Session 1 of the Life's Big Questions series at Above Bar Church, Southampton (www.abovebarchurch.org.uk).

1. How does the
Bible Correspond
With Science?

2. ‘‘
’’
He set the earth on its found-ations,
so that it should never be
moved.
Psalm 104:5

3. 1
All Christians
believe that God is
the creator . . .

4. . . . but we don’t all
agree on what that
means
1

5. ‘‘
’’
No Christian would dare say that
the narrative must not be take in a
figurative sense.
Augustine
(AD 391)

6. Young Earth
Special
Creationists
Old Earth
Special
Creationists
Evolutionary
Creationists
Young
Earth
Old
Earth
Creation through miracle
Creation through process

7. Controversy divides
Christians
and alienates
everyone else

8. 2
Evolution stops some
people taking the
Bible seriously . . .

9. . . . but special
creation stops others
taking the Bible
seriously
2

10. ‘‘
’’
Evolution is one of the big
stumbling blocks to people today
being receptive to the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis

11. ‘‘
’’
I’ve seen too many students
who’ve had their faith wrecked . . .
[because] people have said to
them, ‘Unless you toe this line,
you’re not truly a Christian.’ . . .

12. ‘‘
’’
. . . Then when they have found
that the scientific evidence they’re
faced with means they cannot toe
that line, they can often flip over
into a rebellion against their
background and that often means
a rebellion against God and
Christianity. That’s tragic.
Ernest Lucas

13. 3
There are good
reasons for believing
special creation . . .

14. 3
. . . but there are good
reasons for believing
evolutionary creation

15. ‘‘
’’
My whole life has been guided by
the principle of Plato’s Socrates:
Follow the evidence, wherever it
leads.
Antony Flew, former atheist
philosopher

16. Where does the evidence lead?
• Fine-tuning of the universe
• Unique positioning of Earth
• Fine-tuning of chemistry for life
• Extraordinary complexity of DNA and
protein-building mechanisms

17. If the rate of expansion
of the universe one
second after the Big
bang was smaller by 1
part in 100,000,000,
000,000,000, it would
have re-collapsed into
a hot fireball.
Stephen Hawking
© NASA. Used by permission

18. 1
1,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000

19. shooting

20. Odds against the
initial conditions
being suitable for
star formation: 1
followed by a
thousand billion
billion zeroes at
least
Paul Davies
© Ars Electronica, used under a Creative Commons licence

21. Even if there is only
one unique set of
possible laws, it is
only a set of
equations. What is it
that breathes fire
into the equations
and makes a
universe for them to
govern? . . .
© NASA. Used by permission

22. . . . Although
science may solve
the problem of how
the universe began,
it cannot answer the
question: Why does
the universe bother
to exist? I don’t
know the answer to
that.
Stephen Hawking
© NASA. Used by permission

23. ‘‘
’’
The amazing complexity of even
the simplest cell; the information-bearing
properties of DNA; the
exquisite fine-tuning of the laws
and constants of physics that
make organic life possible . . .

24. ‘‘
’’
. . . these signs of intelligence do
not compel our belief in a God
who thundered from Mount Sinai,
lay in a manger or hung from a
cross . . .

25. ‘‘
’’
. . . But the evidence does have
metaphysical implications,
drawing us to a still place of
wonder where such notions can
be reasonably entertained.
Jonathan Witt

26. We need to focus on
the Bible’s primary
purpose
4

27. Science Bible
HOW? WHY?

28. Understanding
Genesis
Genre
Context
History

29. Five perspectives
• Literal approach
• Gap Theory
• Days = Ages
• Days of Revelation
• Days = Literary structure

30. The issue is not belief,
but interpretation

31. We must respect those with
whom we disagree

32. The message of
Genesis 1-3

33. God is the creator of
everything

34. There is only one God

35. The world reflects its creator

36. God is the law-giver

37. Humans are God’s
image-bearers

38. Animal?

39. Machine?

40. We are machines built by
DNA whose purpose is to
make more copies of the
same DNA . . . That is
exactly what we are here
for. We are machines for
propagating DNA . . . It is
every living object’s sole
reason for living.
Richard Dawkins

41. made in God’s image?

42. Human beings are rebels
against God

43. www.tonywatkins.uk
twitter.com/tonywatkins_
facebook.com/TonyWatkinsPage