|
www.cis.org.uk |
CHRISTIANS.IN.SCIENCE PréCiS
April 2006 |
Ruth Bancewicz, Development Officer,
127 Catharine Street, Cambridge CB1 3AP. Tel: 0781 687 3515. ruthb@cis.org.uk no. 35
Caroline Berry, Secretary, 4 Sackville Close, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3QD.
Tel: 01732 451 907. cberry@pncl.co.uk
CiS Northern Conference 2006
Design and Purpose in the Universe
On
Saturday 18th March, almost 100 people gathered at St Nicholas
Church, Durham, to address the issue of "Design and Purpose in the Universe".
Dr Peter Bussey chaired the morning session, and opened by reminding us all how
relevant this topic is in the light of recent discussions in the media
surrounding the teaching of "Intelligent Design" in schools. What follows below
is a brief summary of what was said, but please note that you can find the
presentations on the CiS website.
Rev
Michael Roberts opened the conference with a helpful "Short History of
Design", from Plato through Paley and
Buckland to Dembski. He put forward the idea that seeing design in biology is more
like appreciating an impressionist painting than minutely studying a photograph.
Rev
Dr Rodney Holder then described the latest thinking on "Design in Cosmology", based on his recent book, "God, the multiverse
and everything" (Ashgate, 2004). He covered the evidence for the big bang
and fine-tuning in the origin of the universe that led the atheist Sir Fred
Hoyle to remark that it seems that "A common-sense interpretation of the facts
suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with
chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about
in nature." Evidence for other more complex models such as the multiverse
theory, is scanty – and still ignores the question of ultimate cause.
Dr
Denis Alexander addressed the question of "Design in Biology?" He
distinguished between the "weak" idea of design meaning a sense of purpose and
beauty in creation, and a "strong" design argument that uses specific examples
of "evidence" for the existence of God.
What followed was an in-depth look at the place of evolutionary biology
in a "robust Biblical Christian doctrine of creation", and how this contrasts
to the Intelligent Design movement. He focused on the idea of naturalism, and
stressed the point that Christians don't have to be "methodological
naturalists" in the lab, a phrase that suggests that their faith is left
outside the lab.
There was an opportunity
before lunch for CiS members to describe their activities locally. Eric
Middleton, a retired scientist, described his experiences as a college
chaplain. Having experience in science brings unique opportunities to discuss
spiritual matters.
Dr
Simon Kolstoe described the activities of the newly formed CiS South Central
group, and how people in the local church and university are working together
to organise events.
The
afternoon began with three short papers on various aspects of design. Jon
Reynolds presented a summary of "Design in the Thought of James Jeans", a mathematician and writer of popular science books
in the first half of the 20th century. Dr John Lockwood gave an
overview of "Design and Purpose in Climate Change", and how ideas of design relate to this more chaotic
system. Dr David Tyler, discussed the question "Is Design Part of Science?", and proposed that Intelligent Design should have a
place in scientific debate and education.
The
final talk of the day was "Design Arguments and the Scandal of the
Evangelical Mind" by Dr Ard Louis. He
discussed the different cultural influences among both evangelicals and
scientists, and how these cultures interact over the issue of design. He highlighted
evangelicals¹ unhelpful (scandalous) advocacy of immediacy, anti-traditionalism
and populism. The primary challenge here is to communicate apologetic arguments
at the right level for non-scientists to understand, but without going beyond
the scientific evidence.
At
the end of the day all four main speakers were part of a panel, discussing
questions that focused on the difference between design arguments in biology
and cosmology, evidence for design in biology, and theodicy.
Rev
Tom Moffat gave an epilogue on a Celtic theme, with Psalm 19 - "The heavens
declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands". It is
important to keep hold of the Celtic sense of coherence of all things,
involving both our faith and our search for knowledge.
Thanks
go to all the speakers, and everyone who was involved in making the day run so smoothly,
including several local helpers who served tea and coffee all day! Feedback so
far has shown that this was a very helpful look at a complicated and topical issue.
It has been so encouraging to see the northern conference grow so much over the
last few years, and we hope that this will continue.
Ruth Bancewicz
Charitable Status
The procedure for CiS to become a registered Charity is moving forward
steadily. The committee have agreed
the "Objects of the Charity" and a System of Governance. These are steps
towards the legal requirements. It is now necessary for the constitution to be
approved by the membership. The papers are enclosed. We will hold a brief Extraordinary
General Meeting during the lunch break at the Education Conference on April 29th.
The members present can vote to agree the constitution. For those unable to be
present a postal vote form is included among the papers. This should be signed
and returned to the Secretary, 4 Sackville Close, Sevenoaks, Kent. TN13 3QD, by
25th April. Once the
constitution is approved by the membership our application can be submitted to
the Charity Commissioners.
John Bryant, CiS Chair
Future CiS Conferences
Christians in Science and the
Stapleford Centre with the Association of Christian Teachers
Towards a Christian Framework
for Education
Saturday 29th April 2006,
10.00am - 4.00pm
Christ Church, Herne Bay, Kent
Accommodation available – see
website for details.
Speakers:
Ann Holt: Doing the same things differently -
bringing a Christian perspective to the task of teaching.
Nick
Spencer: Thoughts on
hidden liberal and libertarian challenges to the Christian message.
Martin
Rogers: Science and
Religion Project for Schools – progress in developing resources for
Schools.
Tom
Hartman: Feathery
Dinosaurs. Evolution, the best explanation?
Discussion
groups including:
Pete
Moore: Science,
Meaning and the Media
Tom
Kempton: Science in
the curriculum – Charis Science.
Booking form enclosed
____________________________________________
CiS London Conference
Mind Machines and Majesty –
The Boundaries of Humanity
Saturday 4th Nov 2006,
9.30am – 5pm
The London Institute for Contemporary
Christianity, Vere Street, W.1
Speakers:
Prof.
David Booth; Psychology
Dept., University
of Birmingham; "Minds, Mechanisms and Made Free: the scientific study of
human life, in gratitude to the Creator"
Dr Graeme
Finlay; Dept. of
Medical and Health Sciences. Auckland University, New Zealand; "Boundaries between
Homo Divinus and other primates"
Dr Calum
MacKellar; Scottish
Council on Human Bioethics; "Embryonic, Fetal and Post-natal Animal Human
Mixtures: An Ethical Discussion"
Prof.
Bill Newsome;
Neurobiology, Stamford University, California; "Boundaries between Choice
and Determinism"
Revd. Dr
John Searle, OBE; co-author
of "Life in our hands"; "What does it mean to be made in the Image of God"
Subscription Renewals are
due on April 1st (!) Apologies that the form was not mailed to you
sooner. We had problems sorting out the system for paying through credit cards.
It is being sent separately this time as there are differing arrangements for
different members. Please return it promptly, and we encourage you to make use
of the standing order form so that you do not have to take any action in
future. Please note that the subscription rate has increased so please update
your standing order if you already have one.
Education
A
big focus for those involved in CiS education has been the CiS/Stapleford
Centre/ACT conference "Towards a Christian Framework for Education" Herne Bay,
April 29th 2006. The conference unites these three different
Christian groups.
In
a previous PreCiS, you have read about the Stapleford Centre and, below, Rupert
Kaye explains a little about the Association of Christian Teachers (ACT). We
are also delighted that the environmental group A Rocha, www.arocha.org,
will now also be present at the conference; we hope to encourage other
Christian organisations to attend too.
It
looks to have the makings of an excellent conference, feedback from all over
the country has been positive. It would be good if as many CiS members as feel
able, come and support this event.
The
Association of Christian Teachers
There
are four Associations of Christian Teachers in the UK – one for each of
the home nations. ACT, ACT Scotland, ACTW and NIACT are non-denominational
membership organisations. Each provides professional and spiritual support for
Christians working in schools, colleges and other educational settings.
ACT
seeks to help Christians live out their faith in the workplace. On the one
hand, this involves helping teachers, teaching assistants, headteachers and
governors consider what it means to teach science ŒChristianly¹; to offer
pastoral support to students "Christianly"; to nurture links with the local
community "Christianly". On the other, it involves providing opportunities for
Christians in education to meet and share together in prayer and fellowship by
organising evening meetings, training days, weekend retreats and conferences.
ACT
also strives to influence policy makers, politicians, the media, the Church and
all those with an interest in education, by proclaiming a loving, biblical
Christian response to contemporary educational issues. http://www.christian-teachers.org.uk
On
March 10th 2006, The Times newspaper published an article by Tony
Halpin. His article was published under the title of "Creationism to be taught
on GCSE science syllabus". The
subheading read "Exam board is accused of confusing pupils by including
religion".
But
is it true that the inclusion of religious ideas in science lessons should
necessarily lead to confusion? Does that not depend on the quality of teaching
and learning?
I
took more than a passing interest in this story.
Creationism
is a highly contentious subject. Many Christians who are scientists reject
seven day creationism (Young Earth Creationism, YEC) as unscientific and
unbiblical. Yet there are others that do not take this position.
Illustrating
the tension in the Christian Church over this issue, Keith Ward, Regius
Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, published an article in the
Church Times (20/1/06) where he stated:
"Creationism clearly conflicts with
modern astronomy, cosmology, geology and biology. It has no reputable
scientific basis, and so it is perfectly reasonable to rule that it should not
be taught in schools as science"
Yet
Sylvia Baker, a Christian involved in the New Independent Christian Schools
Movement recently wrote in ACT NOW (The Association of Christian Teachers
magazine) an article arguing for a different position. She argues that the
theory of evolution is a fraud and those scientists who accept the theory of
evolution are on the same side as scientists like Richard Dawkins, basically
accepting an intrinsically atheistic idea.
The
article by Sylvia is part of an on-going conversation in ACT NOW. Sylvia¹s
position represents one position in a conversation. But Sylvia also claims
something else; she claims that Young Earth Creationism (YEC) is scientifically
valid and that the evolutionary theory has many problems that will eventually
lead to its collapse and exposure. That is a bold assertion and it is also one
that projects a religious interpretation of a particular passage of scripture
as a means of understanding the world about us. Is this a valid position to
take?
GCSE
science in schools is changing from 2006. The OCR Gateway to Science scheme that Tony Halpin writes about is an example of
such a change. It is a change that many science teachers welcome. It gives
opportunity to discuss the implications and media presentation of science
within a scientific framework, yet one that engages with important external
issues. It also provides examiners a chance to relate exam questions to topical
issues. The OCR Gateway to
Science scheme has an assessed
component called "Science in the News". Pupils are expected to demonstrate an
informed opinion based on scientific ideas and concepts.
Before
writing this article, I contacted the OCR concerning the Tony Halpin story.
Several points were made:
YEC
could then be manifest at least in some form within UK GCSE science. Is that a
bad thing though? Could it, for example, open up discussion about the meaning
of the word creation? It is often claimed that evolution and creation are
incompatible, whereas what is really meant is that ³special creation² and
evolution are incompatible. Creation is God bringing into being and providing
sustenance and this is not so often in question. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of
Canterbury, states his concern over creationism in a Guardian article
(21/03/06) by Stephen Bates, religious affairs correspondent:
"My concern is creationism can end up
reducing the doctrine of creation rather than enhancing it"
I
am not aware that Christians in Science has historically spent much time
responding to the YEC arguments on scientific grounds. Perhaps that is because
some in CiS would argue that the scientific evidence against the YEC position
is overwhelming. But is that the position of the whole school population? How
well equipped are school children to deal with these issues, especially when
religious and emotional loyalties may be at stake?
Volunteers
required!
I
would be interested to hear from CiS members prepared to write short summary
articles for GCSE and Sixth form pupils. These articles should address in
simple terms the scientific argument for the position they take on the above
issues. It might be helpful if these could be related to religious belief, but
this need not necessarily be the case.
Dependent
on your responses and by agreement, my intention would be to use our newly
developed website to provide schools and places of higher education across the
world access to these articles, at no cost.
Please
send any articles or comments to John Ling at jjling@btinternet.com
Prayer request
On
April 29th 2006 there are two education conferences. These link
together many aspects of Christian education in Britain.
Firstly,
there is the CiS/Stapleford/ACT conference in Herne Bay, as above. Members may
also wish to remember in prayer those involved in "Christian Education in
Schools" which is a conference to be held at Stirling North Parish Church at
exactly the same time, see www.socu.org/conference for details.
John Ling, CiS Education Secretary
**Summer courses at the Faraday Institute for
Science and Religion, Cambridge**
Booking is now open for residential summer courses,
to be held over two weeks in July. Speakers include Revd. Dr John Polkinghorne,
Prof. Roger Trigg, Revd. Dr David Wilkinson and Prof. Colin Humphreys. Substantial
discounts are available for students and postdocs.
Go to http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/faraday
for more details, or call or 01223
741281
Christian Workplace Forum meeting
at Houses of Parliament
The
Christian Workplace Forum was established in 2003 to network together and
support all the professional groups and workplace associations in the UK, and
now represents more than 80 groups.
On
7th March, more than 60 leaders of Christian Workplace groups met
with Alister Burt, MP, and other members of the Parliamentary Christian
Fellowship. This was an encouraging opportunity to discuss how workplace groups
can have an impact on society, and will be followed up with a further meeting
in October.
For
details go to http://www.cwf-uk.org/
or contact Ros Turner: cwf04@tiscali.co.uk/01767 641 005
CiS
Members in Action
Tues 25th April, Two lectures on "Dawkins,
evolution and design". British Army Chaplains' Conference, Hanover. Dr Denis Alexander
Sun 7th May, Preaching at St Andrews University Chapel.
Prof Colin Humphreys
Mon 8th May, "Science, Spin and Sales Pitches - Ethical Issues in
Science Communication", Exeter Café Scientifique. Prof
John Bryant
Mon 15th May, Teaching on Science and Christianity at Cornhill
Training Course, London.
Prof Bob White and Dr Denis Alexander
Sat 20th May, "Beauty in Science", Chipperfield Mens Breakfast. Dr Denis
Alexander
Mon 5th June, "The Historical Background to the Science-Religion
Debate", Templeton Foundation Journalists Course, Cambridge.
Dr Denis Alexander
Mon 12th June, Nottingham Café Scientifique; subject to be arranged. Prof John Bryant
Wed 14th June, "Who's designing your genes?", St Philip and St
James, Ilfracombe. Prof John Bryant
Sat 1st
July, "Pilgrims' Travels to Sinai",
Association for the Study for Travel in Egypt and the Near East, Oxford. Prof Colin
Humphreys
Please let us know of any
events that you are involved in over the next few months.
CiS Press Officer
Bob Carling has recently
been nominated as the CiS press officer, and will be aiming to raise the
profile of CiS events in the media in the coming months. We welcome his
support.
News
from CiS local groups
Cambridge
The CiS – Faraday Lecture Series in Science and Religion:
Prof Ronald Numbers
(University of Wisconsin-Madison)
"Myths and Truth in Science and Religion: A
historical perspective"
5.30 p.m. Thursday, May 11th 2006
Howard Theatre, Downing College
For further details, and
previous lectures go to http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/cis/
Nottingham
A
discussion group meets on the first Tuesday of even numbered months. The next
meeting will be on Tuesday 4th April at 8.00pm, and will be a review of the
Northern Conference.
Contact
Geoff Bagley on 0115 925 8801 or email
Oxford
"Has biology killed off God? Richard Dawkins, Daniel
Dennett, and the meaning of life"
Professor Alister McGrath of Wycliffe Hall
Monday 8 May. 7.30 – 9.30pm
St Andrews Church, Linton Road, North Oxford
Contact
Diana Briggs to join the mailing
list for future events (diana.briggs@gmail.com).
Edinburgh
Physicist, Prof. Paul Wraight will speak on
Mon 24th April,
St Paul¹s and St Georges Church,
Flat at 40 York Place.
Contact
Cathel Kerr for more details
Irish Branch Off To A
Good Start
The inaugural meeting of the
newly formed Irish branch took place at Bloomfield Presbyterian Church in
Belfast on Saturday 18th March. Participants came from a wide range of backgrounds and
denominations and took part in an informal debate on the subject of "Evolution,
Creationism and Intelligent Design".
Branch members then discussed
options for future meetings and topics for further debate. The branch agreed to run face-to-face
meetings in Belfast on a six weekly cycle, together with an e-mail discussion
group for members from further afield.
Next meeting: 3.00pm, Sunday
30th April at Bloomfield Presbyterian Church. Rev. Dr. Ron Elsdon will present a
paper for debate entitled "Claiming Back Genesis From the Creationists: Reading
The Bible From An Environmental Perspective".
For further information on the Irish Branch, please contact either Scott
Peddie tel.
028 9335 1379 (s.peddie@pattersonpeddie.com), or
Martin Brown (martin.oldcross@btinternet.com).
CiS
Central South
Central South CiS Inaugural Lecture:
Denis Alexander: "Beyond Belief? Science
and Religion in the 21st Century"
Boldrewood Lecture Theatre 1,
University of Southampton
Monday 8th May 2006, 7:30pm
If you would like more
information about this group please email Rob Heather
(robandanneuk@yahoo.co.uk)
or Simon Kolstoe
(skolstoe@soton.ac.uk)
Forming local groups
If you are interested in starting
your own CiS local group, contact Ruth or Caroline (contact details on page 1)
for a list of members in your area. You can also request a CiS speakers list. A
paper on forming local groups can be found at:
http://cis.org.uk/starting_local_cis_group.htm
or a paper copy can be sent on
request.
Get Chatting about science and faith!
Did you know that Christians in
Science runs an email discussion group? It's a lively group of CiS members who
have debated a range of topics, including: Miracles; Sin and Evolution;
Biblical Interpretation; Should Christians be in favour of GM Crops?; How does
one reconcile scripture and science?; Does God Intervene in Nature?;
Intelligent Design; etc. etc.
It is also a way of letting members of
the discussion group know about stuff that's going on in the news, meetings,
books that have been published, and so on.
Come and join us - add your pennyworth to
the discussions and get up to date with what's going on...
How do you join? There's details tucked
away in the Resources section of the CiS website - where you can either add
your email and click on the button, or you can send an email to christians_in_science-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Or, if you're already familiar with Yahoo Discussion groups, just toddle off to
their website and join there.
Bob Carling, CiS Press Officer
Web-watch...
Channel
4 recently broadcast Richard Dawkins' "The Root of All Evil" in two
episodes: "The God Delusion", and "The Virus of Faith".
Many CiS members may have seen this series, and talked about it in the tea-room
or pub with friends and colleagues.
CiS
journal editor and Faraday Institute director Denis Alexander published a
response in the 03 February edition of the Times Higher Education
Supplement. A longer version of
his article is available at
www.cis.org.uk/resources/articles/article_archive/DawkinsArticle210106.pdf
Madeleine
Bunting wrote a witty comment in the Guardian entitled "No wonder atheists
are angry: they seem ready to believe anything":
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1681002,00.html
Dawkins'
fellow Oxford professor Keith Ward critiqued Dawkins' black and white view of
the world in the Tablet:
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/register.cgi/tablet-01133
and
even Michael Rosen, who, together with Philip Pullman (of "I hate
Narnia" fame) appears in the Why Atheism? resource for schools, called
Dawkins to task for damaging the cause: http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=8141
We
have collected a number of other responses to Dawkins on our CiS website:
http://cis.org.uk/resources/dawkins.shtml
and
recommend "Dawkins' God: Genes, memes and the meaning of life" by
Alister McGrath (Blackwell 2004) for a more thorough (but very readable)
discussion of Dawkins' views on religion.
Ard Louis, CiS International Secretary
Lectures at LiCC
"What about Adam?"
Rev Dr Ernest Lucas, Mon 12th
June
"What about Darwin?"
Dr Denis Alexander, Mon 19th
June
Lectures begin at 6.45 pm, Vere
Street, London W1
Details from www.licc.org.uk, or phone 020 7399 9555
Submissions
for next PréCiS
Items
for the next PréCiS should be submitted to Caroline Berry at cberry@pncl.co.uk or
4
Sackville Close, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3QD
Committee comings and goings
Ernest
Lucas has been Review Editor for Science and Christian Belief for seven years
and many of us will have received books for review from him, a good incentive
to read a book that might otherwise have passed us by. He is now handing the
baton on to Rodney Holder who is Course Director of the recently formed Faraday
Institute. Many thanks to Ernest for all his hard work over the years. Although
reviews have sometimes appeared very late in the journal, the backlog is now
cleared and Rodney takes over a clean slate. Books for review should be sent to a forwarding address:
The
Revd Dr Rodney Holder, European Business Centre, Riverside View, Thornes Lane,
Wakefield WF1 5QW.
**Webmaster wanted**
You will hopefully have been making the most of our new website, which
is full of useful articles and information on current events. We urgently need
a webmaster to keep this up to date.
We are looking for someone with knowledge of HTML, who has time every
week to make the necessary updates.
Please contact ruthb@cis.org.uk for more details.
Changes at UCCF
Christians
in Science is one of several professional groups allied to the Universities and
Colleges Christian Fellowship. Most of these groups, including CiS, began life
as part of that organisation. CiS became a separate group in 1996. Since then
there has been an annual meeting, organised by UCCF, at which the various
professional groups up-date one another and liaise with UCCF through staff
worker Alan Hewerdine. Sadly this arrangement is coming to an end and the
Professional Groups are to be fully independent of UCCF. This change should not
have any great impact on CiS but does mean that it will no longer be possible
to donate money to CiS via UCCF.
Caroline
Berry, CiS Secretary
Change
of address? Graduated?
New
e-mail address?
If
any of your details have changed, please contact Tom Moffat at:
The Manse, Culross, Dunfermline, Fife,
KY12 8JD. Tel. 01383 880 231
E-mail: subscriptions@cis.org.uk