We are grateful for the chance over the past four weeks to post sections of Matt Lunsford’s fine essay, “A Christian Mathematician’s Apology” based on G. H. Hardy’s autobiographical essay A Mathematician’s Apology. This week we have compiled the links to the four parts of his essay as well as Matt’s bibliography for use in discussion groups, or for greater ease in reading different sections.
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A Christian Mathematician’s Apology:
Finding My Vocation. Matt describes how he discerned his calling to study and teach mathematics.
Integrating Faith and Mathematics. Lunsford describes what it means for him to be a “Christian mathematician” and what it means for him to live the integrated life.
Redeeming the Discipline. Matt outlines his ideas of what “redeeming the discipline” looks like for him as a mathematician.
Thinking Christianly. A description of how Lunsford “thinks Christianly” about both his scholarship and pedagogy.
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Works Cited
Hardy, G. H., and C. P. Snow. A Mathematician’s Apology. Cambridge U.P, 1967.
Lewis, C. S., and Walter Hooper. God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics. Eerdmans, 1970.
Lewis, C. S., and Walter Hooper. On Stories, and Other Essays on Literature. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982.
Palmer, Parker J. To Know As We Are Known: Education As a Spiritual Journey. HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.
About the author:
Matt D. Lunsford is University Professor of Mathematics at Union University where he has been a faculty member since 1993. He holds a doctorate in mathematics from Tulane University. His current research interests include classical Galois theory and finite fields. He and his wife Deanna have three grown children: Cara, Thomas, and Emma; one son-in-law: Brennan; and one adorable granddaughter, Eana.