignments Viewing assignments for each week are listed below In his lectures, Dr. Mitchell will reference each of the textbooks. You are responsible for having these books and reading the referenced information in each book. Course Requirements You will need stable, reliable access to the Internet. You will need an address. You will need access to a computer with word processing capability in order to properly format your papers. Crisis Management If you encounter any problem or difficulty during this semester, we are here to help you. Please do not drop this course without speaking with my assistant or myself prior to doing so. We will work with you as much as we can. Please do not delay or wait if a problem does arise!

2 How the class will work GRADING STRUCTURE Quizzes (six total) 30% Reflection papers (six total) 30% List of terms 10% Final exam 30% LECTURES You have roughly 16 weeks to complete the course, and there are 29 lectures to watch (via You Tube). You MUST watch ALL of the lectures and TAKE NOTES on the lectures. Watching the lectures are in lieu of attending class; treat them as if you were sitting in a classroom, listening to the professor speak, and taking notes. The quiz questions come directly from the lectures, and the final exam comes directly from the lectures and quizzes. Here is the link to the You Tube lectures -> QUIZZES (30%) Every other week you will take a true/false quiz consisting of 5 questions each question is worth 1 point. The quiz questions will come straight from the lectures you watched the previous weeks. Be sure to take very good notes on the lectures! Please refer to the schedule below for quiz dates and corresponding lectures. Quizzes will be timed and you will have 30 minutes to take each quiz. They will be available Thursday through Sunday on the weeks they are due. For example, quiz one is available from 12:00pm (noon) Thursday, September 1 through Sunday, September 4 at 12:00pm (noon). You must complete quiz one by 12:00pm (noon) on September 4. Quiz grades will not be available to students until all students have submitted their quizzes. REFLECTION PAPERS (30%) You will turn in six reflection papers. For each paper you will write about any of the reading assignments for the two weeks prior. For example, reflection paper two can be written about one of the reading assignments from week four or five. Reflection paper three can be written about one of the reading assignments from week six or seven. In your paper, please write: 1) A summary of the reading 2) Something new you learned from the reading 3) Questions and thoughts that the chapter evoked You MUST answer all three of these questions and do so in a minimum of 500 words. All papers must be in 12 point Times New Roman font. Always include in your papers the title of the book, the title/chapter you read, and the page number. Points will be deducted if you do not include this information. You will upload your papers to turnitin.com via Blackboard.

3 LIST OF TERMS (10%) You will be given a list of terms and people that you will need to define and identify. You will have two+ months to complete this (the list will be posted to Blackboard by October 1), therefore it is expected that what you turn in will be perfect, fully complete, and accurate. If you copy/paste from Wikipedia or any other Internet sources, you will receive an automatic zero no exceptions. You will also upload this assignment to turnitin.com via Blackboard. FINAL EXAM (30%) You will take the final exam via Blackboard. The questions will be taken from the lectures and quizzes, so please take good lecture notes and study your quizzes! Your final exam will be available for a 24-hour period, from 12:00pm December 12 through 12:00pm December 13. You will have two hours to complete your exam once you click on the link. Other info to know The class discussion portion of Blackboard can be very useful. Please use it! But remember that the discussions will not be checked by Dr. Mitchell or the TA. If you have a question for Dr. Mitchell or the TA, do not post it in the discussion section. If you have a question, the TA at janeannepearce@gmail.com Please remember that this class is the scholarly study of religion. While all religious beliefs are respected, it is expected that students in this course will approach the topics from a scholarly perspective, rather than from personal beliefs. Please be mindful of this in your work. Course Schedule Week One: August What is the Bible? 2 What is Science? God & Nature: Introduction; William R. Shea Galileo and the Church Religion and Science: Chapters 4-6 Reconciling the Bible and Science: Introduction and Chapter 1 Week Two: August 29 September 4 3 Thesis and Premises 4 Relating Science and the Bible God & Nature: Science and the Early Church David C. Lindberg; Science and Theology in the Middle Ages Edward Grant; The Copernicans and the Churches Robert S. Westman; Catholicism and Early Modern Science William B. Ashworth, Jr. Quiz one: 1-4 Week Three: September The Medieval World Views God & Nature Reformation Theology and the Mechanistic Conception of Nature

4 Gary B. Deason; Puritanism, Separatism, and Science Charles Webster Reconciling the Bible and Science Chapter 2 Reflection paper one: ing from week one, two or three Week Four: September The Queen of the Sciences 7 The Bible and the Reformation Religion and Science Chapter 2 God & Nature The Rise of Science and the Decline of Orthodox Christianity Richard S. Westfall; Christianity and the Newtonian Worldview Margaret C. Jacob; Laplace and the Mechanistic Universe Roger Hahn; The Mechanistic Conception of Life Jacques Roger Reconciling the Bible and Science Chapter 3 Quiz two: 5-7 Week Five: September Protestant Theology and the Rise of Science 9 Theology, Philosophy, Science, and the Bible The Babylonian Genesis Chapters 1 & 2 The Meaning of Creation Prologue and Chapters 2-6 Reflection paper two: ing from week four or five Week Six: September 26 October 2 10 God of the Gaps 11 Adam and Gilgamesh The Babylonian Genesis Chapter 3 The Meaning of Creation Chapters 7 & 8 Scientific Creationism Forward and Chapter 1 Quiz three: 8-11 Week Seven: October Genesis and the Idea of History 13 What is Scientific Creationism? God & Nature The Creationists Ronald L. Numbers The Meaning of Creation Chapter 1 Scientific Creationism Chapters 4-6 Reconciling the Bible and Science Chapter 8 Reflection paper three: ing from week six or seven Week Eight: October Is Science in Scientific Creationism? 15 Scientific Creationism God & Nature The Shape and Meaning of Earth History Martin J. S. Rudwick; Geologists and Interpreters of Genesis in the Nineteenth Century James

5 R. Moore Quiz four: Week Nine: October Faith and Fact 17 Baconian Science Religion and Science Chapter 3 Scientific Creationism Chapter 7 Reconciling the Bible and Science Chapter 7 Reflection paper four: ings from week eight or nine Week Ten: October The Bible and Evolution 19 The Rise of Modern Science God and Nature Christianity and the Scientific Community in the Age of Darwin A. Hunter Dupree Religion and Science Chapter 8 Scientific Creationism Chapters 2 & 3 Reconciling the Bible and Science Chapter 4 Quiz five: Week Eleven: October 31 November 6 20 Darwin 21 The Rise of Fundamentalism Religion and Science Chapter 4 Scientific Creationism Chapter 8 God and Nature Protestant Theology and Natural Science in the Twentieth Century Keith E. Yandell Rocks of Ages Historical Reasons for Conflict ; Psychological Reasons for Conflict Reconciling the Bible and Science Chapter 5 Reflection paper five: ings from week ten or eleven Week Twelve: November The Great Debate 23 The Bible in the 20 th Century God and Nature Modern Physics and Christian Faith Erwin N. Hiebert Religion and Science Chapter 7 Reconciling the Bible and Science Chapter 6 Quiz six: Week Thirteen: November Biblical Interpretation 25 The God of Science Religion and Science Chapters 11 & 12

6 Reflection paper six: ings from week twelve or thirteen Week Fourteen: November HAPPY THANKSGIVING 26 The Bible, Science, and the U.S. Constitution 27 Student Debate No quizzes or papers! Enjoy! (Please note that questions taken from lectures WILL be on the final exam.) Week 15: November 28 December 4 28 Design Movement 29 Final Considerations, NOMA Religion and Science Chapters 9 & 10 Rocks of Ages The Problem Stated ; The Problem Resolved in Principle Reconciling the Bible and Science Chapter 10 and Part II, Chapters List of terms due 12:00pm December 2 Week 16 & 17: December 5 15 Final Exam Weeks Final Exam Available 12:00pm December 12 through 12:00pm December 13