Transcript What is Euthanasia? - Hinchingbrooke School

Religion and Science
(1) Empiricism: Relying upon observation and experiment, rather than
theory, to determine the truth about something.
(2) Rationalism: The belief that thought and action should be governed by
reason and that reason is the most powerful tool for assessing the veracity
(reliability/truthfulness) about something.
(3) The ‘Big Bang Theory’: The Theory that the universe started with the
explosion of a small amount of extremely dense matter. The theory is
supported by evidence that the universe is still expanding.
(4) Evolution:
The theoretical process by which all species develop from
earlier forms of life. A theory put forward by Charles Darwin in 1857 in
his book ‘On the Origin of the Species’. Christians believe that this
challenges the notion of a divine, omnipotent creator God.
(5) Creationism: The belief that the Bible’s account of the Creation of the
world is literally true – generally the Christian attitude to the creation of
the world.
The Copernican Revolution
- Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 – 1543) – ‘De Revolutionibus
Orbium Coelestium’ – On the Revolutions of the Heavenly
Bodies.
- Copernicus was branded heretical by the Catholic church,
because his ‘scientific theory’ challenged the idea that the
Earth was at the centre of God’s creation and the stars are
purposefully there to illuminate the Earth.
- John Calvin (a famous theologian) jumped to Copernicus’
defence by saying that the theory perfectly showed an ordered,
organised God, as the system that kept the Earth in balance
was much more complicated and therefore reflected better on
God.
The Pre-Copernican Theory of Geocentricism
The Copernican Theory of Heliocentricism
Answer the following questions in your book:
(1) What does heliocentric mean?
(2) How is it different from geocentric?
(3) When Copernicus said this, what was the reaction by the
Catholic Church?
(4) Was the Catholic Church right to stop him from going to
their church again?
(5) Draw a picture that represents either geocentricism or
heliocentricism, and label it accordingly. Use the
pictures on the sheet to help you.