President Gordon B. Hinckley

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President Gordon B. Hinckley

• Let thy Holy Spirit abide constantly within these
  walls and be felt by all who teach and learn. May
  there be an absence of intellectual arrogance
  rather, may there be that humility which comes of
  recognition that man, with all of his knowledge
  and understanding, shares only a feeble light
  when compared with the wisdom of the almighty.
  (BYU as a Covenant Community p.24 (from the
  dedication of the Joseph Smith Building at BYU).

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God created the world, and my faith does not
hinge on the detailed procedures he used
Henry Eyring The Faith of a Scientist.
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And behold, all things have their likeness, and
all things are created and made to bear record of
me, both things which are temporal, and things
which are spiritual things which are in the
heavens above, and things which are on the earth,
and things which are in the earth, and things
which are under the earth, both above and
beneath all things bear record of me.
Moses 663
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The Cell
Allows continued Existence of
Energy utilizations
Leads to unity of
Cellular Reproduction
Evolution
Leads to common Processes in
Occurs through processes of
Metabolism
Explains relationships
Critical interrelationships in
Critical relationships Found in
Ecology
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Setting some terminology straight
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HYPOTHESIS

• A tentative explanation of one or more phenomena
  in nature that can be tested by observations,
  experiments, or both. In order to be considered
  scientific, a hypothesis must be falsifiable,
  which means that it can be proven to be
  incorrect.

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Fact

• A natural phenomenon repeatedly confirmed by
  observation.

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Law

• A description of how a natural phenomenon or
  relationship will consistently occur under a
  given set of circumstances.

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Theory

• A well-substantiated explanation of some aspect
  of the natural world that typically incorporates
  many confirmed observations, laws, and
  successfully verified hypotheses.
• The theory of evolution is a collection of
  explanatory concepts which seek to make sense of
  the accumulated knowledge about the relationships
  between living things and how organisms have
  originated. Theories allow us to predict what we
  may expect to see in new investigations, in other
  words theories give us a framework for doing new
  and different investigations that may further
  help to explain the given phenomena.

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TRUTH

• A scientific statement is true if all attempts
  to falsify it have failed. Truth in science is
  not some final statement that is correct for all
  time. It means true beyond all reasonable
  doubt. John A. Moore (Science as a way of
  knowing pg. 136. 1993 Harvard U. Press)

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INDUCTION

• involves reaching a conclusion based on
  observations, moving from the specific to the
  general. This is the method of reasoning used by
  Darwin to develop his theory of Natural Selection

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DEDUCTION

• Involves drawing specific conclusions from some
  larger assumptions (from general to specific).
  The formulation of a prediction based on a
  hypothesis is an example of deductive reasoning.
  When new data are added in support of the theory
  of evolution, they are often the result of
  looking for specific results we would expect to
  see based on the theory which is already in
  place In other words what the theory would
  predict we might see.

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Science as a way of Knowing

• Science is empirical (based on observation and
  experimentation)
• Data collected from experimentation must be
  reproducible.
• Many different groups of scientists can do the
  same experiments and get the same results.
• Experimental design must be falsifiable.

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Religion as a way of knowing

• Based on faith, feelings and subjective
  experiences
• Not based on visual senses
• One persons experience cannot be replicated
  exactly by another
• Knowledge is gained by individuals as a sum total
  of that individuals experiences and study

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These differences could lead to a potential
conflict between science and religion.

• There is value and need for both ways of
  knowing. It is important not to be closed
  minded or dogmatic in either direction. Just
  because they are different does not make one way
  of knowing more important or more correct than
  the other.

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Discussion

• Evolution packet defined
• BYU Evolution packet
• A Lester Allen
• Kenneth J. Brown