Christian Apologetics| Lecture 6 : BC212-CA-20260828

Okay, good morning everyone. Morning and welcome to uh today's class. Let's pray and let's begin. And uh would any of our online students want to lead out in prayer today? >> My voice is not clear. What? >> Ma'am, your voice is not clear. >> Okay, we'll just check. Yes. All right, students. Is it better now? Are you able to hear me? Okay. No, ma'am. Same. >> Oh, there's a slight echoma. [clears throat] Check check check check like that. Okay. Check. Check. Testing. Is it better online students? >> Yeah, it's better now. Yeah, it's better now. >> Fixed. Okay. Great. Thank you. Thank you everyone. Yes. Now, let's pray and let's start. Uh, who would like to pray from the online batch? Yeah, I'll pray. >> Yeah, son. Go ahead. >> Father, we come in your presence. I commit this time and class unto your hands, oh Lord. As we read, listen and grow. Help us to uh increase in knowledge, enlighten our understanding. Uh bless ma'am and all the students in the class. Lord, help us to go from strength to strength. We thank you and we glorify you in Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. Yeah. Thank you uh Sam. Thank you for leading out in prayer. Okay. Yeah. Sorry. Today we had some technical challenges. Uh if one of the online students can please say something. We'll just test whether your voice is Hi ma'am. Praise the Lord. >> Oh yes. Yes. Ma, thank you. Praise the Lord. We can hear you. Yeah. Okay. So, back to what we were uh learning. We have been um uh discussing several questions and uh u do you recall what we spoke about the last class? One second. >> Yeah. About faith and science. And uh one uh one thought that we uh discussed was that being interested in science doesn't mean that we are opposing our faith. So we can do both and we've seen that there are many scientists who have a grounding in their faith and we went on to speak about how it is God who helps us discover new things and he teaches us new things. You remember from Isaiah 28, we saw how even in farming, God taught the people how to deal with each crop. And that is so wonderful. We know that God has uh given us a testimony or a revelation of his nature uh in all of creation. So that's something we were discussing. So before we go further in uh chapter 3 that we are looking at, I just thought I'll show you a few uh images Okay. So, you probably are able to see it now. What is this? Yeah. The human brain, right? So, when we look at the composition of the human brain, we see that it is um made up mainly of fat. So 60% of it is just fat and uh 25% is uh cholesterol but when you look at the way those molecules have been put together we notice at least 86 billion neurons and th those are the basic uh structures of the brain part of the tissue and uh you would notice that There are thousands of connection that one neuron makes with other neurons. And it is so intricately and beautifully designed that there are several electrical um signals that go through it, right? And there's such a quick response like if you were to uh touch something dangerous or look at something which which is uh uh harmful for you uh you can immediately your your brain will immediately respond. You would want to run away or you you would want to take your hands off of that fire. So you see how quickly the brain responds. So later on we we will look at the argument that says that uh everything that exists came from nothing right but even if you look at just the human brain it's it's pointing towards intelligent very very intelligently thought out wise and powerful creation and we have seen earlier that the Bible introduces us to a god who is the one who is able to compress time uh power and wisdom to come up with something like this and we are using the brain every day but we don't think about it but it's a fascinating organ I just shared a few few uh facts about it but there are so many more that we can talk about so yeah what is the second one here yeah the eye. So the human eye uh it is said that it can perceive up to 10 million different colors. It can distinguish between so many colors. Uh and it has a resolution of something like 576 megapixels. Your um ordinary phones like your normal phones that people use use less than that. Right? But the eye itself has uh that kind of a resolution and the way information is passed from the eye to the brain is super quick like 13 milliseconds. As soon as the eye sees the signal goes to the brain and the and the person responds. So you see how beautifully these organs of ours have been designed and it again brings your thought back to the creator like how Romans 1:20 says his invisible attributes are clearly seen in creation. So what the word of God is telling us is very real and it is before us. So that that was a little bit about the human brain. Now let's look at something else. What is this? Yeah, it's the uh it's a DNA u you know it's a chromosome right? So we don't get into all the technicalities but a chromosome is a building block uh of our genetic information. So it is said that just one chromosome carries trillion or uh let's put it this way it carries 20 billion bits of information. So in layman's language this would mean generating books. Uh and how many books? 4,000 volumes of books from one chromosome. Information in one chromosome. So you can imagine how well the information is packed into a micro molecule. We can't even look at it. Like you have to use gadgets to go that um uh minute to view it and understand it. But it's it contains information as much as 4,000 volumes of books. So all of these things are just reiterating the invisible attributes of God are clearly seen in what he has created. Uh now uh another aspect is that a chromosome it's a threadlike structure. We could even you know talk about how long it is. If you were to uh unwind the uh the chromosome, it's a long structure but it is packed together in a in a particular shape. So apparently there are proteins called as histones that hold it in place so that it can be packed up. Don't you think that is also very wise? Yeah. So how is it that all of this is a is a big accident or a chance or from nowhere from nothing without anyone uh making all of this these things came into existence right so uh it it really uh is a question that comes to our mind now let's look at a few more pictures before we get back into our discussion so the last class I had mentioned about flight. So, how did the early uh inventors even consider putting man in flight? They were inspired by the wings of birds. So they had to look at the physics of how the wings uh deal with the air and uh the wind and kind of trans transfer those calculations and see if they can come up with uh some vessel that can do the same thing. And lo and behold now we have you know airplanes which are uh a very very complex and evolved form of uh device used for flight. So that again inspired by creation. Now there is there is um a seed that you can see here in our uh uh images. This is found in nature. So basically this seed has u you know pin-like extensions that kind of go and stick to cloth or any other object. So, you all know Velcro, what we used to just stick maybe close our bags or our shoes, we just use it, right? Velcro. Uh, Velcro was inspired by the seed, the covering of the seed. So, people are using the wisdom that already exists and applying it in day-to-day life and creating new things, but it's already there. And uh we as believers understand that God is the one who has created it that way. And finally what I mentioned earlier also about the bullet train where uh it is designed such that it mimics the uh head and beak of the king fisher and that enables it to cut through wind quickly and uh maintain its uh fast pace. So just a few inspiring thoughts here. You can look up there are many more. I just thought I'll show some of them. Now we are coming back to our uh discussion. Okay. So it's okay to be scientific and uh uh God wants us to get to the depths of all that he has created. But we also said that there are certain things that we cannot understand because those are secret things and the secret things belong to God and no matter how much man tries or even if man wants maybe we'll not be able to get the answers but in those uh matters we should be okay with moving forward with God without having all the answers. So now let's uh look at other questions. Should we use science to interpret the Bible? We said no. We use uh the principles of hermenetics which involve primarily involve using uh language techniques. So we can understand that some portions of the Bible are literal. uh some portions of the Bible are narrations, letters uh but some are poetry and prophetic language. So based on that we discover figurative speech here and there. So that helps us interpret the Bible correctly. And uh we said that we are not against scientific discoveries but we go by the authority of the word of God. So whenever discoveries come up what we do is we compare and see so corroborate right like we use that information to uh u see what the Bible is also saying and we said that scientific uh inventions keep changing. they keep evolving. But what we have noticed is that the word of God remains uh and and so we firstly put our faith in what the word says, right? And uh we are seeing more and more that many facts are agreeing with scripture. And uh finally, our goal is uh to not fight based on uh what we believe about the word of God. Science may be contradicting but we don't want to sit and fight. We just want to speak the truth in love. People will come and question us but we can present what we know uh in a very loving and kind way. Now the next question can science explain everything? Obviously the answer is no. So when it comes to the origin of the universe or mankind, can uh science tell us where we we have come from? No. There there are some theories where uh it says that we came from very primitive forms or single cell or basic cell. But if we were to ask the question where did those molecules come from you're stuck and we don't know you know beyond that again there's some explanation about energy but if you ask the question where did that energy come from again we are stuck but does the Bible have uh uh an answer to that where did we come from yes the Bible has an answer about our origin and says that God is the one who has created us and created us with purpose. We are created in the image of God. That explains a lot. You know, created to steward the world. That explains a lot. Whereas what science has to offer is not providing the full explanation. Okay. So, who are we? What about this question? Is science able to answer it? No, not fully. uh there is an explanation to how tissues and organs have uh come together to make us. So basically we are we are some higher form of molecules but that doesn't explain everything about us. But if you look at the word of God we see that God created us in his own image and that says a lot. Right? So, science cannot fully explain who we are. Like we are just complex molecules. But you know that is that is not a good enough answer. Okay, let's ask other questions. What about uh concepts such as meaning? Why am I here? Can science answer that question? No, it actually cannot answer that question. Why? It's a big question. So since science cannot answer it, people come up with their own answers. Things like uh yeah, we are here to do whatever we want to do. Everyone has their own reality. Everyone has their own truth. So these are the explanations that we've come up with because science is not able to answer the question about meaning and purpose. But can the Bible answer this question? Yes, it definitely answers the question about meaning and purpose and says that uh God has created each one of us with an assignment in mind, a life purpose. That's why he's given us the connected grace, the gifts, the abilities, and he wants us to uh do something in this life for him. But if you look at a general purpose that god has for us, it is to honor him, to glorify him. So each day we live with that mindset as believers, right? And there's meaning to the life that we are living. The next question, how should we live? Does science give us certain guidelines or standards? Not really. So if we are all just a higher form of um organisms and you know complex molecules, what rules are there? only rules of protect yourself, promote yourself, make sure you have a good life, you know, make sure you enjoy everything that the world has to offer you. That's all. Nothing else. Sorry. >> Yes. survival of the fittest, uh natural selection, those kind of ideas where one has to uh like fight it out in terms of being uh very healthy, being very uh you know skillful, knowledgeable, wealthy and whatn not. And when it comes to laws or morality, right and wrong again because there are no higher standards, anything is okay. Just be a good person. But problem is that good definition varies across people, communities, nations, everywhere. So then what is good and what is bad? So much confusion. But does the Bible offer guidance on morality? Absolutely. Right and wrong, anything that we do, anything that we think also it tells us that God sees all things and it is right in the sight of God or it is evil in the sight of God. And so uh there are standards that we have to choose in our uh cho in our uh life choices. So the Bible has answers but science actually doesn't have answers for morality. The next one is about destiny or where we are going according to science. Where are we going? Nowhere. [laughter] It's just this one life. Once we are born we have to manage till we are till we uh person dies after that don't knows. So that maybe that's why everyone wants to live forever. So discover everything that makes you you know uh be young forever long as possible. If not forever stretch it for as long as you wish to. But what about the Bible? Does it talk about our destiny? Yes, >> it does talks about our destiny beyond this life and that is uh eternity spent with God. So can we see that while science is good, it actually doesn't have all the answers. But people use science to say that it can answer everything and therefore the Bible is wrong. But science cannot answer everything. Consider something like gravity. Gravity is a complex uh force that is acting upon the earth and because of science, because of physics, people have been able to uh define it scientifically, right? Some empirical value they have and they use that. So at the most what can science do? Science can help us utilize the concept of gravity to do what we want to do. Like if uh we want to fly a plane or we want to launch a spacecraft to go into space then we do certain calculations and we know how to defy gravity. So if you have a speed which is greater than x y and z okay fine your your your plane will fly your spacecraft will will move into the the expanse of the universe but that doesn't make science the greatest. It's great. Yeah, we we agree with that. But it's not the greatest because science cannot answer the question how did that gravity come? It can explain a little bit like okay the mass of the earth and this and that the universe but you keep going back to another question that you want to ask behind that. So if you say the the mass of the earth and you know certain forces where did that come from? No answer. So if there is an explanation to that then you ask a question about what is preceding that? Where did that come from? No answer. So science cannot explain everything. But whatever it's able to explain we are grateful for that. But when we look at the word of God, there is a better explanation uh honestly about uh our existence and the existence of many things in this world. So just because we have science, can we say that uh you know God is not required? Okay, please give me a moment. Just check check. Yes, now it's check. Okay. Yeah, I trust that it's okay. Yes. All right. Yeah. So, we were asking just because science is improving uh can we forget about God? No. So science does not replace God and uh uh we as believers come understand that thought for science uh broadly religion and philosophy comes into the picture when science can't explain it. You know like if something happens like uh let's say uh a storm uh comes and destroys a place or uh there is there is a tsunami or there is a volcanic eruption then um science would be like yeah you know we we don't know why this happened and it's a work of God you see that's where God comes in but otherwise God is not there in the picture at all. So when we can't explain something, we put God into it. So we call that God of the gaps. Meaning wherever gaps are there in science, put God there because we need him there. But otherwise we don't need him. But in this way, science cannot do away with God. That's a very uh uh how do I put it like the the kind of thought process itself is not detailed and thorough enough when you just say God exists to explain the phenomenon that science cannot handle. So yeah, put God there. And people also say that uh there is belief in God because in the early early times uh people attributed natural phenomenon to God. Like for example, if it's raining and they want more rain for their crops, then they believe in a God of rain so that they are blessed by it. or if they need sunshine again for their uh uh agricultural work they believe in a god who gives sunshine so that they can go on with their lives. So in this way God has become a material God associated with the things that man wants and it's only for uh a better life that man depends on the so-called God. Where I need you are one God is there and that God will help me. But when we look at the Bible, we read that the existence of God, remember we spoke about him being self-existent, he existed way before the material world came to be. Yes or no? Even before there was sunshine or rain or wind or fire, God existed. So he's not he's not defined by the material world. And the Bible introduces him as the God who is beyond the material world. But for people and science, it's just this. Yeah. People came up with the concept of God because they needed protection. And uh as we boast so much about science, what does science depend on? Human curiosity, right? our ability sorry to observe, analyze, conclude, uh, communicate. But where this where did this ability come from? Obviously the answer to that science can't provide. Human brain and reasoning is exploring science. But where did this reasoning come from? Actually there is no answer so far. But if you look at the Bible, is there an answer? Yes, we are created in the image of God. No wonder we are able to think. We are we have intellect and the capacity to reason. So it's originated from God. Science itself is not able to provide an answer uh for our capacity to think. So broadly what are we talking about today? Science does not have all the answers. No matter how good it gets. There are unanswered questions. There will be unanswered questions. So for us to make science as such a foundation and uh for people to say that belief in God you know we can we can destroy it with science that's not true because when we are asking certain very key questions for man's existence we can know we can notice that science is not able to So right. So we should not make that as the basis to even examine the scriptures because it's not even it's not enough to understand the God of the Bible. So having said all this, science is good, science is beneficial. Then how do we go about being scientific? The right way to go about being scientific is to have the ability to explore, right? And uh be very truthful about the explorations. And uh as believers we know that the greater we delve into nature, we notice God's characteristics in nature and the complexity of these things helps us admire the mind of the creator. So science the the right approach is that it helps us grow stronger in our faith actually for us as believers that's the whole thing um and uh there there's nothing irrational about it right so it it's pretty reasonable on the basis of what we have discussed today so here is a quote from CS Lewis it's there in our notes If you know CS Lewis, a very uh famous uh Christian author, he said men became scientific because they expected law in nature and they expected law in nature because they believed in a legislator. So uh it it's very interesting when you say that there is a law of gravity. Why is there a law of gravity? Why couldn't there be no gravity or whatever gravity? Yeah. So that thought itself tells you somebody has stabilized it as a law, a single law that works at all times. And that is what is giving us the freedom to uh invent things and it goes back to the legislator or the one who has created that law and that is God. So science uh the right right mindset for science is to discover the laws in nature the details in nature to know the creator and understand the creator. Okay. So that's the approach uh that we can take. So I partly answered the question earlier which is there in our notes which which is is science the only way to truth. Answer is no it's not. So for people to demolish faith on the basis of science is not correct because life is not analyzed only on the basis of science. I'll give you one example right all of us would say that you know my mother loves me so prove it prove it scientifically so it should be uh it it should be in such a way that it is repeatable you research it prove it in such a way that it is repeatable can we come up with a with a formula on you know my parents love me. No. So if you don't have a formula, I'm telling you your parents don't love you. Would you agree with me? No. Because the reality is they they care for you. You know, they extend their uh tender care towards us. But I can't prove it scientifically. Just because I can't prove the love uh of you know my loved one scientifically, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. So everything cannot be proved with science. Even if we come to the the field of uh um like study, there are many disciplines. There's philosophy, there's uh literature, uh you know there's uh law. So there are many disciplines that that involve reason. Everything is not scientific. But we do appreciate those disciplines. Yes or no? Right? They also give us u details about life. Think about music. It's a discipline. There are certain principles in there and we utilize it. But you can't say that uh it is exactly like music works exactly the same way each time when you play it one time the same notes it evokes a certain feeling from the people. You play it another time something else is happening. So it's not a scientific way like again you can put it in a formula. No. But is that discipline valid? It's very much valid. So there are many disciplines other than science which are helpful which are necessary. Science cannot do away with those disciplines also. So the point is we cannot say that science is the only way to prove truth. It's not that's the point and I think you know we've we've understood that. So when we go by science we've we've seen that there are they even till today there are gaps in some of the concepts and theories like just the fact that everything was created with nothing. Yeah. Somewhere every people have agreed to that. But if you sit down and think about it, it's questionable. How can reason come out of no reason? How can morality come out of no concept of right and wrong? So even when we think about science and some of the theories of science, there is a leap of faith. Usually that word faith is used when you cannot explain. Even in science you can't explain. No. So there is an element of the le of a leap of faith even in science. It's another thing that people will not agree but uh there is so you know people look at stuff on a surface level. Yes. Yes. Please. Right. >> Correct. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> True. True. True. Yeah. That's true. that perspective that even in science those unanswered questions uh people people wait on them being answered someday that which is nothing but faith because you don't have facts to back it up. Uh but yeah many are willing to do that. Brother you want to say something Mike if you don't mind so that online people can hear you. Yeah. One popular thing uh still debating about science is that uh whether the chick came first or the egg came first. >> Yeah. >> So but we know that God created everything. >> Yes. Correct. Yeah. So there there are issues there are questions that are unanswered. Uh people don't necessarily pay attention to it. they prefer to move on and hope that as you said someday we'll get the answer and so let's just agree with this and uh move ahead. Yeah. So right that's about science. So then uh finally let's talk about uh believing in God. So we've now we've discussed that even science has an element of faith. So when we talk about God, science u may say that you can't prove it. Uh it it's it's not reasonable. And so if you believe in God, it's a delusion. Delusion means in psychiatric language, a false belief. Like if if I if I say that I'm a queen, right? You would look at me and you would laugh at me because I believe it through and through and I I tell everyone I'm a queen. It's craziness. In other words, that's a delusion. So when we say God exists, is it a delusion? For atheists, people Yeah. For people who don't believe, for atheists, they would say, "Yeah, if you believe in God, it's a delusion. What's wrong with you? Like, wake up. There is no God." So, if God does not exist, then faith in God is a grand delusion. But if God exists, atheism is a grand delusion. Yes or no? Yeah. So in this say that believing in God um it's it's a grand delusion and it's a fairy story for people afraid of the dark. So Stephen Hawking he's a very famous um atheist. So it's his statement. He said that there is no heaven or afterlife. He has already concluded it right? There is no heaven or afterlife. Now we can always question how can you conclude? Have you tested everything? Do you know everything? Remember we said one has to be omniscient to be able to make a statement like this. But he's already concluded there is no heaven. There is no afterlife. Believing in God is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark by Stephen Hawking. So John Linux is a believer uh who who has written amazing books. You can check him out. You can check out his content even on um other um you know like social media uh spaces. He is a he is somebody who argues for the existence of God and he also goes against statements made by atheists and agnostics. So John Lenox says atheism is a fairy story for people afraid of the light. [laughter] Okay. So that's his statement. So it's like a war of words going on. uh but yeah we get the drift we understand what they're talking about so I think today we will uh just stop with this basically we've examined science and we we've understood that it doesn't cover everything and it does not really answer all the questions. So science is not the only discipline for us to uh prove the existence of God. Okay. So let me let me pause. Are there any thoughts you want to share or questions that you wish to ask? Please use the mic. Okay, maybe you you should digest everything first and then uh you know come up with questions. So let's do that then at least take time to think about all this and then we can have yeah your thoughts in the next class. All right. Okay. So thank you everyone. Thank you so much for being in this class. Let's pray and we'll close up. Would somebody from class like to lead in prayer? We'll have different different people lead each time. So please take the mic. >> [clears throat] >> And thank you. Thank you. God bless you. Have a good weekend. See you all next week.