In 1941, before the United States entered WWII, before antibiotics or AIDS, before nuclear power or bombs, before computers or even transistors… five scientists gathered in Chicago to start the American Scientific Affiliation. Now 75 years later in 2016, PSCF will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of ASA with a theme issue dedicated to the history of ASA. Such reflection may offer insights to orient and inform how we understand our present, and thoughtfully develop from here. Chris Rios is an assistant dean for graduate studies at Baylor University. He wrote most recently After the Monkey Trial: Evangelical …
Hearing God’s Voice in Nature
“Hearing God’s Voice in Nature” was the theme of this year’s annual meeting of our broader group, the American Scientific Affiliation. It was held at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa Oklahoma, from July 24 to 27. The campus was a very intriguing setting. As usual, the ASA staff efficiently carried out their duties, seeing that all ran smoothly. Program Chair Dominic Halsmer and Local Arrangements Chair Wes Odom worked hard and graciously to ensure a productive and spiritually enriching time. The contingent from Canada and the CSCA (pictured) numbered about 20, including the foursome from the Sikkema Family from Langley …
Dan Osmond (1934-2015) – Mr. Valiant-For-Truth
Tribute to a visionary By Don McNally It was with great sadness that I learned of Dan Osmond’s passing on Saturday April 24th. Not only had a very good and gracious man departed; a significant chapter in the history of the CSCA had also come to a close. For over 30 years, from the founding of the CSCA in 1973, Dan had been the preeminent voice of the CSCA. Although he withdrew from his high-profile advocacy and activism for the CSCA during retirement, he always had the work of the CSCA top of mind in his prayers and support. In …
Give the Gift of Kenotic Membership
Is God highly exalted, apart from creation, above and beyond space and time, transcendent? Yes. Is God present within creation, personally engaged, working in and through all things, immanent? Yes. Some religions consider the divine as being an utterly transcendent, disconnected, dictatorial figure. Others regard divinity as being wholly immanent, found within nature, bound within time and space. But the Christian faith acknowledges God as both transcendent and immanent. One event which gives great clarity and depth to this is the incarnation: God becoming human in the person of Jesus Christ. He “did not regard equality with God a thing …
Rosetta is Now Silent
We are pleased to republish today’s post by Luke Janssen, professor in McMaster University’s Division of Respirology, Department of Medicine, from his blog entitled Reaching into Plato’s Cave. Genesis 11:1-8: “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens …’ ” “The Lord said, ‘…Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building…” Last night we lost the ability to communicate with the Philae Lander that the Rosetta Probe dropped onto Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko, …
The Stars Aligned
On the subject of science and faith, the stars literally aligned for me this past July. Early in that month I gave talks to two different age groups on the topic, at the national Presbyterian Youth Conference at Brock University (Canada Youth 2014). Two weeks later at McMaster University, just down the highway, was the joint annual meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation, the Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation, and, from Great Britain, Christians in Science. Bethany Sollereder on the previous blog entry has shared some reflections on that meeting. I was asked to do an article for the Presbyterian Record …
Reflections on the General Annual Conference
This year’s conference marked my first joint conference between the CSCA (Canadian), ASA (American), and CiS (British) associations. It was, I think, a great success. While the CSCA regularly joins the ASA annual meeting, the addition of like-minded friends from across the pond brought a new dynamic to the meeting: a certain freshness and perspective that added a unique flavour to the meeting. Since I have been living in England for these last three years, the meeting was especially significant as it was a peculiar meeting of my worlds: my British friends were meeting my Canadian and American friends for the …
Attend our Annual Meeting (July 25-28)
The following was contributed by Randy Isaac, Executive Director of ASA (first published under “The Director’s Corner” in the Summer 2014 edition of the ASA/CSCA Newsletter). Republished with permission. “All things hold together in Christ,” the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Colosse. His profound insight into the universality of God’s creative and sustaining power through Christ continues to bring us awe and wonder as we study the world of nature. Exploring that comprehensive perspective is the challenge for the ASA/CSCA/CiS* annual meeting this summer. The theme “From Cosmos to Psyche” reflects the entire spectrum of the universe. From the …
Psychology and Christianity: Friends or Foes?
One area in which the “war” between science and faith is manifest is the study of human mental processes and behaviour – commonly known as psychology. Some psychologists view Christianity as a “crutch” for weak people, or something that is obsolete given our advanced understanding of neuroscience. Some Christians view psychology as unnecessary – all we need to know about human minds is found in the Bible. And some Christians who are also psychologists compartmentalize their work and their faith. Yet, as with other areas of science, there is no need for conflict or separation. There are many areas of …
Unique Storms, Unique Discoveries
As some of you are aware, most of England has been inundated with rain and lashed by gale force winds for the better part of the last two months. Although there has been widespread flooding and thousands of homes left without power, from a scientific point of view, there have also been some very interesting discoveries resulting from these storms. A couple of weeks ago I went down to Lyme Regis: the place where fossil hunting began. The storms had brought down several new portions of the fossil-filled cliffs onto the beach. At some personal risk (after all, one is …