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
Book Review/Discussion
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
Science Book Club: When Science & Christianity Meet Ch 9
The Easter season is a natural time for Christians to reflect on miracles, as the resurrection of Jesus is the central miracle of our tradition. And as Robert Bruce Mullin reminds us in "Science, Miracles, and the Prayer-Gauge Debate," miracles are a natural point of contact when science and Christianity meet. Thus scientists and theologians at that interface today continue to take up the question of whether one can reasonably believe that Jesus of Nazareth died and subsequently returned to life in a physical sense. … [Read more...] about Science Book Club: When Science & Christianity Meet Ch 9