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The Case for a Creator for Kids Copyright 2006 by Lee Strobel Illustrations copyright 2006 by The Zondervan Corporation Requests for information should be addressed to:
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Applied for All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Reader's Version. NIr V. Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version
. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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Editor: Kristen Tuinstra Cover Design: Sarah Jongsma and Holli Leegwater Interior Art Direction: Sarah Jongsma and Kristen Tuinstra Interior design: Sarah Jongsma Composition: Ruth Bandstra Illustrations: Dan Brawner Photography: Synergy Photographic Printed in the United States of America
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Introduction Who Ya Gonna Believe?
There you are sitting in science class at school. You're thinking. . .
Say, what are you thinking? What are your feelings about science in general? Not as cool as a sciencefiction movie? More fun than having a cavity drilled?
Your true answer is in there somewhere.
Either way, it's science class. And it's an interesting one today, because Mr. Axiom, the science teacher, is starting a new unit on how the world began. You hear something about a Big Bang, and how all the stuff that made up the entire universe was gummed up into one puny little wad before it blew up. And how that stuff is still exploding outward, as it has since the beginning.
The story line could use a few aliens and starships, but all in all, it's really pretty cool. The Big Bang doesn't sound too scientific, but again — pretty cool!
Science: what's observed in the way things happen.
Fast-forward a couple of days. Now you're in Sunday school. Mrs. Homily, the teacher, is starting a new unit on the first book of the Bible, called Genesis. She starts with the very first words of Genesis, 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.'
The kids are kind of nodding along, but you have a big question about all this. Why aren't Mrs. Homily and Mr. Axiom on the same page? They seem to have two completely different stories for the same subject.
Mr. Axiom says the universe came from a big explosion;
Mrs. Homily claims it came from God. Who's right and who's wrong?
What really bothers you the most is that Mr. Axiom,
the science guy, seems to make the best case for his claims. A humongous, long-ago explosion is a pretty wild story, to be honest, but he makes it believable. He gives numbers and details, and tells why the scientists came up with their ideas.
Evidence (EV-eh-dents): proof that something happened.
You've always liked Mrs. Homily. What's weird is that she's only telling you what your parents might have told you all your life: God made everything.
You've always liked church and gone along with the program. But you're not a little kid anymore. You're going to be a teenager soon. You're beginning to think things through for yourself. And you're noticing that neither Mrs. Homily nor anyone at church is too concerned about . . . well, the reasons and the evidence for what they're teaching you. Not as much as in science class.
For example, you see a baseball lying in a pile of broken glass next to a window. That's your evidence that the baseball broke the window. Better hope that baseball isn't yours!
Q4 U:
What do you like or dislike about science? What kinds of science subjects have you enjoyed studying most?
