Science and. Faith. An Evangelical Dialogue

Transcription

1 Science and Faith An Evangelical Dialogue

2 2000 Harry Lee Poe and Jimmy H. Davis All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, the Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977; used by permission. Quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Dewey Decimal Classification: 261 Subject Heading: RELIGION AND SCIENCE Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Poe, Harry Lee, Science and faith an evangelical dialogue / Harry L. Poe, Jimmy H. Davis. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN (pbk.) 1. Religion and science. I. Davis, Jimmy H., II. Title. BL P '5-dc

3 For Christine Menzel and Patrick Davis beloved wife and son of Jimmy Davis and Katie and Billy Poe the parents who taught Hal Poe to love creation and the Bible

4 CONTENTS Illustrations Preface Part I What Can We Know and How Do We Know It? 1. The Scientific Way of Knowing 3 2. The Religious Way of Knowing Dialogue on Knowledge 34 Part II: What Kind of Universe Exists? 4. Origin and Structure of the Universe The Created Universe Dialogue on the Cosmos 92 Part III: Where Did We Come From? 7. Origin of Life Made in the Image of God Dialogue on the Origin of Life 140 Part IV: What Can We Know with Certainty? 10. The Quantum World Contradiction and the Triune God Dialogue on Certainty 188 Part V: When Is Order Disorder? 13. Chaos Theory The Return of Christ Dialogue on Chaos Theory 229 Conclusion 239 Notes 247 Index 251 VB IX VI

5 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1.1 Boyle's Law: Experimental Data Boyle's Law: Plot of Pressure versus Volume Boyle's Law: Plot of Pressure versus Inverse of Volume Plato's Worldview Plato's Parable of the Cave Aristotle's Worldview The Human Spirit The Attributive Model of God The Relational Model of God-the Trinity The Ontological Model of God The Ptolemaic or Earth-Centered Model of the Universe The Copernican or Sun-Centered Model of the Universe The Elliptical Orbit of a Planet Around the Sun Illustration of the Parallax Phenomenon A Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram The Proposed Three-Planer System Around Upsilon Andromedae Types of Galaxies Doppler Effect Four Fundamental Forces Fundamental Particles History of the Universe Greek Philosophical Approaches to the World The Hebrew Cosmology 89 Vll

6 Vlll SCIENCE AND FAITH 5.3 Alternative Understandings of the Divine Life-Supporting"Coincidences" Concerning the Universe Life-Supporting "Coincidences" Concerning the Earth and the Sun Number of Species in Each Kingdom Classification of Domestic Dog Bohr Model of the Atom De Broglie's Wavelength for Electrons Probability Densities for Electron Positions around the Nucleus 164 loa Shapes of Atomic Orbitals Marbles Passing Through a Single Slit Wave Passing Through a Single Slit Marbles Passing Through Two Slits Waves Passing Through Two Slits Electron Single-Slit Experiment Comparison of Eastern and Monotheistic Religions Lorenz Attractor Fixed-Point Attractor for a Playground Swing Closed-Curve Attractor for a Pendulum Clock Example of a Fractal 209

7 PREFACE THIS BOOK REPRESENTS A DEPARTURE FROM MOST APPROACHES to science and religion. One sort of book by both scientific skeptics and religious people simply attacks the other position. Another approach, primarily by religious people, concedes the playing field to the other position. In writing this book, we have sought to take both science and the Bible seriously. Most books on science and religion are written to make the case for religion to the scientific skeptic, to prove the Bible to people who already believe the Bible, or to disprove the Bible to people who do not believe the Bible. This book is written primarily for Christian college students and their teachers who struggle with how to believe the Bible and accept modern scientific discoveries at the same time. 'The book follows a simple format. It examines five major issues for science in the twentieth century and the Christian doctrines that relate to the same issues. Each of the five sections includes a chapter with a scientific perspective, an Evangelical Christian perspective, and a dialogue in which the two perspectives interact. This process leads to the identification of points of dissonance and consonance in the science-and-faith dialogue. This book has had a long gestation period. We originally talked about writing a book together over lunch at the Subway Sandwich Shop at the corner of Oil Well Road and the 45 bypass in Jackson, Tennessee. Hal Poe had just joined Union University as dean of academic resources and information services. Jimmy Davis had just returned to the campus as director of institutional research after spending ten years as dean of Union's Memphis campus. Like most well-intentioned conversations, nothing came of it. Some months later we attended a conference on "Revisioning the Evangelical Mind" sponsored by the Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities at Wheaton College. There we met a IX

8 x SCIENCE AND FAITH representative of the John Templeton Foundation who made a presentation on the foundation's science-and-religion course program. The Templeton program became the catalyst for bringing our thoughts back to our Subway conversation. Davis is professor of chemistry and Poe is professor of Christian studies, both with an interest in the other's field, but because of our heavy administrative loads we only teach one or two courses a semester. We acknowledge our debt and appreciation to Sir John Templeton for providing the stimulus to stir our creative juices. In January 1998, we attended a workshop sponsored by the Templeton Foundation at St. Anne's College, Oxford. Professor Arthur Peacocke, director of the Ian Ramsey Center in Oxford, led an outstanding week of seminars and discussion groups that led us to rethink our approach. We did not adopt anyone else's approach, but we reconsidered what constituted the critical issues for our students. We received a Templeton Award for the course we taught during fall semester 1998, for which we are most grateful. During the summer of 1998, Hal Poe happened to be in Oxford again to lead a seminar on apologetics for the centenary celebration of the birth of C. S. Lewis sponsored by the C. S. Lewis Foundation. There he ran into Len Goss, an editor with Broadman & Holman, who expressed interest in a book on science and religion. It was a short step to organize the course material into this book. We deeply appreciate Len's help in guiding us throughout the proposal process and toward the completion of the manuscript. This book may seem more like a game of tag than a dialogue, because we have taken turns addressing subjects throughout the book. Yet, we could not have written the book apart from the conversation involved. We would never have written this kind of book alone. The conversation took place in class as well, as Poe frequently asked the questions which the students felt would be too dumb to ask. We discovered that our willingness to ask questions freed the students to express themselves in ways we found quite exciting. Because of the student discussion, the book has been enriched, and we wish to acknowledge the debt we owe to our students who taught us: Beth Arbuckle, Jennifer Holt, Kathy Lane, Lance Lee, Jennifer McDearman, Rachel Smothers, Chet Verner, Tiffany Warren, Lantana Wood, Thomas Young. Of invaluable assistance in helping us clarify our thoughts and deal with difficult issues were two colleagues who audited our

9 Preface Xl course. Kyle Hathcox, professor of physics, and Wayne Wofford, professor of biology, have come to represent for us the model of interdisciplinary dialogue that ought to take place regularly in an institution of higher learning. We also wish to thank those who have read all or parts of our manuscript: Kelvin Moore, David Ward, Christine Menzel, David Dockery, Mary Anne Poe, Wayne Wofford, Kyle Hathcox, and Charlotte Van den Bosch. Others who have discussed this book with us include John Brooke, Mike Smith, Joey Rosas, and Jim Buchholz. Suzanne Nadaskay has done a splendid job of preparing the manuscript. It would have been impossible to meet our deadline without her usual efficiency and attention to detail. We also thank Jonathan Gilette, who did the illustrations for the book. Finally, we could never have pursued this project without the support and encouragement of our wives and children. The writing of this book has taken time and energy that might have been spent with those we love. David Dockery, president of Union University, has allowed us the time to attend several conferences as we prepared to submit a course proposal to the Templeton Foundation and to write this book. His commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue and to the integration of faith and learning have created an atmosphere in which this kind of work can prosper. We have come to the issue of science and religion from different perspectives and life experiences. Poe came late to the issue, having avoided science for fear it might involve touching or smelling something unpleasant. All of that changed in seminary when he took a course on science and religion with Eric Rust, a larger-than-life British theologian and philosopher who came to theology from a career as a physicist at Oxford University. Further study in theology and philosophy with Richard Cunningham, Lewis Drummond, Dale Moody, and John Macquarrie stirred his interest in the nature of the conflict between science and religion. Study of the ancient Hebrew texts with J. J. Owens and Marvin Tate led him to a different understanding of the message of Scripture than is popularly assumed. Jimmy Davis has been engaged in relating science and faith for as long as he can remember. From the very beginning he has tried to take both science and faith seriously. When he was in the third grade, the space age began with the Soviet Union launching

10 Xll SCIENCE AND FAITH Sputnik. He remembers playground discussions about whether rockets had really gone into space. Everyone but him thought that they had not since the rockets could not get through a solid sky. He was the only one who had accepted the scientific explanation that the sky was just scattered light. Even at that early age, he was thrilled by the wonders opened to him by science. Being raised in a Christian home, he was also thrilled by discovering a personal God who had created the universe and who has an interest in him as an individual. By the fifth grade, he was beginning to wonder whether the scientific and biblical explanations of the universe were both correct. Would he have to choose between them? He remembers discussing this with his fifth-grade teacher. He cannot remember exactly what she said, but he does remember her saying that he could take both seriously-that science and faith complement each other. From that day forth he has been exploring both science and faith. To use a phrase of C. S. Lewis, he has been "surprised by the joy" each has given him. We acknowledge our debt to all of those on whose shoulders we stand and we assume responsibility for where we have fallen short. Harry L. Poe Jimmy H. Davis