One-Minute Lessons on Science and Faith

It takes just a mere minute to pray and read a Bible verse at the beginning of class every day.

Christian Growth June 24, 2019

It takes just a mere minute to pray and read a Bible verse at the beginning of class every day. Before delving into the science lecture, I pray for students to receive wisdom from the Holy Spirit, in order to grasp the concepts that they are about to learn. My ultimate goal from these one-minute devotional sessions is that all of my students will be further inspired to become God’s good children.

Those who take any one of my science classes, and thus, are able to listen to my one-minute devotions, end up being quite impressed. Here’s what one of my former students wrote in her course evaluation:

“Every day, he prayed and prepared a Bible verse for us, which I deeply appreciated. He always found a way to tie what we were learning back to God and I really enjoyed that. Overall, this was one of my favorite classes this quarter and I feel it helped me grow both mentally and spiritually.”

From another one of my students: “This class has influenced me on a spiritual level. Even though this class is very difficult, Professor Sung’s daily devotions reminded me that we should pray for God  to give us guidance during our learning and studies.”

When I am searching for Bible verses to begin each class with, I try to find one specifically related to my lecture for the day. For example, if the topic is about water, I look for a Scripture about water. Passages in Leviticus are quite helpful (especially for sessions on microbiology) because they provide information on infection prevention from microorganisms.

Though the Bible has a handful of useful verses for science-related themes, this does not mean that it’s easy to find verses in the Bible relevant to every science topic. For instance, I was unable to find a verse that I could directly connect to DNA in the nucleus of cells and its ability to form chromosomes (where information for inheriting genes is stored). After a brief prayer though, I was inspired to relate the topic of DNA with the Ten Commandments.

The reasoning behind my use of this analogy was due to the fact that The Ten Commandments written on the stone tablets, were contained in the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place, which is located in the most interior section of the temple. Its location can easily be compared to the location of DNA, which is contained in the nucleus, most deeply situated in the cell. The Ten Commandments make up the basis of the core values in the universe, which control all individuals, societies, and countries. Similar to the Covenant, DNA — which forms genetic codes in cells —  is the principal element, which determines the cell’s structure, function and fate as well. Therefore, the significance of DNA in the cell is comparable to that of the Ten Commandments in its relation to the whole universe.

In order to reasonably provide insight into this topic, as well as an adequate illustration of the location of the Covenant, I felt students would appreciate the Bible verse, Exodus 25:21, which details where the stone tablets highlighting the Ten Commandments, were placed. This gave me room to expound on the topic a bit more so that students could learn where the important values in the cell and universe were preserved. It is because of moments like these, why I so enjoy combining these short lessons together to help “guide lost sheep back to the fold of God” (Christ’s Object Lessons, 24.1).

Author

Backil Sung

MD, PhD, Professor at Biology Department, Pacific Union College, Angwin, CA, USA. He teaches human Biology courses, researches Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and organizes a medical mission team to treat surgical and medical patients in developing countries over a decade.

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