Christian Doubt» Science

American Scientific Affiliation Annual Meeting

Mark Lefers — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:48:11 +0000

I signed up recently for the 2011 ASA Annual Meeting. The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) is a society of Christians in science that within the past year I have become a “member” of. I can’t really be a member because I no longer believe their statement of faith. However, I can be a “Friend of the ASA” and receive almost all the benefits (no voting). I signed up for the ASA because I wanted to get in contact with other Christian scientist and get help with my unbelief and see how they deal with the cognitive dissidence. The local ASA meetings have been very interesting. One interesting aspect is meeting attendees. The main group are retired older men that had a science background. The other main group are college students and professors (the meetings are held at Wheaton College). So I’m in the minority in both age and beliefs. I have also got the sense that members have varying views of how to deal with both science and religion. Some appear to be old earth creationist and some theistic evolutionist. But I have yet to talk to anyone about the deep issues of doubt and unbelief.

In going through the tentative program of the annual meeting, I’m getting more excited to go. Here are some of the interesting topics that are going to be talked about:

Science and Scripture: Interpreting the Information –Terry Morrison
Dinosaurs under the Microscope: A New Look at Old Dinosaurs – Mary Schweitzer
Stem Cells, Embryos and Ethics: A Continuing Controversy – William Hurlbut
The Study of Paleontology and the Creation Mandate – Keith B Miller
Physical Geography of the Eastern Nile Delta during the Bronze Age: Implications for the Location of the Red/Reed Sea – Stephen O Moshier
Reorientation’ Therapies and Same-Sex Desire: Are they Effective and Ethical? – Heather Looy
Does the Success of Science by Itself Provide Strong Support for Naturalism? – Peter Payne
Myth and Mystery: Fostering New Avenues of Dialogue for Faith and Science – Matthew M Huddleston
Climate Change: Why Are Science and Faith in Conflict? – Katharine Hayhoe
Prayers for Healing: Does God Change His Mind? – Paul H Lange

I’ll also be curious if there will be discussion of the Christianity Today cover story about evolution that came out last month. The Christianity Today article discusses the search for the historical Adam and the implications if there was no historical Adam and Eve. They quote people from both sides of the camp, the BioLogos group and “all the other real Christians”. One of the statistics that I found interesting was from a mail survey of ASA scientist. 66% of them accept that humans share ancestors with everything else, and 90% accept an old earth. This was kind of disheartening. First, this means that 34% of the ASA (an association of scientists!) rejects or doubts a basic tenet of evolution. Second is that there is still 10% who are young-earthers.

Another disheartening part of the Christianity Today article are some of the quotes by evangelical church leaders.

“If Adam doesn’t exist, Paul’s whole argument – that both sin and grace work ‘covenantally’-falls apart . . . If you don’t believe what he believes about Adam, you are denying the core of Paul’s teaching.” Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

“Can the Bible’s theology be true if the historical events on which the theology is based are false?. . . The hermeneutics behind theistic evolution are a Trojan horse that, once inside our gates, must cause the entire fortress of Christian belief to fall” Richard Phillips, South Carolina pastor.

Tough words to chew on. . .
Check out the American Scientific Affiliation podcasts

Till sight needs not to prove

Mark Lefers — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:07:30 +0000

Here is a link to a fascinating story of George Romanes by Dr. Timothy McGrew. When I was first sent this story by Dr. McGrew I wept while reading it. I don’t know if it is the lack of sleep, the 80+ hour work weeks that had depleted my energy, or feeling like I have hit rock bottom, but the struggle between science and faith that Romanes dealt with hit so close to home. I felt so connected to Romanes in his struggles. Specifically with regards to naturalism. I keep hitting this wall of not being able to believe in the supernatural, especially when naturalistic explanations do so well. I just don’t know if I will be able to allow for a belief of something outside of nature when my mind has been wired to always think scientifically. I just don’t know what will get me past that. I hope that it will not take going through the valley of death to convince me, as it seemed to happen with Romanes. And at that time will I turn to faith out of fear of the unknown? Would it even be sincere?

Crucifixion and Death of a Man Called Jesus

Mark Lefers — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 01:03:16 +0000

I’ve been researching the crucifixion and the resurrection accounts of Jesus. So like a scientist, I started looking up journal articles and reading, and taking notes, and investigating more. I e-mailed one of the authors of one of the journal articles I read (Dr. David Ball) and he immediately e-mailed me back. He was very nice, and sent me reprints of two of his journal articles and even a copy of a book he wrote.

I’ve finally finished his book, “The Crucifixion and Death of a Man Called Jesus. From the Eyes of a Physician”, by David A. Ball, M.D. His book was a nice easy read, however sometimes it was a bit “too Christian” for me. What I mean by that is that sometimes the book did too much evangelism, and sometimes the book felt more like a devotional than a book investigating the crucifixion. Some of Ball’s arguments were also not well supported and a lot of his arguments relied on “since the Bible said it, it must be true”. However, I’m getting better about not getting distracted by things I may disagree with and try to glean things that are helpful for me.

Some of the things that were helpful to me or that I found interesting are the following:

Nice summary of some of the prophecies that Jesus is said to have fulfilled. (However, I still think the gospel writers wrote it to “fulfill” OT prophecy)
Explanation of the covenant cutting ceremony in Genesis 15:7-17 in light of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Hypothesis of why Jesus sweat became like drops of blood (Luke 22:41-44).
Medical description of the scourging and the typical cause of death by crucifixion.
David Ball’s hypothesis that Jesus died of a ruptured heart.
Comparison of Jesus to the Passover lamb.

Overall, I would say it was an okay book. I would recommend to first look at his journal articles here. These articles contained most of the things I found interesting. If you like these articles then check out his book which contains a little more details and more Biblical study (comparison with Passover lamb and prophecies).

Back to the books I go. . .

Science Is Real

Mark Lefers — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:06:24 +0000

I just love these songs. Not that science wasn’t already cool, They Might Be Giants just adds to it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ok, I admit, I’m a nerd.

What I’m not doubting

Mark Lefers — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:53:15 +0000

Maybe I’m biased. Maybe I prefer science over blind faith. Maybe I don’t get my information from right wing radio and cable host. Maybe I trust the scientific consensus too much. But this whole “scandal” on anthropogenic global warming (AGW) is frustrating. I find it interesting that the Christian right is so willing to deny AGW (and other theories with tons of data like evolution), but quickly believe something that has little hard evidence (supernatural being). Here are some videos that helped put this scandal to rest for me.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Evolution in Action

Mark Lefers — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:30:23 +0000

For all you out there who don’t believe in evolution, here is absolute proof of a transition between species.

Just kidding. Evolution doesn’t really work this way

Medical Theories on the Cause of Jesus’ Death

Mark Lefers — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:10:59 +0000

Ran across this interesting article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. It a nice review article that briefly list the many theories of how Jesus may have died. Some of the different theories of how Jesus died: Cardiac rupture, Heart failure, Hypovolaemic shock, Syncope, Acidosis, Asphyxia, Arrhythmia plus asphyxia, Pulmonary embolism, and Voluntary surrender of life. It illustrates once again the mystery behind Jesus, and how with even modern science we may never have a firm grasp of what happened.

The Cosmic Perspective

Mark Lefers — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:44:49 +0000

I like to think about the cosmic perspective. It is so easy to forget our place in this universe; that we are just specs on the earth, not to mention our solar system, galaxy, and universe. The size and magnitude of it all is mind blowing. It is just so hard to comprehend; it is outside my grasp.
While thinking about the universe, I sometimes toy with the idea that, what if. . .what if there is a God who created this all. That too, would be mind blowing. And if this were true, many of my other questions would fall away. For instance, did Jesus rise from the dead? Well, if there is a God who created the universe, it seems like it would be a small thing to raise someone from the dead. In fact, would anything be impossible? It also makes the mysteries (the Trinity, problem of evil, etc.) easier to deal with because if there is a God that great, is it no wonder that many things related to him would be completely outside my capability of understanding. Could a 3 lb organ possible understand the details of the universe, let alone the creator of the universe?

But as always this once again relies on a belief in God.

These are a few of my favorites clips that help give me a cosmic perspective.

Click here to view the embedded video.