Part One: Science Professional Development for WELS Elementary School Teachers
Written by Paul E. Lutze
Purpose: During the past three decades, I have seen a shift in science attitudes among our staff, students, and families in our small WELS school in the Midwest. Students have been sheltered from science’s glaring errors. Students (and teachers) have ridiculed certain aspects of science only to become themselves the object of ridicule when they move on to high school and college. They graduate from our school not really knowing science or how to defend their Christian beliefs. The Bible has been unintentionally turned into a science textbook using human reason to explain how Scripture verifies or rejects a scientific idea. And attempts are made to use science to verify the Bible. Questions and doubt arise as to what God really said and did in Genesis. Scripture tells us in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (NIV84).
The Need: In the first line of Martin Sponholz’s paper Two Towers – The Relationship Between Science and the Bible presented to the Minnesota District Pastoral Conference in 1982, he emphatically states: “There is no relationship between science and the Bible” (Sponholz, 1982). He goes on to give examples of the tower of science made with human reason. This tower is made of bricks that crumble or are pulled out when new scientific evidence proves them false. The scientific community acknowledges that science is a human endeavor and that scientific knowledge is open to revisions in the light of new evidence (NGSS, 2013). Scientific knowledge is reliable, yet can be abandoned or modified when new evidence is available (NSTA, 2000). This makes for a very shaky unstable tower. Picture a Jenga game. One piece after another is pulled out and added to the top. Amazing structures can be made, but eventually they all topple. To be in that modern tower of science is dangerous for the faith of a Christian.
By virtue of our profession, WELS teachers are jacks-of-all-trades. It is difficult to be an expert in all subject areas. Research has shown that misconceptions within accepted science, particularly in physical science, are common, even among teachers (Stein, Larrabee, & Barman, 2008). If that is true regarding science, what misconceptions might our WELS teachers have in what Scripture does or doesn’t address regarding science? Stein (et al, 2008) quoted Sir Francis Bacon to explain misconceptions: “For what a man likes to be true, he more readily believes.” Caution must be taken not to speak with authority where Scripture has remained silent. “Although God’s power is manifest for all to see, God’s intentions are not” (Nurenburger, 2010, p. 135).
So, what do we do? God has showered mankind with far too many blessings within the field of science for us to withhold science from our students. That would be a disservice to our students and discredit the graciousness of God. How will our students be able to defend their faith if they don’t know when and where science conflicts with Scripture? How will our teachers be able to effectively instruct students if they themselves have made assumptions regarding Scripture or have misconceptions regarding science?
Before tackling science standards or conducting a curriculum study, why not a little professional development in science? Survey your teachers; find out their strengths and weaknesses, their attitudes and needs. Take the online Science Beliefs Quiz (Stein, 2014) with your faculty and discuss possible science misconceptions. But even more importantly, get into the Word. Martin Luther College has a Professional Development Series titled “The Foolishness of God” (Thiesfeldt, 2014). With its Bible study and extra readings, it’s a great way to start. And this is knowledge that can easily be transferred to our students.
Conclusion: Science is a human endeavor filled with human errors. We are only human. A clearer understanding of science and its limitations can inspire great awe in the God who created it all. We will never, in this life, have a perfect understanding of how the world works. I cannot help but think of the book Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott. The people, homes, and landscape of Flatland are all two-dimensional. There is no third dimension. When the main character introduces the concept of another dimension, he is ostracized as a heretic. I can only imagine God shaking His head and saying, “If only you could see my creation like I do!”
Paul Lutze (DMLC ’84) is the Principal at St. Peter’s Lutheran School in Sturgeon Bay, WI, and an MLC graduate student.
References
Abbott, E. A.(1992). Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
National Science Teachers Association (2000, July), NSTA Position Statement: The Nature of Science. Retrieved July 28, 2014, from NSTA: http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/natureofscience.aspx
Next Generation Science Standards (2013, April), Appendix H – Understanding the Scientific Enterprise: The Nature of Science in the Next Generation Science Standards. Retrieved July 28, 2014, from NGSS: http://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/ngss/files/Appendix%20H%20-%20The%20Nature%20of%20Science%20in%20the%20Next%20Generation%20Science%20Standards%204.15.13.pdf
Nurnburger, K. (2010). Martin Luther’s Experiential Theology as a Model for Faith-Science Relationships. Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science , 45 (1), 127-148.
Sponholz, M. (1982, April 20). Two Towers – The Relationship Between Science and the Bible. Minnesota District Pastoral Conference . Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Stein, M., Larabee, T. G., & Barman, C. R. (2008). A Study of Common Beliefs and Misconceptions in Physical Science. Journal of Elementary Science Education , 20 (2), 1-11.
Stein, M., Larabee, T. G., & Barman, C. R. (2014). Science Beliefs Quiz. Retrieved July 20, 2014, from Oakland Edu: https://www2.oakland.edu/secure/sbquiz/index.cfm?questionnum=45
Thiesfeldt, S. (2014) The Foolishness of God: A Biblical Perspective on Science, Professional Development Series. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from Martin Luther College: https://mlc-wels.edu/gsce/continuing-education/professional-development-series/the-foolishness-of-god-a-biblical-perspective-on-science
I just finished re-reading Sponholz’s 1982 article. What a wonderful surprise to have this article to read today. I just finished a parent teacher conference and talked to some parents about our school’s approach to dealing with evolution. This is a timely and useful article topic. Thank you.
The key is developing discerning thinkers who test everything and keep the good. In addition we must wisely choose our words and clearly explain our thoughts and views. If evolution simply means “change,” Bible believing Christians need not have a problem with the term. Living creatures constantly undergo change. We can see and observe this type of change today. Evolution can be defined as the change in genetic material between generations of living things, which is also referred to as “descent with modification.” There is scientific evidence that evolution (change) occurs, so we do harm to those under our care to completely dismiss all evolution because all aspects of evolution don’t contradict our Biblical beliefs. As Christians we must realize that molecules to man evolution is the best scientists can do when they dismiss a creator. We need to help those under our care to see that dismissing the existence of God (atheism, naturalism, materialism) will result in very different conclusions from the same evidence than starting with the Biblical creation account. Christian discerning thinkers start with the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom.
Yes! And I would underline the phrase, “…get into the Word.” I look forward to part II.
Readers of this article may be interested to learn of the two views of science proclaimed in the WELS. Recently a WELS organization devoted its quarterly journal to the topic, “Two Creation Apologetics with Opposing Views of Science are Taught in the WELS.”
A teen may hear from her Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) pastor at a youth group Bible study, “There is NO evidence for evolution,” and the next day be taught at her WELS high school, “There IS evidence for evolution.” An article in Forward In Christ magazine proclaims that evolution is not science, while several other Forward In Christ articles argue the opposite. One Northwestern Publishing House (NPH) book tells us “evolution is not scientific,” while another published that same year, says the opposite. Christlight proclaims that “The Bible and true science never contradict each other,” while students in the Earth Science course at Luther High School are taught the opposite. This situation can be very confusing for pastors, teachers, students, and laity. What is happening?
Five articles on this topic, and a request for comments, are available in the right-hand column at
http://www.LutheranScience.org/apologetics
Mark Bergemann,
President, Lutheran Science Institute, a WELS organization
mbergemann@LutheranScience.org
http://www.LutheranScience.org
This is an important topic and I appreciate the author’s perspective, just as I have for a long time admired Prof. Sponholz’s approach to it.
The marriage of the Bible and any human philosophy is a bad one.
My concern is a pastoral one: when a particular scientific hypothesis is said to “prove the Bible,” many unwary and well-meaning Christians may be taken in by this claim. But if the theory is later proven to be false, the Christians’ faith is not merely shattered in the scientific theory. Since the theory has been attached to the words of Scripture, the believer is greatly tempted to doubt the Scriptures as well.
I look forward to reading more posts by this author.