Firstly - think of "nature" as the whole universe. It got there somehow, & was created from something at some time. Leave "God" aside for a moment, & accept that creation did occur, Also, that "Man" wasn't even around when this was started!

 

Next - what is "science"? Science as we know it, started several thousand years ago, based on observation of what is around us, & a need to make at least some sense of it (before optionally destroying it!). It can therefore be thought as the discovery and understanding of the principles, mechanisms, and processes of "nature". All science is based upon this - and the more we understand, the more our scientific knowledge builds up.

 

What is Technology?: It's only when we use our newly found "science", that most of us get excited, as we then enter the world of technology - which is simply the application of science to exploit & make things of use to us.

 

Now we know the true relationship between:

• nature (creation)
• science (understanding processes of nature)
• technology (application of science)

we can see how scientists, such as Darwin, were merely discovering the mechanisms & processes that were already established within nature itself. Darwin didn't invent the process of Natural Selection - he merely discovered it & applied a fitting name!

It's these processes that are the true wonder. For example, we now know how proteins reproduce themselves within life-forms. The chemistry of this is dazzling, and involves the use of complex naturally occuring chemicals including transfer_RNA (similar to DNA). Amazingly, this process takes place within normal ambient temperatures and pressure.

Take a simple blade of grass - something we all tread on, and take for granted. gather together the world's best scientists, and stick them in a lab with the most advanced scientific equipment, and task them with a project to "make" a live, working blade of grass from basic chemicals (without growing it from seed etc.) They can't do it!

Creation in 7 days?

The Bible (Genesis chapter.1) states that the world was created in 7 days with the last day as rest. Where did this information come from? Theologians say God spoke to Moses, and Moses wrote it down for the Hebrew people. Just think about this for a moment. This happened thousands of years ago in a time when the notion of "science" did not even exist. There was no way to put over the science of how "nature" or the world was created. No terminology, no fundamentals, no knowledge of molecules, nuclear fission & fusion, and high-energy physics. The Hebrews might have just laughed & thought Moses to be totally mad. So scripture ends up with a simple explanation based on things that they could understand - like "days", light & darkness" etc. So when the Bible refers to "days" within the context of Creation, think of it as a sequence of "stages".

Genesis 1: 2: "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep".

Ecclesiastes 3:20: "All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return"

Genesis 3:19: "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust ou shall return"

Compare these ancient words with modern cosmology where planets such as Earth are formed within a dark void by the coalescence of stellar particles & dust within orbit, having been blasted out from distant exploding stars/suns in deep space.

(to be continued)