As we anticipate summer rhythms, ESN wants to offer book suggestions from our readers. Our hope is that this will provide great conversation starters for ESN members as you engage with each other online and at events like the upcoming InterVarsity faculty retreats and the American Scientific Affiliation conference. We also hope you find some great summer reading. The format is simple: Give us the title, a quotation from the book if desired (150 words or less), and a paragraph on why this book is worth reading (for … [Read more...] about Summer Book Suggestion: Strange Survivors by Oné Pagán
Book Review/Discussion
Science Book Club: When Science & Christianity Meet Ch 12
Are definitions descriptive or prescriptive? That's a classic conversation about language. I enjoyed this recent Twitter exchange that encapsulates the discussion well. Neil.— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) April 13, 2018 Neil deGrasse Tyson seems to come down on the prescriptive side, or at least would prefer that meanings remain static. Most dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster, aspire only to describe how we use and have used them. Dictionary editors don't want to be in the business of legislating … [Read more...] about Science Book Club: When Science & Christianity Meet Ch 12
Science Book Club: When Science & Christianity Meet Ch 11
When I chose When Science and Christianity Meet for our book discussion, I thought it would keep us away from current politics. I figured The War on Science had given us enough of that for a while. Yet as the historical narrative encroaches further on the present, the relevance becomes harder to deny. If politics applies truth to arrive at policies, and if science is a way of discovering truth, then the two will inevitably be intertwined. That was the case in the Scopes trial nearly a century ago, and it's the case now. … [Read more...] about Science Book Club: When Science & Christianity Meet Ch 11
Reflection: Congregations, Neighborhoods, Places
"When we expand 'neighbor' to 'neighborhoods' and when we move from merely being nice to our next-door neighbor to thinking about creating better neighborhoods, we find that being a good neighbor is harder than we thought." - Mark. T. Mulder[1], Congregations, Neighborhoods, Places (16). … [Read more...] about Reflection: Congregations, Neighborhoods, Places
Science Book Club: When Science & Christianity Meet Ch 10
The more we evolve, the less we need God. That's the proposition up for debate in a recent Intelligence Squared event. And if that phrasing wasn't enough to raise the eyebrows of Christians, the pro-God side is represented by Deepak Chopra and Anoop Kumar, who share a concept of God that seems more pantheistic than personal. Of course, no two people could represent the full range of religious beliefs, and in many other comparable debates or dialogues one or a few Christians wind up standing for all believers of all … [Read more...] about Science Book Club: When Science & Christianity Meet Ch 10