Corn and Strawberries, A Lesson on Induction

“If God takes human dignity and freedom seriously, then when man decides to plant corn, he won’t bring up strawberries.”[1]

I heard this quote in a lecture recently and I began to think of ways to help our children think more deeply as we plant seeds down into the soil this spring. Using planting as a springboard, let’s look at 3 things that will help kids build a strong Christian understanding of the world.

Because God created an orderly universe, we can confidently plant gardens and expect a harvest. This is an incredible blessing from God, and it takes us back to the book of Genesis:

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” (Gen. 1:11-12)

God created plants with seeds capable of producing more plants “according to their kind”. That’s why our ancestors planted corn and expected corn to come up. We have the same expectation today because that’s the way God created plants and seeds to work.

Now, unless God created the world the way He did, we would have no reason to expect corn to bring up corn.

If we lived in the kind of world proposed by atheists, a universe that came about by chance, there would be no reason to expect corn at all, let alone seeds to produce more. If the universe was not governed by God in an orderly way, the whole concept of planting would be a cosmic accident. And if it came about by accident, why doesn’t corn bring up strawberries, or broccoli, or even rocks? Of course, atheists plant gardens in the spring like Christians do, but they don’t have any good reason for why it all works, they simply take God’s orderly world for granted.

Expecting things in the future to resemble the past is called the Inductive Principle and it goes far beyond planting. We expect to see a blue sky tomorrow, if the weather’s clear. We expect our feet to stay on the floor as we walk to the kitchen each morning, and we expect our ketchup to come out of the bottle each time we squeeze it. Barring unforeseen events, we expect the summer’s harvest to resemble last year’s.

This is a key difference in the way Christians and non-Christians think about the world. The Dutch apologist, Cornelius Van Til, pinpointed the difference saying, “The difference between the two does not only appear in the interpretation of facts after they have been found, but even in the question what facts one may expect to find.”[1] While the Inductive Principle causes consternation for atheists, Christians have a ready answer. Not only did God provide us with the knowledge of sowing and reaping, he also told us the world would continue to function in uniform, orderly ways:

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Gen. 8:22)

We live each and every day of our lives assuming the inductive principle (even if we’ve never heard of it!) because that’s the kind of world God placed us in. God not only made an orderly world, He also created our minds to function within that order. The order is not always perfectly predictable because we live in a fallen world, but only the Christian worldview makes sense of why we live with such expectations.

As Resurrection Sunday approaches, it’s also a great time to recall that God uses seeds as a metaphor for our bodies. In I Corinthians 15:35-58, the Apostle Paul compares our bodies to seeds to explain our future resurrection. In v. 36 he says, “And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.” He continues the comparison in v. 42 saying, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” Writer and pastor, John MacArthur explains, “When a seed is planted in the ground it dies, decomposing, it ceases to exist in its seed form, but life comes from inside that dead seed. Just as God gives a new body to that plant that rises from the dead seed, so He can give a resurrection body to a man who dies.”[2] This is our eternal hope.

As we look around and see all the fresh buds and blooms this spring, we can rejoice knowing our bodies, like seeds, will one day be raised to eternal life! If we’ve repented of our sins and trusted in Christ, we can expect our future resurrection to be like the glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus! If you’d like to hear a great sermon on this fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith, author and apologist, Dr. Voddie Baucham delivers a great one here.

3 Concepts to Emphasize with Children:

The Bible tells us God made plants with seeds in them to produce after their kind. (Genesis 1:11-112)
The Bible tells us God made an orderly world where we can expect the future to resemble the past. The philosophical term for this idea is the Inductive Principle. (Genesis 8:22)
Jesus said our bodies, like seeds, will one day be resurrected to new life. (I Cor. 15)

Activities for Grammar/Logic Level Students:

Copy or print the quote at the beginning of this article, read it and discuss the concepts together.
Research a favorite fruit or vegetable at the library or online. Fold a piece of paper in half and have young artists draw seeds on the left and full-grown plants that correspond to the seeds on the right.
Memorize Genesis 1:11-12 and Genesis 8:22. Writing out Scripture verses is great handwriting practice!
If your children like to paint eggs this time of year, purchase wooden eggs and paint them like favorite garden seeds and/or foods. I painted some to look like corn and strawberries to reinforce the quote, see process photos below.
If you buy seed packets, affix the packet to popsicle sticks to create garden labels. Reinforce Gen. 1:11-13 by noting how plants always correspond to their seeds.

Discussion questions:

Why do we expect seeds to work the way they do? (Because God created them to work that way. Seeds produce plants just as the Bible says.)
What might happen if seeds didn’t work that way? (We would never know what to expect when we plant seeds.)
What would life be like if we couldn’t expect the future to resemble the past? (It would be unlivable!)
If you planted corn and strawberries came up instead, what would that mean? (the wrong seeds were placed in the packet, the packet was mislabeled, somebody is playing tricks on you, etc.)
Try to list all the times you expected the future to be like the past today.

The inductive principle is important for Christians of all ages to understand. I painted some eggs to prompt apologetic discussions on this topic and I’ve already had some interesting conversations! The corn and strawberries reinforce the quote and Genesis 1:11-13. I also painted one egg to look like a clear, blue sky, reminiscent of Genesis 8:22. This project could be adapted for a Sunday school class or homeschool project. I hope you have a blessed Resurrection Sunday! Thanks for stopping by! ~Scarlett