David C. Winyard Sr. (Ph.D., Virginia Tech) is an engineer and Science and Technology in Society scholar. From 1975–2012, he worked in R&D for the U.S. Navy and Defense Logistics Agency, receiving multiple awards and patents along the way. After retiring from federal service, he taught at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, 2014–2018, building its new engineering program. Since 2010, Winyard’s focus has shifted from technology development to its meaning. His 2016 dissertation analyzed connections between Christianity, and Transhumanism which seeks fundamental enhancements of life by science and technology. In an essay on the ASA and CSCA web sites, Winyard describes …
God, Evolution, and Animal Suffering
Is evolution impossible to reconcile with God’s work? A process based on competition, violence, and selfishness seems an odd way for the God of love to create the world. The objection I hear raised most commonly about evolutionary creation is whether God could really have subjected countless generations of innocent animals to the sort of suffering that the natural world as we find it entails. No good God could do that. And so, people look for theological alternatives. They look in particular to theories of fallenness. For the reformers, like John Calvin, it was human fallenness that was to blame. …
Todd Wood & Darrel Falk at TWU: The Fool and the Heretic
One does not have to be very familiar with the way in which science & Christianity are engaged on the internet in order to see how polarised the “creation/evolution debate” can get. More heat than light is typically generated as misunderstandings, misrepresentations, dismissals, and accusations are rampant. However, that’s not how it has to be, and space is being carved out in certain times and places for generous conversation. Last November, I wrote a brief introduction to biologist Darrel Falk’s “Prairie Tour” as he spoke in our Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Calgary chapters. And now Trinity Western University, where many …
Project Wrap-Up Newsletter
Our three-year Local Chapters Project ends with 2018. Read our newsletter PDF here!
The Value of CSCA: Notes from CSCA’s New Executive Director
The following is based on my remarks at CSCA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday 9 November 2018 held at Redeemer College, immediately after my appointment as CSCA’s new Executive Director was affirmed by the membership. I would like to thank my friends and colleagues on the Executive Council (EC), and the CSCA membership, for the trust and confidence you are placing in me to hold this office. And thank you to Don McNally, our outgoing Executive Director, who served in that capacity for the past 15 years. I am looking forward to this opportunity to serve and lead this …
November Prairie Tour with Darrel Falk
Winnipeg, MB • Steinbach, MB • Saskatoon, SK • Edmonton, AB • Calgary, AB In November, the Canadian prairies will witness a lecture tour featuring Vancouver native Darrel Falk speaking on “Evolution, Creation, and the God Who is Love.” Darrel Falk is well known for his ability to hold a clear position while maintaining peaceful dialogue in the face of criticism and controversy. He thus superbly embodies the ethos of CSCA, which seeks to maintain an attitude of respect, civility, and grace, an approach which carefully listens to opposing voices, while robustly puts forward one’s own arguments and responses to …
Regent College “Interface” Series Live-Streamed at TWU
“Science, Faith, & Human Flourishing” at TWU and the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation present a series of FREE PUBLIC LIVE-STREAMS hosted at Trinity Western University. These lectures will be live-streamed from Regent College in Vancouver. Note! With refreshments! Location: Northwest Auditorium, Trinity Western University, 7600 Glover Road, Langley, BC Six lectures live streamed at TWU from Regent: Professor McGrath, a leading authority in the field, will speak of his own perception of science and religious faith, reflecting on his progression from atheism to Christianity. The lecture will focus on two central ways of understanding the relation of science and religious faith: the …
Purposeful Randomness in God’s Creation
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. Adapted from Chapter 2 of Christian J. Barrigar, Freedom All The Way Up: God and the Meaning of Life in a Scientific Age (Friesen, 2017). Randomness in Creation? Is there genuine randomness …
ASA 2018 Live-Streams
Unable to join us for the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation (and CSCA)? Watch the live stream this weekend here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/DCBnnuBfpyz Events scheduled for live-streaming: (all times are Eastern Daylight Time) Friday, July 27: 7:00 PM – Opening Session Friday, July 27: 7:30 PM – Douglas Lauffenburger, “Humanizing Therapeutics Discovery” Saturday, July 28: 8:45 AM – Nigel M. De S. Cameron, “A Human Century?” Saturday, July 28: 7:30 PM – Francis S. Collins “The Joyful Complementarity of Science and Faith” Sunday, July 29: 11:00 AM – Noreen Herzfeld, “Cybernetic Enhancement and the Problem of the Self” Sunday, July 29: 8:15 PM – State of the ASA …
Looking forward to Janet Danielson’s Six Pieces of a Reverberant Cosmos
I first met Janet Danielson at a satellite conference of the 2014 Annual Meeting of the ASA/CSCA, entitled Academy Regained. The main conference was held at Hamilton’s McMaster University, and part of the satellite was held “up the mountain” at Redeemer University College. Janet’s talk on “Music as Science and Art” revealed to me the depth and breadth of her awareness of and engagement with the physics of music and the music of physics. She noted how music, like science, brings to light the glory of God. Her deep interest in exploring music as a precise quantitative art showed up …