For the past 50 years, the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation has facilitated discussions about science and Christian faith in Canada. As part of our 50th-anniversary celebrations, we asked 50 CSCA members to comment on their personal connections to science, scripture, and Canadian scenery. We will share these contributions throughout 2023 in the hope that you will find them engaging and encouraging.
CSCA member of the week: Dr. Jordan Mallon, Palaeobiologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature
1. Why did you choose your scientific discipline?
I loved dinosaurs as a kid, and I never outgrew them. Their pre-human history, incomplete fossil record, and unfamiliar anatomy make them especially challenging to understand, and yet I find great joy and satisfaction in trying to appreciate them as once-living animals.
2. What is one of your favourite Bible verses and why?
“Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults.”
—1 Corinthians 14:20
There’s a common misconception that critical thinking is anathema to Christianity and that we must hold to our faith blindly. This verse is one among others in the Bible that reminds us that we should use the very brains that God gave us, and to think critically about what we are told, in matters of faith and otherwise. 1 Corinthians 14 also speaks to the fact that if we are to change minds and hearts, then we must speak plainly and make ourselves understood. I think this applies doubly to us as Christian scientists.
3. Which Canadian city or landscape do you love exploring and why?
I love driving, and one of my favourite places to explore is the Ottawa Valley, between Ottawa and Algonquin Park. There’s so much to see between the small towns, historical markers, beautiful landscapes, and fossil localities. I never grow tired of it.