Apparent age

• God created things in a mature, functional state.
• Apparent Age
• Romans 1:18-25

Difficulties with radiometric dating techniques

• More Conflicting Evidence from Evolutionary Dating Techniques
• New Findings Show Flags in Old-Earth Dating Methods
• Radioactive decay rates are not as constant as once thought. Solar weather seems to change the decay rate.
• How do we know the decay rates we have computed are accurate?

Soft tissues in dinosaur fossils

• Dinosaur Soft Tissue is Here to Stay
• Soft tissue has been found in dinosaur fossils, which should not be possible if the fossils are millions of years old.

Limitations in archaeology

• Dating in Archaeology: Challenges to Biblical Credibility

Obligatory mutualism

• Many plants and animals have symbiotic relationships such that they cannot survive without the other.
• This means that they must be created very close together or neither would survive. This causes problems for the idea of creation happening over millions of years.

ntroduction

• Matthew 5:20
• Acts 26:5
• Jesus is not saying, “do more of what they are doing.” He is saying, “do things differently than them.”
• We need to be on a different track than what the Pharisees were on.

Love the lost.

• Luke 18:9
• Luke 7:36-37 – Simon viewed the woman with contempt.

Love the truth.

• Matthew 12:1-8
• Matthew 12:9 – They were not for truth – they were simply against Jesus.
• Matthew 16:1
• Matthew 19:3; 22:15, 35, 41 – Their attitude was wrong!
• We must do something different than this and love truth.
• Luke 16:14-15
• John 11:48

Develop humility.

• Luke 14:7-11
• John 4:1-3 – Jesus left, possibly to avoid conflict with the Pharisees.
• John 7:31
• Am I humble enough to learn from whoever might be able to teach me?
• John 9:34

Be willing to change my mind.

• Luke 6:10
• John 9:16, 24; 10:20 – They didn’t know what they thought they knew!
• Christians should be open-minded and learn.
• My willingness to change my mind must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

Study God’s word instead of blindly keeping tradition.

• Mark 7:1-9
• John 9:22
• John 12:42
• John 3:1-2; 7:50-52 – Nicodemus was willing to be open-minded.
• We need to be honest and realize we might need to change.

Introduction

• The context of stop signs.
• Genesis 3
• 11 Things the Bible Bans, But You Do Anyway

God’s laws through the ages

• Genesis 1: Laws for patriarchs
  • Genesis 3:3; 6:14; 12
  • Genesis 18:19 – This was intended for Abraham and his family.
• Exodus 20: Law of Moses for Israel (Old Covenant)
  • Exodus 19:3-6
  • Exodus 20:3-17
  • Deuteronomy 5:3 – This covenant was between God and Israel.
  • This law was limited in applicability and in duration (Jeremiah 31:31).
• Prophets: Laws for Gentiles
  • Isaiah 13:1; 14:29; 15:1; 18:1; 19:1; 21:11, 13 – Messages for various particular nations.
• Period of transition: Jesus lived under the Old Covenant, taught the New Covenant
  • Matthew 5:17-18
  • Matthew 4:23
• Acts 2: Law of CHRIST for ALL (New Covenant)
  • Hebrews 1:1
  • Acts 2:36, 39
• Acts 10
  • Acts 10:34 – New Covenant opened up to all Gentiles. All nations are now under the same law.
  • John 12:48
  • Romans 1:16

Study each passage in its context to determine its relevance.

• Generally the New Testament is for us, the Old Testament is not.
  • But even that is an oversimplification.
• Not everything in the Old Testament is irrelevant.
• Not everything in the New Testament is an instruction for us.

Examples

• Are we commanded to be vegetarians?
  • Genesis 1:29
  • Genesis 9:3

Introduction

• Luke 9:23

Desire: “if anyone wishes to come after me”

• John 6:58-59, 66-69 – Many did not want to follow Jesus because of what He said. He taught controversial things, but would not alter the message for His audience. Any time truth is taught, some will be offended.
• Matthew 10:34-37 – Jesus wants to be first in our lives.
• Deuteronomy 6:5
• Matthew 22:37
• Do I wish to follow Jesus?

Denial: “he must deny himself”

• James 1:14-15, 26
• James 2:21
• James 3:2 – We must practice self-denial with our tongues.
• James 3:14
• James 4:10 – We must deny ourselves and be humble before God.

Duty: “and take up his cross daily”

• Mark 8:31-37
• This is something we’re doing on a daily basis in service to God.
• Am I doing my duty?

Discipleship: “and follow Me”

• Luke 18:21-23
• Luke 9:57-62 – We must not let excuses get in our way.
• John 10:27-28
• Am I following Jesus?

Introduction

• New Book: For This Scientist, Science Did Not Point to Atheism

Intelligibility

• The founders of modern science assumed the intelligibility of nature.
• “They believed that nature had been designed by the mind of a rational God.”

Contingency

• “They believed that God had many choices about how to make an orderly world.”

The fallibility of human reasoning

• “early scientists accepted a biblical understanding of the power and limits of the human mind”

The purpose of science

“O Thou who by the light of Nature movest in us the desire for the light of grace, so that by it thou mayest bring us over into the light of glory … be gracious and deign to bring about that these my demonstrations may be conducive to Thy glory and to the salvation of souls, and may in no way obstruct it.” – Johannes Kepler

Our purpose

• I Timothy 1:3-7

Can it make a difference?

• I Timothy 1:13-17

Tools for the toolbox

Spot the assertions

• ___ million / billion years ago …
• __ evolved from __

Spot the assumptions (i.e., unstated assertions)

• Differentiate between conclusions and evidence
• Popular science articles tend more toward conclusions
• Peer-reviewed journal articles tend more toward evidence
• Misrepresentations / strawman

Identify inconsistencies

Common logical fallacies

• Appeal to authority (“Science says,” “scientists say,” “evolutionists say”)
• Ad hominem (a religious person must be biased, intellectual insult, moral critique)
• Judging an idea by its supporters (crusades, “Christianity has resulted in more deaths than …”)
• Equivocation – changing meaning of words but reasoning as though you didn’t (“evolution”)
• Failure to equivocate (“works” in Romans 3, 4; Galatians 2; and James 2)

Stealing from God

• Moral condemnation of the God of the Bible
• Order in nature
• Supernatural action – breaking the observed laws of nature

Humility

• Acknowledge faults and our need for grace
• Be okay with ignorance – you don’t have to know everything to believe anything

Leverage your frustration

• Something is so wrong you can’t even find a hole in it?
• Your internal system telling you to check your assumptions.

Spot the god of the gaps

Recognize the limits of “science”

Practice article

• Materialism Matters: The Role of Philosophy in Science

What does God say about Himself?

• John 14:6
• John 11:25