The Emerging Scholars Blog

Last night our family discussed the shared practice of Lent.

By the grace of God the Father, our family will pick up the Spirit’s patience, keeping before us Galatians 5:22-26 as we grow in Christ-likeness in word and deed:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

We resolved by the power of the Spirit to give up human impatience, which became all too noticeable while being cooped up during the recent Northeast blizzard.  At the end of our discussion, one of my daughters suggested we really give up something earthly such as the internet.  My response was that we could consider the possibility, but first we’ll see how well we do with growing in and confessing when we fall short of incarnating God’s patience (and other fruits of the Spirit) in our life together over the course of the next week.

What are you picking up during Lent to fill the vacuum of what you’re giving up?  Is there a fruit of the Spirit which you yearn for and find difficult to nurture in the context of the academy? How can we pray for you and for the people of God in higher education as we journey toward becoming new creations through the resurrection power of Christ Jesus?

PS.  Looking for some prayers to guide your conversation with God today and through Lent?  Join me at Godspace.  Have some Lenten resources to share with ESN?  Please let us know by email or comment.

What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? As usual, here’s a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. If you have items you’d like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to Tom or Mike.

1. Alan Jacobs’ Grad School Thoughts: Should you go to grad school? “Probably not,” writes Alan Jacobs, Wheaton English professor and author of Original Sin, The Narnian, A Theology of Reading, and many other excellent things.  But if you insist, he’s got some good advice. (Also check out Alan’s contribution to our ESN article, “Why Get a PhD in the Humanities?”)

2.  James K. A. Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom ties for OUR MOST AUDACIOUS CLAIM: THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK OF THE YEAR with Matthew Crawford’s Shop Class as Soulcraft:  An Inquiry Into the Value of Work in Best Books of 2009 Part I by Byron Borger of Hearts and Minds Bookstore.  Take a few minutes to review the list, keep an eye out for two more parts going up next week, and let us know what books you’re interested in discussing this year.

3.  In The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Resistance in the American University (W.W. Norton, 2010), Louis “Menand asks four questions: Why is it so hard to create a general-education curriculum? Why have the humanities undergone a crisis of legitimacy? Why has ‘interdisciplinarity’ been seen—and ultimately failed—as a magic wand? Why do professors share the same politics?” — Oxygenating Academe: The Unpublic Intellectual (By Karen J. Winkler, Chronicle of Higher Education, January 10, 2010)

4.  ‘Baby Einstein’ Founder Goes to Court (By Tamar Lewin, NY Times, January 12, 2010):  Raises the question of access to and reproducibility of research in relationship to marketing and consumer concerns.  Do you know anyone who watched or advocated Baby Einstein?

5. Proof (or at least Evidence) That Mentoring Matters (by Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed): A study presented the American Economic Association’s annual meeting found that mentoring had a significant impact on the number of grants and publications for female economists.

Do you have Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion on your reading list (personal and/or group discussion)?  The book’s edited by one of the names in the study of science-religion in America, i.e., Ronald L. Numbers, University Wisconsin-Madison, Hilldale Professor of the History of Science and Medicine.  If you’re interested in hearing Numbers reflect on the new publication, swing by the author interview on Harvard Press’ promotional site.

As for the title of this entry, I’m referring to last week’s Science and Sacred post by Ted Davis, Messiah College, History of Science.  Here’s an excerpt.

The twenty-five authors in Numbers’ book – one for each of the short, pithy chapters – serve writ on the conflict thesis and its legacy. (To view the contents, go to here.) Many contributors, including Numbers and Lindberg, are major players in the history of science, and at least two will be known to many readers who rarely venture into the field: Edward Larson, whose book on the Scopes trial won the Pulitzer Prize in History, and Michael Ruse, a distinguished philosopher and historian who often writes for general audiences. (Full disclosure: I wrote the chapter on Isaac Newton, but I do not mean to imply that I am a major player and my enthusiasm for the book would be undiminished if I had not contributed to it.) Twelve contributors are agnostics or atheists (by their own statements) and eight are Christians, so charges of advancing a clear ideological agenda will not stick. All of us wrote with ordinary readers, not specialists, in mind, making this a truly rare book: where else can you find such authoritative scholarship delivered so accessibly and fairly on such an important subject?

In effect, this book delivers a public obituary for the warfare view, which has been dead among historians for decades – though many scientists, journalists, and others who know far less about the topic apparently missed the funeral. In fact, the real history of religion and science is too complex, with too many important subtleties and significant mutual interactions, to be captured by any simple metaphor – not conflict, not harmony, nor any other single word that comes to mind. The people who actually lived through the events – those we historians call the “actors” themselves – very often saw things quite differently from the ways in which we’ve usually been told they saw them, or must have seen them. — Ted Davis, An Obituary for the “Warfare” View of Science and Religion, Friday August 28, 2009

Any thoughts on to what degree the warfare view has gone to the grave in academic and/or popular circles?  You’ll hear more from me over the course of the next several months as I participate in the Central Pennsylvania Forum for Religion and Science’s discussion of Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion, but I thought I’d stir the pot.

Two specific items, I’m interested in from you:

1. Let me know if you’re picking up the book as an individual or as part of a campus book discussion.
2. Whether or not you’re reading Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion, if you have particular questions regarding the relationship of science-religion-faith which you’d like addressed on the blog, post them here.  As questions arise, I’ll see what insights Ted Davis, Messiah College, History of Science, might have to share with us.

A Faith and Culture Devotional

If you don’t already have a copy of A Faith & Culture Devotional, click here to learn how to enter a drawing for a free copy.  The first drawing is on August 31st and the second on September 7th. Whether or not you win a copy, consider starting off the new term with a copy in hand.

Thank-you to Kelly Monroe Kullberg for her work on this project and the gift of this week’s devo from John Stott, see excerpt below.  Note:  You may remember our June study Stott’s classic Your Mind Matters.

I believe that anti‐intellectualism and fullness of the Holy Spirit are mutually incompatible. And I dare to say it because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. Jesus our Lord himself referred to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth, and therefore, it is only logical to say that wherever the Holy Spirit has given his freedom, truth is bound to matter. So I have argued, and argue still, that a proper, conscientious use of our minds is an inevitable part and parcel of our Christian life. …

Francis Collins

What do you think about Francis Collins Picked To Head NIH?  The NPR piece lays his credentials, faith, and embracing of the two out in the open.  I wonder how many hits there will be to BioLogos (which the NPR article links to) over the course of the next several days?  See BioLoguration for my earlier comments on the blog aspect of this amazing resource. And if you haven’t read Collins’ The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, it’s time to pick up a copy (or at least catch the NPR interview) so you can talk about it with your family, neighbors, and colleagues ;-)

Would you agree or disagree with me that Christianity* is unfashionable on campus?  If so, would you go further with me to argue that Christianity is even more unfashionable on campus than in our larger culture?  Whether you agree or disagree with me that Christianity is unfashionable on campus, does Christianity need to be unfashionable on campus?  And if so, why and how? Read the rest of this entry »

What excites Tom most about BioLogos?  Hard to top the visual presentation structure and the carefully selected offerings found in the suggested resource section.  None-the-less, the weekly thoughts on Science and the Sacred may open new possibilities for much needed visceral, entry level conversation for those who face isolation, not realizing resources and events/communities exist.  The Science and the Sacred blog may also remind those who have found comfortable learning communities that they can be a blessing/mentor/resource to those early in their academic journey and/or in a location which feels isolating, even oppressive.

To give you a taste for the blog, below’s the first part of Francis Collins’ BioLoguration.  Check out the post and let me know what you would share with student at the beginning of their academic (possibly vocational) journey. Read the rest of this entry »

After last night’s launch event, BioLogos is up and running full steam.   As a member of the academic community, what are your thoughts on the BioLogos Foundation?  Can BioLogos accomplish it’s ambitious agenda or at least move the conversation closer to where it should be (see below)?  Are there particular resources, events, and discussions at BioLogos which impress you or stirr interest in dialogue?  BTW, come back tomorrow.  I have some thoughts  to share regarding … (well you’ll just have to wait)

The BioLogos Foundation promotes the search for truth in both the natural and spiritual realms, and seeks to harmonize these different perspectives.

Dr. Francis Collins established The BioLogos Foundation to engage America’s escalating culture war between science and faith. Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe I shouldn’t have been spending so much time thinking about Hell, see Deep Shift: Hell? (no doubt a natural extension to our discussions regarding resurrection), when Religion of hatred: Why we should no longer be cowed by the chattering classes ruling Britain who sneer at Christianity by A. N. Wilson has been such a great surprise and encouragement to many.  What are your reactions/thoughts regarding the article and A.N. Wilson’s story?

Note:  Two other recent pieces by A.N. Wilson which I found of interest:

Why I believe again

Can you love god and agree with Darwin?

Response:  Truly, He is Risen!

First, as we read the Easter stories, we note the strange absence of Scripture in them. When you read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ last days — of his arrest, his trial, and his crucifixion — you find Old Testament echoes, quotations, and allusions all over the place. The Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, and other books have provided material that has then been woven into the structure of the narrative. … Read the rest of this entry »