CSCA is holding a conference dealing with science and Christianity in Canada at, and co-hosted by, Trinity Western University, May 11 – 14, 2018. This conference will include Canadians in science, speakers dealing with issues relevant to our theme, and talks on science and Christian faith in general. Info and registration: www.csca.ca/may2018 We are happy to announce that our full schedule of talks, both plenary and and breakout, is now available. A full programme booklet (including abstracts) will be available in April. Early-Bird Price Extended! It took us a little longer than expected to get this schedule together, so we have extended …
Looking Forward to Danielson on Copernicus
I first encountered Dennis Danielson at my initial ASA Annual Meeting in the Denver area in 2003. He was a plenary speaker at that time, and he held the audience spellbound by his presentation. It has been a delight to follow his research and publications from that time on. He is a respected expert not only on Copernicus, but also his “sole pupil” and assistant, Rheticus. Dr. Owen Gingerich, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Harvard once mentioned to me how critical Danielson’s research on Copernicus and that era has been for the entire science and faith dialogue. I urge you …
Remembering an Evening with Richard Dawkins
In late 2016, Richard Dawkins came to Vancouver, B.C. He was on stage at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (University of British Columbia) in an event billed as “AN EVENING WITH RICHARD DAWKINS … In conversation with Matt Dillahunty.” I live half-time in Vancouver with my wife, Sonya. We both respect Dawkins and enjoy his writings. So we bought our $100 tickets and attended the event. Taking our seats near the front, we settled in anticipating an intellectually stimulating lecture (well, we thought it would be a lecture) by Dawkins. It turned out to be more of a …
William Newsome (Stanford University), “Of Two Minds”
On January 30 & 31, CSCA co-sponsored three lectures by Stanford University neuroscientist Bill Newsome, along with UBC’s Graduate & Faculty Christian Forum and Trinity Western University’s Faculties of Natural & Applied Sciences and of Humanities & Social Sciences. At TWU he also spoke in a psychology class, conversed with faculty and graduate students over coffee, and advised and encouraged undergraduate students over dinner. He also gave a neuroscience research colloquium at UBC entitled “Detecting ‘changes-of-mind’ from neural population recordings in prefrontal cortex.” His TWU public lectures were entitled “Can Subjective Awareness (I.e. Consciousness!) Be Satisfactorily Accounted for by Modern …
Artificial Intelligence: Discerning A Christian Response
Derek C. Schuurman (PhD, McMaster University) is a professor of Computer Science at Calvin College where he currently holds the William Spoelhof Chair. Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture and Computer Technology (InterVarsity Press, 2013) is his most recent book. He describes for us on the ASA and CSCA web sites, the latest developments and challenges in artificial intelligence. That focus calls for our attention to the promise and threat, at hand and in the near future, for issues such as job enhancement and displacement, building in guidance for systems that will then act autonomously, and what it is to be a person. Schuurman’s essay is intended as an invitation. Readers are encouraged to take up one of the insights or questions, or maybe …
Earth Science & Christian Faith
As part of our 3-year Local Chapters Project, CSCA is producing a series of pamphlets on matters of science and faith. These “Faith and Science, Eh?” pamphlets are provided as a courtesy to help Canadians explore intersections of science and Christian faith in a variety of areas. These pamphlets may be downloaded, printed, and distributed free of charge. This blog post reproduces the full text of this pamphlet. Foundational Matters Geology, or earth science, as it is now more commonly referred to, is a fascinating topic which has intrigued many people and inspired many Christians. A Canadian scene of a …
Quantum Physics, Reductionism, and God’s Knowledge
As part of our 3-year Local Chapters Project, CSCA is producing a series of pamphlets on matters of science and faith. These “Faith and Science, Eh?” pamphlets are provided as a courtesy to help Canadians explore intersections of science and Christian faith in a variety of areas. These pamphlets may be downloaded, printed, and distributed free of charge. This blog post reproduces the full text of our first pamphlet. What is Quantum Physics? Quantum physics refers to our current understanding of matter and energy on the small scale of atoms and sub-atomic particles. Developed in the early 20th century, it …
Scholarship Reflection: Seth Hart
Seth Hart attended “Religion, Society, and the Science of Life,” a conference held at Oxford by the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science & Religion (July 19-22, 2017). Seth Hart earned his BA in Biblical Studies at Ozark Christian College (Joplin, Missouri) and an MA in Ministry from Johnson University (Knoxville, Tennessee). He is currently working on a Masters of Theological Studies at Regent College, Vancouver, and he plans to pursue doctorate studies in the field of science and theology. For 2016-2018, the CSCA is offering five scholarships per year (up to $1600 each) to send Canadian students to science-religion conferences …
Science, Religion, and the Governor General
Canada’s new Governor General, the Right Honourable Julie Payette, recently gave a speech to the Canadian Science Policy Convention, and in the process she took some shots at climate change denial, alternative medicine, and astrology, and expressed surprise that they are still debated “in learned society.” But what’s attracted the most attention is her incredulity “that we are still debating and still questioning whether life was a divine intervention or whether it was coming out of a natural process let alone, oh my goodness, lo and behold, random process?” It is not terribly surprising that she finds arguments for divine …
Scholarship Reflection: Stephen Sesink
Stephen Sesink attended the 2017 BioLogos Conference: Christ & Creation (March 29-31, 2017 in Houston, TX). The “Christ & Creation” BioLogos conference in Houston was a great pleasure to attend. N.T. Wright’s lecture was quite stimulating. He argued that in order to properly comprehend creation, we must reverse the “epistemological track” of the common evangelical conception of God and creation,