Religion and science

The Big Bang

The most commonly accepted theory

The first thing there was in the universe was a singularity of gas and particles of matter

This built up pressure within it until the pressure was too great for the singularity to contain

It exploaded, sending particles of matter shooting out in all directions

The force of this explosion together with gravity and the nuclear reactions between particles which created stars formed the planets and the galaxies

There is evidence to suggest that the outward force is not yet exhausted

The Big Bang is widely accepted and there is evidence proving scientists with knowledge of the event as far back as a fraction of a second after it

Universal views on The Big Bang

It is not universally accepted. critics say that..

What caused the singularity to exist in the first place?

Since only two elements were present at the time of the Big Bang where did we get all the others from?

An explosion like this may explain stars nd planets but not the beginnings of life

The Origins of Humanity

Even with our current scientific achievements we still dont know how life began

Some people say that we will find out one day

Other people say that it was God who created life

Although there is still the question of where the human race came from

The most widely accepted theory; 'The theory of Evolution'

Travelled to various places around the world and his studies led him to the conclusion that species had not always been as we see them

The theory that he produced then has been built on and developed

Evolution is the idea that over time random mutations occur within a given species

Some of these mutations make the individuals ith them more likely to survive

If they are more likely to survive they are also more likely to breed

Mutant genes are dominent and so will be passed onto the offspring

Overtime the whole population will come to carry this gene and it will become the norm

Then another mutation will occur and the whole process continues like this-Millions and millions of years

Charles Darwin; The theory of Evolution

Most people accept it as a fact

The fossil record is not complete enough to provide absolute proof for everything; e.g. the change to an opposable thumb in humans remains a mystery

People who reject evolution completely ask why, if we evolved from apes, there are still apes in the world

As with The Big Bang evolution is often cited as disproving God but again this does not have to be the case

Fundamentalism

Scientists can be fundamentalists as well as being religious believers

 Fundamentalists will reject others views entirely; they believe their view contains the complete and total truth and no change or interpritation is possible

 Fundamentalist scientists believe that theories such as the Big Bang theory and Evolution are the entire truth of what happened and anyone who believes otherwise is misguided

Therefore it is sometimes claimed that science disproves religion or atleast it will in the future

 Fundamentalists tend to be a small select group of people

Liberals

Take the view that their belief system contains truths but that these thruths may need interpreting and developing as things change

Agree that while all their theories can at least in part explain how all these things happened, they dont necceserially explain why

They may accept scientific evidence as correct and take it as proof that God did an amazing job when he created the universe- therefore it is possible to be religious and a believer in science

Take the view that the more scientific knowledge we have the more we find out about God

May believe hat one day scientific research will prove God's existance

Others may believe God is beyond proof but scientific study can help us appreciate God's creation for the amazing thing it is