religious and science debates Flashcards
what is the scientific method
the scientific method is the most popular method of attaining evidence or truth within the modern society and the scientific community.
this involves a cycle of:
1. observation (noticing something)
2.hypothesis ( coming up with an idea based on what you have observed)
3. experiment ( testing your hypothesis)
4. conclusion
define natural law
a scientific principle about how the world works. it is based on empirical evidence and believed to be constant and unbreakable.
define improbable
something that is unlikely to happen given past experience or scientific thinking based on evidence and reason
what is the gaia hypotheis
the gaia hypothesis rests on the idea of the self-sustaining nature of the various aspects of the natural world as functioning in such a way as making the world able to sustain itself. examples of such things include the current global temperature, seawater salinity and oxygen in the atmosphere
what are miracles
miracles are defined by Swimburne as being ‘impossible’ events that subvert how we expect natural law to work.
Aquinas classifies a miracle with different definitions, including events which could only happen when God moves outside the laws of nature. they are improbable and break natural law.
what does hume say about miracles
hume criticises account of miracles as he argues that they are never witnessed by sufficient people he would consider to have a sufficient sense.
he also argues that they are often witnessed by religious believers, whose accounts are considered t be biased and therefor less reliable
define cosmologies
cosmologies are theories about the creation of the world.
whats the most commonly accepted cosmology
big bang theory which posists that the universe began with a singular event from which the matter within the world was created and continues to expand in the universe
what is the cosmological constant
the cosmological constant is the density of the energy within the universe
what is the steady state theory
steady state theory means that the density of the matter in the world does not change as it is continually being created. the same density of matter in the universe will remain consistent
what is evolution
evolution is a theory which was posited by Charles Darwin. it posits that species underwent small genetic mutations which adapted them to their environments, eventually breeding these into the whole species. this is known as natural selection
which atheist argues for evolution
Richard Dawkins, who believes religion is harmful and no loner necessary as science has given sufficient explanation for the origin of the universe.
what is creationism
creationism is the idea that the accounts found in genesis 1-3 are literal.
what are the two types of creationists
old earth and young earth.
these Christians reject all scientific theories which do not support their creationist theories. not all Christians believe in a literal interpretation, as many accept evolution an believe that it is part of gods intelligent design of the world. they argue that the irreducible complexity of the design of the design of the world is impossible to be the result of chaos.
