How do science and Christian faith work together? How can we share our faith with our fellow science students? This series will help unpack some of the basics, fuelled by relevant Bible passages, quotes and videos, pointing you in the direction of further resources for more exploration. It will help you think, challenge you, and make you do some work as you wrestle with how we can apply this teaching in our day-to-day lives. At the end there will be an opportunity to invite course mates to a movie and discussion night.
Series outline
1. Theology of science
How do Christians in the sciences experience God in their work? How do awe and wonder at the created order feed into our faith? What would a basic theology of science look like?
2. Myth busting
Science vs religion, God of the gaps, scientific proof for God… What are some of the pitfalls for us as we seek to engage with science, and how can we effectively steer around them?
3. Creation and evolution
Where is creation mentioned in the Bible? How do Christians interpret Genesis 1? What common ground do we have, and how can we address this topic in a way that’s helpful to non-Christians? One session can’t answer all our questions, but it can equip us to explore and discuss creation in a healthy way.
4. Ethics
Explore some of the issues raised by the application of scientific knowledge. What does it mean to be made in the image of God? What biblical principles can we draw on when tackling ethical issues? We will then put these tools into use with an ethical case study.
5. Science as worship
An opportunity to think more broadly about how we can encourage each other to serve God through science, but also thinking specifically about your own subject area (and creation care).
6. Movie night!
Invite your non-Christian friends and course mates to watch a thought-provoking film and discuss it together to spark conversations about Jesus.
How to use these studies
These studies are designed to be used as part of a Science Network Hub: a group of science students at your uni who together are figuring out how we can think, live and speak for Jesus as scientists.
The studies follow the same format as Impact Group sessions, so they should feel familiar! Each study has four sections:
Ready for Impact introduces the theme of each session.
Impacted by the Word is an opportunity to dig into what the Bible has to say on the topic.
Impacting our Hearts gives space for some personal reflection on what the Bible’s teaching means for us.
Impacting the University considers how what we’ve seen is good news for those around us.
The big idea at the start of each study is there to help you as a leader understand where you might want the group to get to by the end of the session.
Each session should take around an hour. There are six sessions in the series: you could run the whole series over six weeks in one term, or spread them out by hosting one a month across the academic year.
If you’re leading the session, take some time to work through the study beforehand to make sure you know what you’re aiming to achieve in the session. Take a look at the key Bible passages, watch any videos, and make note of any questions you think the material is likely to raise for your group. This shouldn’t take more than around 30-60 minutes.
Find all of the studies here.
