• What do Christians understand by
revelation? 4KU
• What is the religious method? 4KU
What do Christians understand by
revelation? 4KU
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Communication from God of certain information to individuals or
groups – especially as recorded in the Bible.
God believed to be revealing himself to people in special ways.
Revelation can be interpreted as either a “direct
communication” from God or something that has been
“communicated by God” and filtered through the minds of human
beings.
Two types of revelation
General – open to anyone and can be by experiences of the
natural world, conscience, reading scriptures, personal
experiences etc.
Special – in a particular event, dream, “miracle” eg Moses
at the burning bush.
What is the religious method?
4KU
Homework for Tuesday
• Read pages 9-31
• Complete questions 4-23
p31
• Aristotle
• (384 BCE-322 BCE or
BC) ancient Greek
philosopher
• Aristotle was so
famous that his work
influenced thinking
in the Western
world from his time
to the present.
• This was fine when
he was right. But he
was so influential
that his mistakes
were never noticed.
• Aristotle and his
contemporaries
believed that all
problems could be
solved by thinking
about them.
• Sometimes this
worked, other times it
did not.
• For example, Aristotle
thought that heavy
objects would fall
faster than lighter
ones.
• Now that does seem reasonable
at first. And this is how
“science” was done in ancient
times.
• But what did Aristotle not do?
• He never tested his ideas!
• The world would have to wait
almost 2000 years for that to
happen.
•1564-1642 AD or CE
•Is considered to be one of
the first true scientists.
•Why????
•Because he actually did the
experiment.
• Aristotle said that heavy objects fall faster
than lighter ones.
• So Galileo asked, “How much faster?”
• So he sent students up to the top of a building
and had them drop a heavy ball and a lighter one
off at the same time. He had other students
waiting below to measure the difference in time
between the two hitting the ground.
• Today of course we know
what happened. Much to
everyone’s surprise both
balls hit the ground at
about the same time!
• This shows that it is
much preferred to test
your ideas rather than
merely think about them.
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State the problem.
Make a hypothesis.
Conduct the experiment.
Record/analyze data.
Make a conclusion.
Report findings to others so they can
repeat the experiment.
1. Observation: information and data is collected
2. Hypothesis: scientist will predict about what may
happen in their observations
3. Experiment: the scientist tests their hypothesis. All
the conditions have to be controlled and standardised
as far as possible.
4. Deduction: from the results of the experiments
(research) the scientist will review her earlier
hypothesis. From this she will develop a theory. The
more her experiments are shown to be consistent,
the more likely the hypothesis will be accepted. This
is called
5. Verification- Checking their results to make sure the
theories hold true. If the results fail to hold true
then this theory is shown to be false. This is called
6. Falsification.- Other sciencists will then try to
repeat the experiments to see if they get similar
results. This is:
7. Independent Verification.
• Has a very different meaning in
science than in everyday life.
• “The detective has a theory about who
robbed the bank.” This is a guess.
• When scientists use the word theory
it is not used as a guess.
• So the THEORY of gravity,
THEORY of electricity, the
germ THEORY of disease, and
the THEORY of evolution are
tested, accepted explanations
for events that occur in
nature.
• Theories can really never be
completely proven, only
disproven. When new
evidence comes along, we must
modify our theory or at
times even get rid of it and
start over again.
• The scientific method is summed up in the
phrase ‘Only Hippos Eat Dead Vultures
For Interest’.
• Observation Hypothesis Experiment
Deduction Verification Falsification and
Independent Verification.
• Science is based on evidence and
experiment and seeks to challenge and
assess all truth claims. It relies on
collecting evidence using our senses and
tries to draw conclusions based on a
number of observations.
• It presupposes that the world is
intelligible and orderly.
• Scientists also use inductive and deductive
reasoning
• However, scientific theories are ONLY
acceptable until other theories succeed
them.
 Scientific enquiry is based on empirical evidence – this means
findings are gathered through what we can observe under
controlled circumstances
 The Scientific Method is reliable – answers to scientific
questions are gathered through a reliable process of
Observation, Hypothesis, Experiment and Verification whereas
religious questions can not be answered or tested by observation
• Statements are supported by facts – scientific enquiry is
grounded in fact and proof whereas Christian revelation is
grounded in faith and beliefs which you can not describe as fact
or as with proof
• Science is impartial– science begins from a neutral standpoint
and stays objective whereas Christian revelation is subjective
 Science is cautious - this means theories have to be backed up
with sound evidence and reasoning. All scientific knowledge and
theories are subjected to the full scrutiny of others and,
although error is always possible, they stand the test of
application in, for example: safe journeys to the Moon and back.
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Science is provisional. This means that old theories only last until new
data becomes available and new explanations arise. Science can
therefore be viewed as “unfinished business”. No theory is certain for
all time.
Science is fallible. This is because the scientist is human and may
make mistakes. Trusting evidence from our senses does not allow for
the fact that our senses can be tricked.
Science is not completely objective. We assume that the scientist
begins from a neutral standpoint. However, the scientist’s existing
knowledge, previous expectations and future expectations will affect
how they see things.
The scientific method is based on assumptions and contains
guesswork. You can never establish absolute certainty. No matter how
often you flick the switch and the light comes on, you can not be
absolutely certain the same thing will happen the next time you do it.
The fact that, as far as we know, every human being that has ever
lived has eventually died, makes it pretty certain that we will die too.
But maybe we are wrong. One of us might be the exception.
There is more to the world than the observable. The idea that the
knowledge acquired through scientific methods is the only kind of
knowledge worth having represents a very narrow view of life, ignoring
the spiritual and emotional aspects of life.