Preface Robert Boyle, illustrious scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society, described how, while in Geneva on a continental holiday, he underwent a conversion from nominal, unthinking Christianity to committed Christianity. As a result of his experiences, he stressed the need for Christians to have what he called an "examined faith." [1] John Stott, discussing Paul's letter to the Christians in Philippi, drew attention to the importance for all Christians to heed the apostle's exhortation to "contend for the faith … [Read more...] about Time to discuss faith, psychology and neuroscience?
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Interview with Jennifer Wiseman, Part 2
Jennifer Wiseman is an astronomer who studies star forming regions of our galaxy using optical, radio, and infrared telescopes. Her career has involved oversight of national astronomical facilities as well as public science policy and discourse. In 1987 she co-discovered the periodic comet 114P/Wiseman-Skiff as an undergraduate researcher at MIT. She has a bachelor's degree in physics from MIT, and a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University. In Part 1 of her interview with ESN, she shared some of the latest … [Read more...] about Interview with Jennifer Wiseman, Part 2
Becoming a Thoughtful Christian in the Secular Academy: Part II
Last week I wrote about my journey as a developing follower of Jesus in a secular university. I told you that I'd become a stronger Christian during my time in the academic world, and now I want to tell you a little bit about what happened in my mind and heart during that time. This post is, to an extent, a response to Andy Walsh's question in the comment thread of last week's post in this series: You mentioned that your Christian faith is stronger as a result of the experience. Did you find that aspects of your … [Read more...] about Becoming a Thoughtful Christian in the Secular Academy: Part II
Review: The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert (Pittsburgh: Crown & Covenant Publications, 2012). 154 pp. Rosaria Butterfield is the kind of woman she herself once bitterly opposed. The homeschooling pastor's wife and adoptive mother of four was not raised in the Reformed Presbyterian Church. She was a self-described “lesbian postmodernist,” (p. 41) a professor of English and Queer Theory conducting research on the Promise Keepers movement, when she encountered Christian hospitality at … [Read more...] about Review: The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
What keeps Jim Sire believing?
What keeps me believing, what holds my faith, is not the way I understand Scripture, but the fantastic way Scripture explains me to myself. I am particularly struck by the way Jesus, who amazes me every time I think of him, becomes personal to me as I read the Gospels and as I see his presence in the saints and the sinners around me. And, O yes, in God's creation -- those magnificent Sandhills, the Holy Land of Nebraska, icon of the near edge of eternity. -- Jim Sire. Conclusion to "Chapter 11: A Final Apologetic: Why I … [Read more...] about What keeps Jim Sire believing?