Science defined: “the state of knowing : knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding” – See I Corinthians 3:19 and Isaiah 55:8-9.

Our Questions today will be:

I.  How was the earth created?

A.  Is the Bible a creditable source of information?

II.  Did humans evolve from a one-celled ameba or did God create humans?

III.  Which takes “blind faith” – today’s science or believing the Bible?
 

I.  How did the Earth come into existence?
 

A.  Science says the “Big Bang Theory” (widely accepted among the scientific world, however not by all in the field):

“The Big Bang Theory is the currently accepted theory of the creation of the universe. It was cosmic explosion that occured approximately ten to twenty billion years ago which caused the universe (which was incredibly compact, dense, and hot) to expand. As the universe expanded, it cooled. However, for a long period of time (geologically speaking) temperatures were too hot to allow atomic nuclei to capture electrons. Photons made of light could travel only short distances before meeting these free electrons. When the temperature of the universe fell below 5000 kelvins (approximately 300 000 years after the Big Bang) atoms began to form. The free electrons bonded with the atoms allowing radiation to freely move through the universe. Thus, the universe became transparent to light. 

The theory is based on field equations, a type of mathematical equation, set forth in Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. (1915) A Russian physicist named Alexander Friedmann, Willem de Sitter from Holand, and Georges Lemaitre in Belgium solved these equations forming the basis of the Big Bang Theory. The universe described within Sitter's solutions to Einstein's field equations had no matter in it. The model was not bad considering the average density of the universe is actually quite low. This model, along with the other scientists' provided an explanation as to what happened after the Big Bang; however, they did not explain how the universe began. In the 1940's, George Garnow and a team of his students began working on the solutions to the field equations once again. They discovered that the universe was very hot at the time of the Big Bang because elements heavier than hydrogen can only be formed within these temperatures. Thus, they predicted that the radiation from the Big Bang should still exist. Finally, in the 1960's, microwave background radiation was discovered, adding further support to Garnow's theories. In 1929, Edwin Hubble supported the theory with his discovery that light from distant galaxies shifted towards the red end of the visible spectrum. This essentially proved that galaxies were, in fact, drifting away from each other gradually over time.” – Life Science Today; COPYRIGHT 1978; Adams Publishing Co.

B.  How we can know that God exists and that the Bible is a credible source of information

1.  Prophesies (the length of time between them being written and then being fulfilled in detail).

a.  Micah 5:2 (BC 737) fulfilled (737 years later) Matthew 2:1 
b.  Isaiah 53:3-12 (BC 685) fulfilled (about 718 years later) [the following scriptures are just some of the details outlined in Isaiah 53] Matthew 20:28, Matthew 27:12-14, and Matthew 27:35.
c.  Psalms 69:21 (around 600 BC) about 633 years later Matthew 27:34
d.  Psalms 22:18 (around 600 BC) about 633 years later Matthew 27:35.
e.  Zechariah 11:12 (BC 520) about 555 years later Matthew 26:15.
f.  Isaiah 9:1-2 (BC 685) about 715 years later Matthew 4:12-23.

A more detailed list of prophesies and their fulfilments see: http://www.wordsoftruth.net/otprophesychrist.htm

2.  Manuscripts

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the caves at Qumran, Israel, an ancient Essene community, now in ruins. The scrolls were found in 1947 and more in 1950, in multiple Qumran caves. To date there are approximately 35 scroll volumes of which only 15 are published. The original scrolls were dated by scholars back to 150 to 100 B.C., and consequently were thought to bear no correlation to the early Christian Church and Jesus Christ.  The Dead Sea Scrolls prove the accuracy of the transmission of the Bible.  In fact, in these scrolls discovered at Qumran in 1947, we have Old Testament manuscripts that date about a thousand years earlier (150 B.C.) than the other Old Testament manuscripts then in our possession (which dated to A.D. 900).

The significant thing is that when one compares the two sets of manuscripts, it is clear that they are essentially the same, with very few changes.

The fact that manuscripts separated by a thousand years are essentially the same indicates the incredible accuracy of the Old Testament's manuscript transmission.
A full copy of the Book of Isaiah was discovered at Qumran.  Even though the two copies of Isaiah discovered in Qumran Cave 1 near the Dead Sea in 1947 were a thousand years earlier than the oldest dated manuscript previously known (A.D. 980), they proved to be word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95 percent of the text.

The 5 percent of variation consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling."
From manuscript discoveries like the Dead Sea Scrolls, Christians have undeniable evidence that today's Old Testament Scripture, for all practical purposes, is exactly the same as it was when originally inspired by God and recorded in the Bible.

Combine this with the massive amount of manuscript evidence we have for the New Testament, and it is clear that the Christian Bible is a trustworthy and reliable book.

The Dead Sea Scrolls prove that the copyists of biblical manuscripts took great care in going about their work.  These works are on display in Washington D.C. at the Library of Congress.  Seeing that Isaiah was found in the scrolls and certified to be a copy before Christ was born, I have used several examples of prophesy from Isaiah above.

3.  The Bible and Science

a.  Science states that there are five fundamentals of science 

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Time (Beginning), Force (God), Action (Created), Space (the Heavens), and Matter (the Earth). 

4.  We have scientific foreknowledge in the scriptures: 

a.  Oceanography Fresh water springs in the ocean found in 1976 by the US Geological Survey Job 38:16 "Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?"
b.  In 1876 the Challenger Expedition found recessed (Channels) in the Ocean II Samuel 22:16 "And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, At the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils." 
c.  In 1690 Pierre Perrault and Edme Mariotte found water cycles that formed the rain from large bodies of water. THE BIBLE TELLS US THIS IS WHY THE SEA IS NOT FULL WITH ALL OF THE RIVERS THAT FLOW INTO IT. 
• Ecclesiastes 1:7 "All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again."
• Ecclesiastes 11:3 "If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be."
• Amos 9:6 "It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: the Lord is his name."
d.  MEDICINE The life of the flesh is in the blood was not found until the late 1800’s. Leviticus 17:11-14 
e.  In 1935 Prof. H. Dam realized that babies blood clot abilities (VIT. K) is best on the 8th day after birth. Genesis 17:12 "And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed." 
f.  Scientist found in the 1900’s that it takes a mans 23 chromosomes and the females 23 chromosomes to produce a child. Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
g.  ASTRONOMY The Earth is round was found by Christopher Columbus 1492 Isaiah 40:22 "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in."

C.  The Bible’s account of the creation of the universe.

1. Genesis chapters 1-2, Exodus 20:11, and Psalms 121:2
2.  Psalms 118:24 “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
3.  Hebrews 11:3 “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
4.  Psalms 115:15-16 “Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth.  The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.”
5.  Psalms 146:5-6 “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God: 6. Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever.”
6.  Proverbs 3:19-20 “The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.  By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.”
7.  Isaiah 42:5 “Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:”
8.  We serve the living God, the only God of creation, and all other God’s (including those men that man has set above as higher beings) will be cast down Jeremiah 10:10-15.

II.  Where Humans created or did we evolve?

A.  Darwinism (a big fairy tale – SEE CHART TITLED DARWIN) < Click on the link to see!

1.  The Darwin theory is that man evolved from a one-celled ameba through what is known as “genetic mutations”.  To further explain his “theory” he denotes the survival of the fittest thought.  This thought is that the weak die and the stronger go on and continue to exist.  The big question is what will humans evolve into?  For more on this theory see: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/origin.html

B.  God’s creation of mankind

1.  We are made in the image of God Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

III.  Which takes “blind faith” – believing science or believing in God?

A.  How does science form a “theory”?  (SEE CHART 1) < Click on the link to see!

1.  Has science followed it’s own pattern form forming theories in either the evolution of man and what Darwin says or the “Big Bang Theory”.

B.  Science says we came from apes (SEE CHARTS 2-3). <Click on the link to see!

1.  How do apes still exist if we evolved from apes?
2.  Do you visit your uncle Lou at the Pittsburgh Zoo?

C.  Science says we did not co-exist with Dinosaurs (SEE CHARTS 4-5). <Click on the link to see!

1.  How does Science explain human and Dinosaur footprints together?
2.  God says we co-existed Job 40:15-24
3.  Why isn’t the word “dinosaur” in the Bible? (SEE CHART 6)< Click on the link to see!

Psalms 53:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good."

Copyright 2002 by Brian Yeager may be reproducted for non-commercial purposes at no cost to others.