A classroom speech for your enjoyment-Science and the Bible

Part of my engineering degree requires a public speech credit, and one of my speeches was an invitational of science and the Bible. This is very off topic and I just needed the video uploaded so I could show some friends/family/youth back home but since its online anyway I thought I might post it here.

I know this section is very slow but I'm posting this so that if you are ever challenged in your faith I might be able to help you out a bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93_wKNfYWW0

Thanks for watching.

EDIT: My class required pre-speech audience analysis as part of the test grade. My analysis contained questions that pretty much summed up, "Do you think the Bible is inconsisent with science?". Out of 16 students surveyed, 13 thought that the Bible did contradict science and was therefor rendered false and 3 believed it was not inconsistent. You may have heard my very last sentence requesting the audience to fill out the after audience analysis. After my speech the results had reversed, with 12-13 now claiming they thought the bible was consistent with science and 3-4 claiming that they still believed it could not be verified as truth and one stating that they still believed it to be inconsistent, but not in any of the ways I addressed (small victory!)

In conclusion, I am under the assumption that about 10 people changed their opinion of the Bible in a positive way during my speech.

 

Nice! I enjoy science and religion debates, gets you more open minded on both sides.

 

did you mean to say 4.54 billion years (aprox. age of earth) ?

 

It sure does, I learned a lot from my research though I thought I could defend pretty well before. I take pride in most of my atheist friends' and I's occasional friendly debates ending in a stalemate. I don't like to initiate things like that but I do seize the opportunity to "plant the seed".

Told you I made mistakes! Hopefully I don't get flamed too hard for that.

 

Planting the seed ... give them something to think about

Nice work

 

Thanks. I try to do that. I have a story to share now that I think about it.

During my first semester of college I was perplexed. I felt like I wasn't doing God's work well enough. I was doing so in ways such as trying to set a good Christian example, showing love and acceptance of things most people think Christianity is against (Homosexuality), listening to Christian music, praying, and all of that etc. However I felt like I wasn't going out and ministering to anybody. So I had been struggling with that and had asked God to send me somebody to do so with, or to reveal an opportunity to me. I had talked to two friends from high school about it during private lunches (I go to college with most of my friends from high school) just to get it out and it helped.

But then, my roommate and best friend from high school one day talked to me about our philosophy classes. He was Christian in high school and now was in the middle, where he didn't know what to believe. I had a Christian professor (Inferred, not told) and he had an atheist professor (Easily inferred, not blatantly told). I don't think I have to describe the different teaching styles and opinions, though, right?

So he would present to me the arguments from his professor and I would give pretty good counter arguments using analogies to secular life and I pointed out the double standards and inconsistencies with some atheist points of view, but I was careful not to bash them.

He would ask me how I knew my beliefs and how I felt God, and what my defense was to certain scientific/atheist points and I felt I held my ground exceptionally well. Near the end, he told me he simply did not see or feel God. I asked him, did you ever ask God to reveal himself to you? He replied no and that he just said the Lord's Prayer (Our Father) when he felt he needed to, and I told him how I prayed and to ask God to give him a sign, as I often do, and explained how God will not show up uninvited, referring to the painting where Jesus knocks on a door with no handle, inaccessible from the outside.

I ended the conversation with repeating my question, "Have you ever asked God to come into your heart?" And when he said no, I said "Well if you ever want God to reveal himself to you, I think you know where you should start." This sounds condescending in text format but I said it in a friendly way, and we both smiled and went to our rooms after talking about how much we enjoyed the conversation.

When he exited my room, I locked the door because I was overwhelmed with the realization that God had answered my prayer and had sent me someone to minister to and began to cry out of sheer amazement and didn't want him to know. And even though I knew I had not converted my friend, I planted a seed. I admitted in another conversation recently that I had locked the door and cried to explain how what it's like to feel God with you.

In the past semester (2nd) he confided in me that he no longer thought he believed in God, but was not sure. He considers himself Agnostic and feels that saying one knows there is no God is as wrong as saying one knows for a fact there is a God. I am disappointed to see him fall from the Way, and I even ask myself if I should have done a better job of talking to him, but I believe I did what I was meant to do and all will happen as God wills it in his own time.

To make a long story short, yes, plant the seed.

 

sub'd

 

Sub'd? Thanks!

 

Hello, OZ. Penny for your thoughts?

 

I was just watching your video , I'm about 1/2 way through

 

Okay, well I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think. I am about to edit the OP, everyone, for more information.

 

I'm confused, do you accept evolution as "most likely accurate" or do you believe in the biblical account of creation?

 

Sorry, I didn't see your post until now

I accept evolution as most likely accurate, and I believe in the Biblical account of creation. To say that the theory of evolution discredits the Biblical account of creation seems to me a bit of a close-minded point of view, no offense intended. I don't understand why certain scientific findings/theories are assumed to take the place of Biblical accounts when I see no such link. That, I think, is a good summary of the message of my speech.

I believe I addressed this about 3/4 into my speech, I mentioned that I believe evolution is linked to when Cain and his offspring were forever cursed for his transgressions against God. All the theory of evolution states is that there is a common link between man and primate, which we have not found. I believe this link could be Adam or another being in the early stage of human life.

However, let it be known that quite a few "findings" in favor of the evolutionary theory have been proven to be either fake or unsubstantiated. But simply for the errors of a few, I will not discredit the theory itself, for it stands with or without the proof, lack of, or false findings of men. The very same goes for the teachings of the Bible and the Christian faith.

My point is, if I were to discredit the theory of evolution simply because of what some certain men did, I would be no different than those who discredit Christianity or the Bible due to the ignorance/unknowing of certain Christians.

I think this quote from my speech is a nice summary as well.

 

So you think evolution jumped from early primates to the missing link Adam who was a man as we know today ?

 

I really like your point about the first 3 days-- this is one of the main points I have always made to people who try to analyze the bible in a completely literal perspective that god created the earth in less than a week.

The truth is there are many parts of life that are so miraculous that our human brains are simply incapable of understanding them based on the finite laws of physics that we have become accustomed to on Earth. With the big bang theory, nobody can explain where the two magical particles of dust came from, or what lies outside of outer space. For every "space" on earth, something lies outside of it. If you rely solely on science, the physics just don't add up. Until someone can actually prove with science how the universe was created instead of a "theory", our (Christians) claim is just as good as theirs (atheists). Nobody knows for sure the real answer, but that is why we have faith. Christians faith is challenged on a daily basis, but the bible never states that the path to righteousness is easy. One day we will find out the answer. If god wanted us all to know how we got here, we would understand by now-- but then, heaven wouldn't be a journey for the righteous and a test of courage.

If we are wrong, then oh well. If they are wrong, however...

 

What are the " two magical particles of dust " you are referring to ?

 

Are you familiar with the big bang theory? (The scientific theory, not the TV show.)

A major component of the Big Bang theory is that particles of matter/anti matter collided with each other, causing a chain of events that resulted in the universe as we know it today

 

All matter that exists today existed at the big bang , not just two magic particles

 

I'm sorry, we're not on the same page. Which part of my speech/my posts are you referring to? I stated my belief in the speech, and again in my last post how I believe evolution and creation can tie into each other, but nothing I have said should imply that the theory of evolution "jumped" from early primates to Adam as a man... That would be the reverse order of evolution.

In short, no, I don't think that. Do you remember me stating (both in post and in speech) the bit about Cain's offspring?

Pretty good points you have there. I actually use those when debating with my friends when we are in our dorms- I am on summer break right now.

I usually mention that if we were meant to know it all from the start, the Bible would be a lot bigger. Also, what is there to strive for? As humans we crave to push the limit of our knowledge and discover where we came from and what else is out there-perhaps not individually, but as a race. To write all of the points of the debates here would take an hour most likely.

And when you say that last bit about what happens if either Christians or Atheists are wrong, that is actually a piece of philosophy from a philosopher whom I can't recall the name of right now.

This is called the singularity. The first part of my speech covers this, when everything that existed now existed then in an immensely dense particle called the singularity, which slowly expanded over time.

Speaking of time-To those who argue that the world WAS made in 7 days because the Bible says so... Man created time, God is not constrained by it, not to mention the 3-4 translations the Bible has undergone. Usually when I say that, they say, "Well God even said it was 7 days." And to that, I say the same thing I've been saying... God is not obligated to reveal to us every truth. I also think that is a bit close minded to assume.

Now, if we were to talk about God's presence in life vs God's absence in life, which is where this debate always leads... That would be a long explanation.