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Dr. Irwin A. Moon (1907 - 1986) was offered a scholarship to study physics at an Ivy League university but found that God had called him to Christian ministry as a pastor. He always loved science and so decided to use scientific illustrations of Biblical truth in his sermons. He ended up building much of his own equipment for these pulpit demonstrations. This is a wonderful method of teaching solidly based on the Bible, since Romans 1:20 says that God’s Creation gives us understanding about what God is like. Science doesn’t “prove” the existence of God or the truth of the Bible, but God’s nature and power are illustrated by the things He has made, which includes us. Dr. Moon called his illustrations “Sermons from Science.” His reputation grew to the point where he travelled around the country giving these scientific sermons. He had the opportunity to present regularly at the 1939-1940 San Francisco World’s Fair, where up to 300,000 people heard him. He travelled extensively to military bases during World War II, sponsored by the US military, and reached many thousands of service members, a good number of whom became Christians. He joined Moody Bible Institute in 1945 and founded the Moody Institute of Science, and continued travelling around the country accompanied by two tons of scientific equipment, using God’s creation to give analogies for God’s spiritual truth.
Films were made, taken from these Sermons from Science presentations, in the 1950s to the 1970s, using real lab and field science experiments to illustrate concepts from the Bible. These DVDS, which have now been included in the Plumfield Library, are called Moody Science Classics. I can only mention a few in any detail. Dr. Moon was an accomplished multi-engine pilot, which he used in one of the films, Signposts Aloft. My personal favorite is Facts of Faith, in which Dr. Moon used high-frequency electricity running through the surface of his body to demonstrate the reality of things unseen. Time and Eternity uses both time-lapse and high-speed photography to show some of the wonders of creation that either take place too slowly or too quickly for the human eye to see. Windows of the Soul uses very clever experiments to show something of how our brains interpret signals from our senses.
In all of these films, the look of the clothing and the visual aids are obviously dated, but scientific facts and the truths of the Bible don’t change and the presentations are still spot-on. Think of reading a classic book. A classic book was obviously written before the present day, since the language is a little different from 21st century English, yet it is always well-written and speaks of timeless truths. Dr. Moon’s DVDs are similar and will give important instruction and help children to realize that God’s big Book – the Bible, and God’s little book – Creation and true science, agree and support each other. This is what the great scientists of the past like Newton, Faraday, Maxwell, Pasteur, George Washington Carver, and many others believed and illustrated in their lives (see the scientific biographies in Plumfield and my reviews of them). I am a physicist, not a great one by any means, but I believe the same way.
The DVDs in the Plumfield Library are: Time and Eternity, Facts of Faith, Signposts Aloft, Of Books and Sloths, Ultimate Adventure, Red River of Life, Hidden Treasures, God of Creation, Experiences with an Eel, Professor and the Prophets, Where the Waters Run, Journey of Life, Prior Claim, Voice of the Deep, Dust or Destiny, God of the Atom, Windows of the Soul, Mystery of the Three Clocks, and City of the Bees. All are worth watching and are also available to watch free on-line – go to www.moodyscienceclassics.com to find URLs. The film quality of the DVDs is much better than the Youtube videos, however, so you might want to stick to the DVDs. Enjoy!