Reasons to Believe Podcast Reasons To Believe

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana, Hugh Ross, and Jeff Zweerink for a conversation celebrating the 100th episode of Stars, Cells, and God. They answer questions submitted by our dedicated listeners and dive deeper into topics where science and faith intersect.
 
For 100 episodes, this podcast has served as a space for deep conversation with leaders in the science-faith arena to explore how the latest scientific discoveries provide evidence for God’s existence, the reliability of Scripture, and the credibility of the Christian worldview. We’re honored to have our listeners participate in this episode by posing great questions on YouTube to our three scholars.
 
We look forward to the next 100episodes with you! 
 
 
Timestamps:
7:32 –  Question from @EmaManfred on AI image generators replacing artists
You can listen to the full episode on this topic HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhe5OxN6k3s
 
22:16 – Question from @whyaskwhybuddry on plants on Earth before the Sun, insects, and birds
You can listen to the full episode on this topic HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jA0XVjNSZw
 
28:58 – Question from @SamytheGreek on humans having Neanderthal DNA
You can listen to the full episode on this topic HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXUmCr_Ct1E
 
41:14 – Question from @johnbaker2755 on animals learning tactical capabilities
You can listen to the full episode on this topic HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxyACrh2sUU
 
50:15 – Question from @pierreabbat6157 on vitamins in lab-grown meat
You can listen to the full episode on this topic HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gu3WtT3vAU
 

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.
 
Biological Basis for Belief?
As human beings, our religious nature defines us. Treating it as a scientific question, many scientists wonder, how do we account for human spirituality and religiosity? Are there brain structures and processes that explain this behavior? Using lesion mapping, a research team from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital recently determined the brain regions and neural circuits that account for religiosity and spirituality.
 
This study (amongst others) raises troubling questions for Christians.
 
Is our spirituality and response to religion based on our brain’s biology?
Is there a materialistic, mechanistic explanation for religious acceptance?
Do people really experience God?
 
In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana addresses these questions and presents a model that accommodates these scientific findings, while retaining a biblical view of human nature.
 
Woke at the University
During the 2023–2024 academic year, Rice University offered a course called “Afrochemistry” that claimed to “apply chemical tools and analysis to understand Black life in the US.” From January 16 to May 16, 2024, AcademicJobsOnline.org advertised a job for the University of Victoria’s physics and astronomy department that was only open to an indigenous person. Both examples show how a worldview subversive to the scientific enterprise is spreading into the scientific community. This view of contemporary critical theory sees the world in terms of oppressors and oppressed. In contrast, the Judeo-Christian worldview sees all people as valuable and worthy of God’s and our love. Additionally, the Judeo-Christian worldview buttresses and supports the foundation needed for the scientific enterprise to flourish.
 
YOUTUBE LINKS:
 
Michael A. Ferguson et al., “A Neural Circuit for Spirituality and Religiosity Derived from Patients with Brain Lesions,” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34454698/
 
Additional Resources
 
Fazale Rana, “Is There a Biological Basis for Belief?,” https://reasons.org/explore/publications/articles/is-there-a-biological-basis-for-belief
 
Fazale Rana, “Is There a Biological Basis for Belief? A Follow Up,”
https://reasons.org/explore/publications/articles/is-there-a-biological-basis-for-belief-a-follow-up
 
Fazale Rana, “Does Oxytocin Cause Spiritual Experiences?,”
https://reasons.org/explore/blogs/the-cells-design/does-oxytocin-cause-spiritual-experiences
 
PODCAST LINKS:
 
University of Victoria, Department of Physics and Astronomy
New ‘Afrochemistry’ Course Widely Panned as Identity Politics Dumbing Down Hard Sciences
 
YOUTUBE LINKS:
 
AcademicJobsOnline, “University of Victoria, Department of Physics and Astronomy,” posted January 16, 2024, https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/27010
 
Jennifer Kabbany, “New ‘Afrochemistry’ Course Widely Panned as Identity Politics Dumbing Down Hard Sciences,” https://www.thecollegefix.com/new-afrochemistry-course-widely-panned-as-identity-politics-dumbing-down-hard-sciences/

Join Hugh Ross and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.
 
Before the First Stars
A team of astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) “to boldly go where no man has gone before”: to observe and measure the composition of gas clouds before any stars formed. The JWST’s primary mission is to explore the cosmic dawn—the first billion years of cosmic history. Astronomers took a high-resolution spectrum of a giant gas cloud in the halo of GN-z11, a bright galaxy 13.38 billion light-years away, corresponding to only 410 million years after the big bang creation event. The only elements found in the gas cloud’s spectrum were hydrogen and helium. This is the first time astronomers detected an object in the universe where no elements heavier than helium exist. This discovery affirms a major prediction of the biblically predicted big bang creation model: that before stars formed, the elemental composition of the universe, by mass, will be 75.33% hydrogen, 24.67% helium, and a trace amount of lithium. The level of ionization in the gas cloud revealed that the stars in GN-z11’s core must all be in the range of 50–1,000 times the Sun’s mass. This mass range explains why astronomers observe many bright galaxies and several supermassive black holes in the cosmic dawn. All these discoveries provide yet more evidence that the more we learn about the universe, the more evidence we accumulate that a God beyond space and time created and exquisitely designed the universe so that at the just-right time and location, humans could live and thrive. 
The Universe: 28 GYr Old?
 
Recent images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) found galaxies that, given their age, appeared far larger and more complex than expected. In more lay-level arenas, this discovery was used to cast doubt on the standard big bang cosmological model. However, this discovery generated quite a bit of excitement in the scientific community because it revealed a fun problem to investigate. Consequently, astronomers have invested much effort trying to understand how to explain these large, complex galaxies. An author of a recent paper attempts to understand these galaxies by modifying how light propagates through the universe and by having some fundamental constants change over time. A careful analysis of this latter approach shows how standard big bang cosmology (with dark energy and dark matter) can give a robust explanation of the universe—and provide evidence for the God of the Bible.
 
 
References:
PODCAST LINKS:
JADES NIRSpec Spectroscopy of GN-z11: Lyman-a Emission and Possible Enhanced Nitrogen Abundance in a z = 10.60 Luminous Galaxy
 
JWST-JADES. Possible Population III Signatures at z = 10.6 in the Halo of GN-z11
 
YOUTUBE LINKS:
Andrew J. Bunker et al., “JADES NIRSpec Spectroscopy of GN-z11: Lyman-a Emission and Possible Enhanced Nitrogen Abundance in a z = 10.60 Luminous Galaxy,” https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202346159
Roberto Maiolino et al., “JWST-JADES. Possible Population III Signatures at z = 10.6 in the Halo of GN-z11,” https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2306.00953
 
References:
 PODCAST LINK:
Testing CCC + TL Cosmology with Observed Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Features
 
YOUTUBE LINK:
Rajendra P. Gupta, “Testing CCC + TL Cosmology with Observed Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Features,” https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1bc6