Questions Categorized "Science"
The Science Questions address topics that are more technical than theological.
What is evolution?
Simply put, the term evolution means a change over time. For example, one might say that laptop computers have evolved over the past decade. But when biologists use the term, they refer to the entire history of life on Earth.
How is BioLogos different from Darwinism or Social Darwinism?
Darwinism is the scientific theory of evolution by natural selection. BioLogos accepts that evolution is true, and sees God as the author of this process. Social Darwinism is a misguided set of beliefs that applies evolutionary concepts to the social realm. BioLogos does not support Social Darwinism.
What is the proper relationship between science and religion?
Science and religion are sometimes thought to offer entirely separate bodies of knowledge. However, science is not the only source of factual statements, and religion does reach beyond the realm of values and morals.
Is there room in BioLogos to believe in miracles?
This response provides a simple answer to the question of miracles – namely, that BioLogos does not in any way remove the logical possibility of miracles. However, for the universe to behave in an apparently ordered fashion, such events must be rare.
What is a God-of-the-Gaps argument? Are fine-tuning and morality just new examples of this?
God-of-the-gaps arguments use gaps in scientific explanation as indicators – or even proof – of God’s action, and therefore of God’s existence. But the danger of using a God-of-the-gaps argument for the action – or even existence – of God is that it lacks the foresight of future scientific discoveries.
What is the “fine-tuning” of the universe, and how does it serve as a “pointer to God”?
Fine-tuning refers to the surprising precision of nature’s physical constants, and the beginning state of the Universe. To explain the present state of the universe, even the best scientific theories require that the physical constants of nature and the beginning state of the Universe have extremely precise values.
How are the ages of the Earth and universe calculated? How accurate are those figures?
Many different measurements have established that the Universe and the Earth are billions of years old. Using red shift, cosmic background radiation, and other methods, astronomers have determined the Universe to be 13.7 billion years old. Radiometric dating reveals the Earth to be 4.566 billion years old.
Who was Mitochondrial Eve? Who was Y-chromosome Adam? How do they relate to Genesis?
Through a concept known as coalescence, it is possible to trace human DNA sequences back to the one maternal ancestor. However, this does not mean that there was only one woman alive at that time. Careful measurements reveal that this woman, lived between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago.
Did evolution have to result in human beings?
Because evolution involves seemingly "random" mutations, it seems that the Earth could have been the home of a different assortment of creatures. But belief in a supernatural creator leaves the possibility that human beings were fully intended. An omniscient creator could also have created the Universe's natural laws so as to inevitably result in human beings.
Does thermodynamics disprove evolution?
A common argument against biological evolution is that the theory contradicts the second law of thermodynamics. The second law says that disorder, or entropy, always increases or stays the same over time – but evolution results in more complex life forms over time. However, this objection is grounded in a misunderstanding of the second law.
