NEWSLETTER

of the

American Scientific Affiliation & Canadian Scientific Christian Affiliation


VOLUME 31 NUMBER 6                                                DECEMBER 1989/JANUARY 1990


NEWSLETTER of the ASA/CSCA is published bi-monthly for its membership by the American Scientific Affiliation, 55 Market St., Ipswich,
MA 01938. Tel. 508-356-5656. Information for the Newsletter may be sent to the Editor:
Dr. Walter R. Hearn, 762 Arlington Ave.,
Berkeley, CA 94707. Q1989 American Scientific Affiliation (excepting previously published material). All Rights Reserved.
Editor: Walter R. Hearn / Production: Nancy C. Hanger


SOMETHING SPECIAL

We greet you at Christmas as we end our 20th year of editing the Newsletter. That makes 1989 somewhat special, though each of those years seemed special around this time. Maybe the coming of Christmas has that kind of effect on us.

The first Christmas, the birth of Jesus, was obviously something special. Unusual things occurred. Strange events shook people up. Tough shepherds got so scared that they needed comforting (Luke 2). Confused scholars kept checking things out, as scholars should (Matthew 2).

It's hard to picture exactly what happened. But if a single life (and death) was meant to affect all life (and death), how would we expect it to be marked? For a message of eternal importance, astounding cosmic events may have been perfectly "in order." At the crucifixion, seismic events got the attention of even the military authorities, when "the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split" (Matthew 27:51-54).

THAT we can picture, this year at least. The problem is keeping the memory alive, not only the shaking of October 1989 but the thousands it made homeless and

jobless for months to come. Even harder is remembering all those people homeless and jobless long before the earthquake. Millions suffer tragedy all over the world. It's so easy to forget.

Christmas is a special reminder that God loves us all. Jesus Christ, having brought God's love to you and me, wants us to pass it on. He cares about people in persistent hunger and pain, and about those around us in imminent danger. He wants us to care about them. We begin by caring for each other. So, dear brothers and sisters in the Lord's family, Merry Christmas. -Walt & Ginny Hearn

GETTING OUR ATTENTION 

At 5:04 on Tuesday, October 17, the Lord definitely got our attention. Now we're trying to figure out what he wanted to tell us. At the very least he wants us to finish bolting our house to its foundation. And to get serious about some other things.

Our Wedded Editor crawled out from under the dining room table at 5:05 saying, "Let's move." We're still thinking about that. If the violent motion had lasted another 15 seconds, or the quake had been on the Hayward fault, or the epicenter had been 50 miles farther north on the San Andreas, we'd probably be among the homeless people TV soon tired of showing. Homelessness isn't "visual." Remarkably, the only thing here that fell over was a foot-high stack of unanswered mail in the Newsletter office. Honest. We suffered essentially no structural damage.

Psychological damage is something else. Aftershocks and predictions of a much more devastating 7-pointer on the Hayward fault disturb our sleep. We didn't lose electricity, so we watched news break nonstop on TV, once stations came back on in a few minutes with auxiliary power. It was ironic that people who tuned in to the first ever "Bay Bridge World Series" saw only pictures of a gaping hole in that bridge. Was this "The Big One"? At first we didn't know. We knew only that we were alive and that our house was still standing.

Jammed lines made us think our phone was out. Out-of-town relatives and friends dialed our number for days before reaching us. Eventually calls began coming in from people checking on us from around the country. One of the first to get through was ASA managing editor Nancy Hanger. This time she wasn't asking the whereabouts of the Newsletter copy but the howabouts of the editor. She recalled staying in our already shaky Troll House on her way to the 1988 Annual Meeting-and traveling through the Cypress section of 1-880, now a concrete deadfall. Jim & Kathleen Buswell of Pasadena sent a note assuring us of their concern and prayers.

All over the Bay area, damage was terrible in some places but not in others. We've checked on a few ASAers. Buildings were damaged on the Stanford campus and some Stanford homes lost chimneys. Dick Bube had glass breakage and spillage in the kitchen, but Dick cleaned up the mess before Betty returned home from ushering in a new grandchild in Illinois. After a note in C&EN about slight damage at Genentech in South San Francisco, we called Ken Olson in Burlingame; daughter Marcie said her dad went to work the day after the quake and hadn't mentioned damage.

Ken Lincoln was O.K. in Redwood City but we still haven't reached Bob Miller in Gilroy, where, we've heard, a whole block of houses collapsed. Berkeley soils engineer Al Kropp was undamaged but embarrassed: a bookcase fell over in his office with his earthquake books-all advising that bookcases be fastened to the wall. After working three days as a volunteer in hard-hit Santa Cruz, Al's badge gained him a close-up look at Oakland's collapsed 1-880 freeway. (We remember Al saying years ago that during an earthquake he wouldn't want to be driving that stretch.-Ed.)

An ASAer who narrowly missed being there at the wrong time is Paul McKowen, who was returning to Fremont on 1-880 that Tuesday afternoon. Deciding that the commuter traffic looked lighter on 1-580, Paul turned off just before that stretch, at about 5:00. Almost immediately his car radio went on the fritz, he thought-not realizing that the station had gone off the air. At home, trying to tune in the Series game, he suddenly realized what had happened. At a later prayer service at his church, these words conveyed a special meaning:

God is our shelter and strength,

always ready to help in times

of trouble.

So we will not be afraid, even if

the earth is shaken

and the mountains fall into the

ocean depths;

even if the seas roar and rage,

and the hills are shaken

by the violence.

(Psalm 46:1-3, NEB)


BULLETIN BOARD

(1) ASA's MID-EAST TOUR may still have room for YOU! Deadline for deposit of $200 was set at Nov 15, but a quick call to ASA's Ipswich office (508-356-5656) may still get you on this bargain tour. Dates: 6-20 August 1990. Roundtrip Philadelphia-Cairo-Amman-Istanbul- Philadelphia via KLM Airline; 14 nights' accommodations (6 in Cairo; 3 in Amman; 5 in Istanbul); airport-hotel transfers; continental breakfasts included. Cost per person (including tax), double occupancy, $2143.00; single occupancy, $2393.00. Additional charge for optional side-trips to Luxor (2 days, from Cairo, $200); Petra (from Amman); Ankara (from Istanbul). Full information from George Jennings, Middle East Missions Research, P.O. Box 632 Le Mars, IA 51031; tel. (712) ~46-5947.

Leading the trip will be missionary anthropologist and Islamic specialist George Jennings, plus Middle East historian Ed Yamauchi. In Egypt, visit the pyramids- -famed-, Cairo museum, Islam's prestigious Al-Azar University, the American University, a fellahin (peasant) village, plus the temple city of Luxor. In Jordan, ruins of the Roman city of Jerash, Bedouin city of Mafiraq, ML Nebo overlooking the Jordan Valley as seen by Moses, plus the famous Nabatean capital of Petra. In Turkey, St. Sophia and Istanbul sites, New Testament city sites (Ephesus), ancient Troy, perhaps even Ankara and ancient Hittite sites. Imagine having Ed to guide you through the centuries, George to interpret contemporary Islamic culture on this trip of a lifetime!

(2) The ASA/CSCA DIRECTORY for 1990-91 should be mailed to members in the spring, according to managing editor Nancy Hanger. Electronic mail addresses won't be included in a separate category because so few were submitted. Maybe next time, if enough members with electronic addresses send them into the ASA office!

(3) The Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation held its own Annual Meeting at the U. of Toronto on Saturday, November 4. The theme was "Ethics of Organ Transplants." Featured speakers were Dr. Abbyann Lynch, director of Westminster Institute for Ethics and Human Values and professor at the U. of Western Ontario, probably Canada's foremost Christian biomedical ethicist, and Dr. Calvin Stiller, an evangelical Christian and head of organ transplantation at the University Hospital in London, Ontario.

(4) Physicist Jim Neidhardt and physiologist Tom Hoshiko represented ASA in September at a meeting with ITEST director Robert Brungs, S.J. (Ph.D. in physics) and his assistant. ITEST is an institute set up at St. Louis University to explore the interaction of theology with science and technology. It has about 500-600 members; holds conferences; publishes proceedings, a bulletin, and monographs; and has experimented with video production. Fr. Brungs was interested in ASA publications and all parties wondered if some kinds of---cooperation might be beneficial to both groups.

MARION: FRESH LOOK

John Suppe is Blair Professor of Geology at Princeton University. He has a B.A. from U.C. Riverside and Ph.D. from Yale, and has taught at UCLA, National Taiwan University, and Caltech. John became a Christian about 11 years ago through Princeton Univ. Chapel, primarily through reading the Gospel of Mark. He edits THE NEWS! of the newly formed Affiliation of Christian Geologists (ACG). In Vol. 1, No. 1, John tells how he discovered ASA at its 1989 Annual Meeting in Marion, Indiana, where ACG held its first official meeting.

Before that meeting, John knew of us only vaguely through Princeton physics colleague Bob Kaita. He assumed that ASA's founding in 1941 made it part of a broader effort, begun in the '40s, to provide scholarly underpinnings for Christian faith. He thought our existence had probably encouraged Christians in science to be more articulate. But what was "a fellowship of Christians in the sciences committed to understanding the relationship of science to Christian faith" really like? That , s what he learned firsthand at Marion:

"It was like no other scientific meeting I have ever attended. We were a very diverse group of about 200 scientists together with nearly a hundred spouses. I met biologists, chemists, physicists, geologists, biochemists, engineers, medical researchers, computer scientists, historians, philosophers, and others. Nevertheless, it was a much more unified, friendly, and interactive group than I have ever met in the scientific or academic world. The fact that we all stayed in the dorms and ate together helped-Penrose Conferences in geology also involve small groups living together, but this was far beyond any Penrose Conference I have attended. Clearly our unity was in Christ. And now I'm starting to see more clearly what the academic world is meant to be.

"Each year the meeting emphasizes some public issue 'in which science and religious faith intersect. This year's theme was medical ethics, which included a field trip to the research labs of Lilly Pharmaceutical Company. It's stimulating to hear talks on topics far from your field, such as gene splicing, in-vitro fertilization, and medical practice in the ancient world. It's stimulating to listen to other scientists at lunch or on the field trip describe how they became Christians or how their faith is making an impact through their careers. It's stimulating to sing hymns and choruses in chapel each morning with two hundred scientists, half of whom sound like they are in church choirs-this is a great way to start off the day at a scientific meeting."

John found the ASA booktable Itquite stimulating to my pocketbook." He went on to describe ASA publications and give ASA and CSCA addresses, since only about a quarter of the 250 earth scientists on the initial ACG mailing list are now members of ASA. We hope his experience draws more ACG members into ASA. John Suppe joined ASA right after the Indiana Wesleyan meeting.

Maybe seeing an Annual Meeting through fresh eyes will help you resolve not to miss another one.

MARION: HOT TOPICS

0n I Nov 1989, James Mason, assistant secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, announced continuation of a ban on federal funding of medical research using fetal tissue. Many NIH scientists expressed anger over a virtual shutdown of what they consider a promising area of investigation. The announcement was cheered by the National Right to Life Committee and others who argue that such research encourages abortion.

That Washington Post news story shows the ongoing relevance of our 1989 Annual Meeting theme. Not all of us who attended would be on the same side of the argument, no doubt, but all of us are better informed. Even the plenary speakers and panelists disagreed on certain issues--but that's what makes an ASA meeting so stimulating.

Howard Jones's keynote lecture and Jim Swanson's response (see Oct/Nov Newsletter) were followed by plenary speakers taking the "Human Intervention" theme beyond in-vitro fertilization. Don Munro described recombinant DNA research and its applications. Few but Jeremy Rifkin now raise objections to somatic-cell gene therapy (where unforeseen problems would not be passed on), but other applications cause more concern. Almost everybody has some reservations about germ-line gene therapy; many worry about misuse of human enhancement (e.g., using bioengineered human growth hormone to produce taller basketball players); and much debate ensues about engineering new forms of life (e.g, oil-eating bacteria to clean up oil spills). Don concluded that the risks of going ahead may be balanced by the costs of holding back, especially in life-or-death situations.

Bob Herrmann traced the history of DNA research from 1953, when, as a biochemistry grad student at Michigan State, he read a new paper on DNA structure by Watson & Crick. About a dozen inherited human diseases can be alleviated (e.g., by diet for phenylketonuria); for thousands of other genetic defects, gene therapy is the only hope. Bob said everyone in the audience probably inherited half a dozen defective genes, but the diseases aren't expressed because we have two sets, though our offspring may get a bad gene from each parent. Biochemist Gordon Mills added that to keep a PKU child alive for four years costs some $7,000/year for the special, phenylalanine-free diet. Gene therapy, if it were possible, would cure the disease by restoring the child's missing phenylalanine-metabolizing enzyme.

Peter Vibert brought all this technical talk down to a personal level, telling of his wife's amniocentesis when it was known that Peter's sister had Down's syndrome. Amniocentesis is only one way of gaining hitherto unknown genetic information about ourselves and our unborn children. Peter thinks the human genome project will accelerate the process, enormously complicating the task of genetic counseling. It is difficult to resist the onslaught of information, though Gareth Jones argued in Brave New People that some information is unusable because it would be irresponsible to use it. "Do we really want to know what we'll die of?" The church has an important role, Peter insisted, in declaring the full humanity of people with handicaps.

Many contributed papers took up similar themes. Tomuo Hoshiko, for example, spoke on "Forbidden Knowledge," showing how the acquisition and use of various kinds of information is put "off limits" by legislation or government decree (e.g., by the ban on funding of fetal tissue research). He argued that biblical precepts should illuminate, not dictate, the public interest.

Stanley Rice discussed "Limitations of Genetic Engineering," concluding that the complexity of human gene expression will probably place great limitations on our ability to redesign people. Stan reviewed the sorry history of
"eugenics," which

tried to benefit certain elite groups with little regard for the welfare of humanity as a whole (a point also made in a recent NOVA program on mapping the human genome).

Hessel Bourna emphasized that "breakthroughs" in genetic knowledge will continue, as will the need for moral reflection on the power such knowledge brings. To what extent ought we to diagnose, treat, and intervene in the lives of human beings in utero, in newborns, in children, in adults, in the aged? How do we act faithfully without risking violation of the image of God in human life?

We can't review all the papers here (with parallel sessions, we didn't even hear all of them), but many others related in some way to medical ethics or the practice of medicine itselL Some were heavy on theology: for example, George Murphy applied Luther's theology of the Cross to bioethical issues and Howard Ducharme discussed the moral theology of IVF, relating it to the Incarnation. Mary Jane Mills looked at the history of medicine in the ancient Near East, and Ed Yamauchi extended that into New Testament times, with specific regard to ideas and practices of contraception, abortion, and infanticide.

The richness of this year's theme was illustrated in Arn Nelson's concern for the human side of medicine; William Watson's review of Institutional Review Boards in clinical research; Barb Hoshiko's efforts to bring a spiritual dimension to nursing; Miriam Ross's concern for the world's children; Bill Monsma's echo of C. S. Lewis's warning in
The Abolition of Man. Discussion groups offered by Ken Dormer on research ethics and David Moberg on the health care system continued the theme.

Topics unrelated to the bioethics theme also got a workout, including the perennially popular topic of creation and "creationism" (David Wilcox on the critical issues; Gordon Mills on evolutionary presuppositions; Joe Lechner on Bob Genrty's radiohaloes; Dallas Cain on interpreting Genesis 1). More generally, Jerry Bergman spoke on the physics of time; Jeff Greenberg on the crisis in science education; Charles Hummel on science and hermeneutics; Sherm Kanagy on the proper place of the miraculous in science education; Stan Lindquist on cognitive and emotive aspects of Christian faith; Jack Richardson on the permeation of society by New Age thought.

All that and more, in just one Annual Meeting.

MARION: SCENE & HERD
ndiana Wesleyan University was called Marion College until a few years ago. Local opinion was evidently divided on the name change. Some thought having a University upgraded the town; others thought the name Marion College had been good advertisement for Marion, Indiana. Local arrangements chair Bob Werking and his transportation subcommittee, Marvin Hinds, didn't seem puffed up by their move up the academic ladder from a college to a university. When Marv delivered his first vanload of incoming ASAers to the wrong dorm, though, he took some kidding about how easy it is to get lost on a big university campus. His brand new "previously owned" Plymouth Voyager made the trip back and forth to the Indianapolis airport countless times.

Marion is in Grant County, "situated strategically between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne," six miles off 1-69, which runs between those somewhat larger cities. (Indianapolis is in Marion County, which is a bit confusing.) Most ASAers had no chance to see the 26,000 acres of recreation area surrounding Lakes Mississinewa and Salamonie just north of Marion. But the corn was everywhere beautiful, lush and green, after getting plenty of rain at just the right time. The weather committee had arranged very pleasant weather for the first week in August-with air conditioners in the dorm rooms as back-up. Indiana Wesleyan University was a great place to meet.

A field trip to Eli Lilly and Company's Corporate Center on Monday morning was arranged by Lilly research chemist and former ASA president Ann Hunt. After an early breakfast, ASA pharmaceutophiles were herded onto a big bus for the 80-mile trip into Indianapolis. A well-orchestrated program began with a multi-media presentation of Lilly's history, facilities, and major products. After touring the Lilly "campus" in small groups, they gathered for a question-and-answer session before lunch in the company cafeteria. The man with answers was Dr. Ray Fuller, a world authority on serotonin biochemistry and pharmacology whose work paved the way for the anti-depressant Prozac. The sheer magnitude of the lab's operation, and of the time and money put into developing a new pharmaceutical agent, gave many a new perspective on state-of-the-art medicine and medical research.

MARION: SEEN AND HEARD

0fficers of the new Affiliation of Christian Geologists had been elected by mail: Davis Young of Calvin College, president; Solomon Isiorho of Indiana/Purdue in Fort Wayne, vice-president; and John Suppe of Princeton, secretary. At Marion they got down to earth, you might say, with a couple of business meetings, a field trip to a nearby patch reef, and a meal together at a local eatery. They elected Ken Van Dellen of Macomb College acting treasurer and planned a breakfast get-together for Nov 8 at the Geological Society of America meeting in St. Louis. Jeff Greenberg of Wheaton College was making final arrangements.

If the biologists are forming a similar subgroup, it seems to be at a more embryonic stage, but they did forage together at Rosie's Little Italy on Monday night. Plans are afoot for a special Friday session for biologists at the 1990 ASA ANNUAL MEETING at MESSIAH COLLEGE, AUGUST 3-6. The program for that meeting will be planned by the Creation Commission, by the way, chaired by Dave Wilcox of Eastern College.

As usual, a lot more was going on than we can report here (even if we could still read our notes). Almost a dozen topics were aired in Sunday night discussion groups. We stumbled into one conversation
that turned out to be a meeting of the Global Resources & Environment Commission, working on plans for the environmental Sunday school curriculum material they're writing. Reports at the Annual Business Meeting were upbeat, even about the television series: incubating, possibly accelerating.

Both nominees for the Executive Council were introduced at the Annual Business Meeting: biologist Elizabeth Zipf of Biological Sciences Information Service in New Jersey and earth sciences teacher Helen Martin of Unionville High School in Pennsylvania. (We predict that the vote will be close but that the next Council member will be a woman from an eastern state.-Ed.)

A card handed us by Luis 0. Garcia identified him as an M.D. in the practice of obstetrics & gynecology in Santa Ana, California. The booklet he handed us, "Recuperaci6n Cientffica del Perd," was, er, uh, in Spanish. We caught on that Luis goes back to Peru regularly to work in a clinic. As a Christian he was upset that most Peruvian expatriates seem to care little about the decline of . their homeland; they can vote absentee but pay no taxes to Peru. Luis spoke English well, though so softly that we missed a lot. His booklet seems to contain scientific, theological, and political arguments, but our Spanish may not be good enough to distinguish them. It seems to argue that Roman Catholicism has not helped the Peruvian people and that the economic situation is becoming critical. Evidently several professional organizations, such as the Peruvian Medical Association, were planning to discuss such issues in Lima in August, and Luis Garcia was seeking some kind of moral or intellectual support from ASA. Yo lo sentf, pero no pude ayudarle. Que lastinw.

Ken Dormer of the U. of Oklahoma Medical Center was participating in his first Council meeting at Marion. Ken may get famous if his new technique aids as many hearing-impaired people as tests seem to indicate. He won't be any prouder of that, though, than he was of carrying the real Olympic torch for a leg of a cross-country relay to an Olympic Festival. At Marion he ran three miles each morning. Trained as a cardiovascular physiologist, Ken spoke at the first morning devotions on taking care of our hearts, both physically and spiritually. The spiritual "exercises" of trusting, forgiving, and not getting angry turn out to be physically important, too.

In the joy of fellowship were reminders of the reality of pain and death. A truly "Asian flu" picked up at the Lausanne Conference in Manila kept Dave Fisher from attending. We were glad to see Harold Hartzler, ASA's most faithful attender, but seeing him reminded us of his wife Dorothy's death this year. Glenn Kirkland told us that his wife Grace can no longer speak. At the meeting, John Vayhinger fell and had to have his cut lip stitched up. Wayne Ault showed us a big scar from getting konked on the head while he was building something at home. Tom Dent told a scary story about passing out in the classroom and still not functioning at full capacity months later. And Mike Sonnenberg-remember the videotape of his badly burned little son at the 1982 Calvin College meeting? His son, now 10 years old, is still having operations to make his joints more flexible after all these years.

At the first chapel, Jim Neidhardt read a memorial to his friend and mentor, theologian Harold Nebelsick. It seemed an appropriate thing to do, and it gave us an idea. Maybe instead of publishing obituaries irregularly in the Newsletter, we should devote one devotional period at every Annual Meeting to memorial tributes for each member who has died in the past 12 months. Then we could publish the whole list together in the following issue of the Newsletter.

FIDELIS ET CLARUS

Several readers expressed appreciation for the account of the revision of ASA's Statement of Faith (Oct/Nov 1989, pp. 2-3), including the range of opinion expressed on the ballots. Charles Hummel wanted to add some clarification of both the content of the new statement and the process of arriving at it.

Charlie reminded us that the committee (Jim Neidhardt, George Murphy, and himself) was appointed in 1986 to advise the Executive Council. After making changes in the committee's proposal, the Council submitted a fmal version to the membership for a vote. Charlie wasn't passing the buck, just pointing to the broad denominatinal. spectrum represented in the combined committee and Council: Baptist, Brethren in Christ, Christian Reformed, Independent, Episcopal, Lutheran, and Presbyterian.

The committee kept in mind that ASA is not a church but a para-church organization, and that any "statement of faith" merely identifies biblical teaching essential to an organization's nature and purposes. Apart from Scripture, no statement has ultimate authority, whether it be the Apostles' Creed or some evangelical group's "doctrinal basis." Brevity and adeTi~cy were the major criteria, requiring a focus on major issues pertinent to ASA's special calling. In hindsight, the committee recognizes that it let brevity rule when it recommended "Triune God" instead of "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

The word trustworthiness was introduced partly because, although inerrancy has been a center of theological controversy, it is not a biblical term. The committee took its wording from David's prayer of thanksgiving, "Your words are trustworthy, 0 Lord," from 2 Samuel 7:28. (Other versions have true or truth; paraphrases read something like, "You keep your promises.
"--Ed.) The statement calls for a response of personal trust in God, who has revealed himself in Scripture, our final authority in faith and conduct.

Despite some unfamiliarity, the phrase contingent order was chosen to convey the theme of Colossians
1:17 and Hebrews 1:3: the creation, for its continuing existence as much as for its origin, is constantly dependent on God. Further, Charlie adds, "God's continuing actions in the creation, both recurring and miraculous, are a result of his sovereign will and free choice, not some kind of necessity laid upon him. That is the ground for scientific explanation of nature's forces through investigation of how they work."

Finally, the added statement of commitment to stewardship is an example of sensitivity to new issues. When the old statement was formulated, science was enthroned with little if any concern for the effects of its technology on the environment. That's why, Charlie says, "Statements of Faith" have to be revised from time to time.

WHEREVER GOD WANTS US: 9.

The developing two-thirds world is where many ASA and CSCA members think of serving God, because that's where technical skills like ours are scarce. God may also desire our service in parts of the world where science and technology abound but where Christian commitment may be scarce. Maybe that's in the lab where we are now, or some other place in North America. On the other hand, it might be somewhere else.

A fascinating report at the Indiana Wesleyan meeting was given by Gordon College chemist Jack Haas. Jack made use of a Pew Foundation travel grant under auspices of the Christian College Coalition to spend the past three summers visiting European scientists interested in theology, and theologians interested in science. Tape recorder in hand, Jack made contact with such scholars wherever he could find diem, asked about science-faith dialogues there, and spread the word about our Affiliations at the same time.

Communication wasn't always easy, even in English, because words like evangelical, religion, or even science can have different shades of meaning in different countries.

Jack learned of several landmark conferences paving the way for future dialogue, in West Germany in
1986, at the Vatican in 1987, and in the Netherlands in 1988. ASA member Herman Haefner told Jack of his work with the SMD (German Student Mission) and the Karl Heim Society (which publishes Evangelium und Wissenschaft). Jurgen Huber of FEST, a Protestant "think-tank" near the University of Heidelberg, has published an annotated bibliography, Der Dialog zwischen Theologie und Naturwissenschaft (1987), which should introduce more English-language works to German thinkers.

In France, evangelicals are a minuscule minority in a country where only 4 percent of the Catholic majority attend church regularly and where Islam is the second largest religious affiliation. In the Netherlands, Calvinist scholarly associations, a broader Institute for Christian Studies, and a more conservative new Evangel College coexist, interacting to some extent. In Spain Jack found a few evangelical scholars functioning in a changing political scene. Italy has few Protestants and far fewer evangelicals. In Greece the few evangelicals lack literature on science and theology in the Greek language.

The U.K. scene seems more familiar, of course, but isn't always easy for an American to sort out. Jack found different perspectives and some resentment as he crossed borders between England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Overall, he concluded that in both the English and non-English speaking nations of Europe, interest in the relationship of science and Christianity is growing. Evangelicals have some voice in such discussions, but in many areas need encouragement and help. "Scientific creationism" has advocates here and there, and other factors also divide the evangelical witness.

Jack thinks our Affiliations and individual members should try to develop stronger links with our European counterparts, to broaden our perspectives as well as theirs. He recommends more effort to establish one-on-one contact on visits to Europe, more participation in meetings, possibly some collaborative speaking, writing, or translating projects. As he takes over the editorship of Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, Jack may be able to stimulate some of these activities. For example, he said at Marion that he wants to encourage announcements and reports of meetings in Europe. He may even appoint some "foreign correspondents" to keep us in touch. Some kind of international directory of evangelical scholars might be very useful.

In 1985, the Greater Europe Mission (P.O. Box 668, Wheaton, IL 60189; P.O. Box 984, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 7N2) established an evangelical English-language seminary on the continent. Tyndale Theological Seminary (Egelantierstraat 1, 1171 JM, Badhoevedorp, Netherlands) has an international and interdenominational student body. Wonder if their library has a subscription to Perspectives9

ACROSS OUR DESK

More "books and rumors of books" have been flowing across the Newsletter desk. We call your attention to a few of them.

A PERSONALS item last time mentioned the role of Charles Thaxton in editing the forthcoming Of Pandas and People, by Dean Kenyon & Percival Davis. The supplementary high school biology text has since come forth, with full-color illustrations and a winsome panda on the cover. Published by Haughton Publishing (P.O. Box 180218, Dallas TX 75218-0218), the book is really the product of the Foundation for Thought and Ethics in Richardson, Texas, of which Jon Buell is director. Your sharp-eyed editor rushed off a letter to alert Jon that some not-so-sharp editor at Haughton had dropped the footnotes but left their numbers in the text. Then we saw a full-page ad for Pandas in the Nov 1989 issue of NSTA's The Science Teacher, indicating that the "chapter-by-chapter lists of references" are to be found in a Teacher's Guide to the text. That ad, by the way, contains endorsements by Brandeis biophysicist Peter Vibert and Texas science teacher Lois Harbaugh.

Months ago we spotted an ad for a two-volume work by Wendell R. Bird, The Origin of Species Revisited: The Theories of Evolution and of Abrupt Appearance (Philosophical Library, 31 W. 21st St., #1117, New York, NY 10010). The ad quoted Gareth Nelson of the American Museum of Natural History as saying that Bird "is basically correct that evidence, or proof, of origins-of the universe, of life, of all the major groups of life, indeed of all the species-is weak or nonexistent when measured on an absolute scale.... " Nelson, who called the book "perhaps the most scholarly effort among many of this kind to appear in recent years," contributed the Preface. Bird is the attorney whose name is well known for his role in the Louisiana "balanced treatment" UW that went to the U.S. Supreme CourL Thanks to the generosity of Davis Weyerhaeuser, we received two sets of this big "Bird Guide to the Fields" (of origins and evolution), with instructions to pass one set on to Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education. Vol. I "outlines a scientific theory of abrupt appearance" and discusses possibly insoluble difficulties with evolution. Vol. 2 covers the "philosophy, theology, history, education, and constitutional aspects of origins." It will take time to work our way through these massive missives. We note already that Bird tries to refer to advocates of "the nonevolutionary family of views" not as "creationists" but as "discontinuitists." (Maybe if enough of us avoid misusing it, the term Creation will make a respectable comeback.-Ed.)

The first double issue of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, official journal of the International Christian Studies Association, published by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (2828 Third St., Suite 11, Santa Monica, CA 90405) has appeared, under the editorship of Oskar Gruenwald. The book-sized JIS contains over a dozen papers on the future of interdisciplinary research and on Orwell, Huxley, and twentieth-century totalitarianism. The first section has papers by David 0. Moberg ("Is There a 'Christian Sociology'?") and James 0. Buswell 1H ("Toward a Christian Memanthropology").

So far we've seen only a flyer about its Sept 1989 release, but the latest book from the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship sounds like a reprise of the Annual Meeting theme: Christian Faith, Health, and Medical Practice (Eerdmans, paper). Calvin biologist Hessel Bourna, who gave a paper at Marion, is one of the co-authors.

A fascinating volume on which we hope to base an issue of SEARCH is Vol. 4 of MY7A: A Publication on Entontology (1989), published by Insect Associates, 3955 Reston Court, South San Francisco, CA 94080 (for sale by Dept. of Entomology, California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA 94118). It contains Autobiographical Anecdotes (I Was a Preacher's Kid) by Edward Luther Kessel, plus A Tribute to Edward Luther Kessel on the Occasion of His 85th Birthday and a bibliography of Ed's work, both by Paul H. Arnaud, Jr. The hardcover book is full of great yams, so keep an eye out for a SEARCH issue on octogenarian entomologist Ed Kessel.

"Now for something completely different." Education in the Sciences, the 1989 Science Education Directory available on request from the Office of Science & Technology Education, AAAS (1333 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20005), contains many addresses and other useful information. But in a list of organizations and societies affiliated with AAAS, we couldn't resist

tracking down the following: Amer. Soc. for Aesthetics; Amer. Soc. of Agronomy; Amer. Sociological Assoc.; and Amer. Statistical Assoc. Those "other ASAs" sound like better company for the American Scientific Affiliation to keep than some we already knew about, such as the American Schizophrenic Association and the American Sunbathing Association.

LOCAL SECTION ACTIVITIES

METROPOLITAN NEW YORK

At the Oct 7 meeting at The King's College, the topics of Thomas Torrance's two lectures were "The Impact of Christian Theology on the Foundations of Scientific Knowledge" and "The Singularity of Jesus Christ."


ROCKY MOUNTAIN
Oops. We goofed. The date set for the meeting at the U. of Colorado at Boulder featuring Ken Touryan as principal speaker is Saturday, Feb 10 (not Feb 3 as announced in the Aug/Sep issue).

THE EDITOR'S LAST WORDS: 6.

Does this issue seems to have a more serious tone than usual? Frankly, we can't tell. Most of it was written within three weeks of a 7-point earthquake, close enough to Berkeley to sober us
considerably. While writing it I felt one aftershock strong enough to make me move toward safety-after saving to disk, of course.

A light heart seems appropriate for anyone whose spiritual burdens have been lifted by faith in Jesus Christ. I usually test the Newsletter by watching Ginny proofread the next-to-last draft, hoping for three audible chuckles, or two chuckles plus a definite smile. For this longer issue my calibration scheme may not be reliable.

At the Annual Meeting I recall expecting a British accent from David RandaH, then figuring out that the "U.K." on his T-shirtmeant  "University of Kentucky." I enjoyed another double meaning when olfactory physiologist Molly Bailey, wife of Ohio chemist David Bailey, assured me that "rats smell better than humans." And I took note of Howard Van Till's asking, "Is this Session 11-B, or not 11-B?"

I'm sure a lot of other funny stuff went on, but the earthquake seems to have rattled my . . . Oops. Save to disk and head for the door. See ya.

PERSONALS

Elinor Abbott is finishing up her Ph.D. work in anthropology at Brandeis University (disrupted once by the theft of all her field notes). This fall she was scheduling her oral defense and a public lecture sponsored by the Andover Historical Society. Although she has studied both Latin American and West African societies, her dissertation explored the early social history of the town of Andover, Massachusetts. Wycliffe Bible Translators has reassigned Elinor to Guatemala, where she will help phase out Wycliffe work there by training local people at a small university in Guatemala City to continue translation and literacy work among Indian descendants of the Mayas. She expects to leave for Guatemala Jan 10, returning briefly to the States on May 20 to take part in Brandeis graduation exercises.

George W. Andrews of Alexandria, Virginia, has retired from the federal government after thirty years with the Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy of the U.S. Geological Survey. He plans to continue research on fossil diatoms as time and circumstances permit.

George Ayoub has a Ph.D. in physiology and does research in retinal physiology at U.C. San Francisco. He and his wife Kirsi live in Berkeley and are active 'in Berkeley's First Presbyterian Church. George's writings on the application of theology to everyday life have appeared in several issues of the church's quarterly magazine, First Press.

Thomas Bieler completed his Ph.D. in materials science at U.C. Davis in April 1989 and accepted a one-year position as assistant professor at Michigan State. Tom and Stacey found an apartment in Okemos, four miles from the East Lansing campus. In his spare time, Tom has been building an airplane-not a model, a real one. He had finished the fuselage and was almost ready to install the engine when we last heard. The Bielers have a vision for ministry to international students and at Davis spent much time with friends from China. Stacey, co-author of China at Your Doorstep (IVP), a booklet encouraging Americans to make Chinese friends, serves on the board of the Association of Christian Ministries to Internationals (ACMI). Tom and Stacey look forward to contact with some of the 300 Chinese students at MSU.

Joel Cannon is now a physics professor at Calvin College in Michigan after completing his Ph.D. at the U. of Illinois. He specialized in the theoretical physics of condensed matter and statistical mechanics. Joel missed the 1989 ASA Annual Meeting because he was defending his thesis in Urbana and moving to Grand Rapids. He's looking forward to being part of the Calvin community and exploring more fully how scientists can serve God's kingdom.

William W. Cobern has moved from Texas to Phoenix, Arizona, where he is professor of science education at Arizona State U.-West Campus. In that new institution Bill has responsibility for developing a program of teacher training in science and for coordinating joint efforts with local community college and school districts to improve science teaching.

Arnold Dyck of Penticton, B.C., Canada, was featured in a full-page story in the 16 July 1989 Okanagan Sunday about his Sterile Insect Release (SIR) project at the Surnmerland Research Station. After receiving his Ph.D. at McGill in 1964, Am did entomological work at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines until his return to Canada in 1982. There he enlisted in the Okanagan Valley's 30-year war against the coddling moth (responsible for wormy apples). He picked up the "insect birth control" project from a predecessor at the Ag Canada lab after trying other approaches. Total eradication is the aim, which begins to be cost-effective when compared with, say, 30 years of spraying with insecticides, besides being better for the environment. Getting all growers to agree to a huge integrated cleanup and quarantine project required diplomatic skill, but just before adjournment, the 1989 B.C. legislature passed a bill launching the SIR project. Relieved, Am is still working to reduce costs and to be sure other pests don't increase once the spraying stops. Betty ("moth-er" of Tim and Andrea) says the whole Dyck family plans to relax on a well-deserved Christmas vacation in Austria.

Robert J. Frank is now an assistant professor of mathematics at Seton Hill College in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He was formerly at The King's College in New York.

Norman Geisler of the Liberty Center for Research and Scholarship in Lynchburg, Virginia, spends a lot of time speaking under the auspices of Quest Ministries but continues to write books. Recently released were The Infiltration of the New Age (Tyndale) co-authored with Jeff Yutaka and The Battle for the Resurrection (Thomas Nelson). In November Norm took part in the Evangelical Theological Society meeting in San Diego.

Kenneth "Gil" Gilman is the psychologist for an inpatient psychiatric unit of the Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle, Maine. For the past two years he was in outpatient practice with a mental health center in the same community, in the northernmost county of the state. Aroostook county is the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, with a population of less than 100,000 spread "all over the north woods." With only six psychologists in the whole county, Gil has to maintain a fairly general practice but can still cater to his interests in group psychotherapy and psychological evaluation. He does a lot of teaching in workshops and seminars for organizations and church groups. He recently returned to Texas A&M, where he got his Ph.D., to give a seminar in the counseling psychology program on "Clinical Practice in a Rural Environment." Rural? Yee-ehpp. Wife Ana and son Luke have adapted well to an environment suited to cross country skiing, followed by folk music around the wood stove. Not many church options in any one place. The Gilmans, who worship at the local Catholic church, have recently started a home Bible study.

Raymond E. Grizzle, a marine biologist, has moved from Durham, New Hampshire, to Livingston, Alabama. Ray has joined the faculty of the Division of Natural Sciences & Math at Livingston University there.

Charles E. Hummel of Grafton Massachusetts, favorably reviewed Evolution: The Great Debate (Lion, 1989) by Vernon Blackmore and Andrew Page of England in the Sept 22 issue of Christianity Today ("The Evolution of Evolution," p. 54). Charlie, recent past president of ASA and author of The Galileo Connection and the booklet Evolution or Creation? (both IVP), serves as faculty specialist for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. In November he spoke at several campuses in Texas and in December will visit U. of Tennessee campuses in Chattanooga and Knoxville.

Jack Irvine of Oakland, California, has just retired from 20 years as International Services Officer and Counselor at Merritt College. As president of Evangelical International Schools, Inc., Jack keeps supporters informed about Murree Christian School in Pakistan and also about what goes on in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he once taught. Christians returning to Kabul to serve people there are finding food and fuel extremently expensive in the besieged city. Jack and Beverly's daughter, Shireen Perry, has told the story of her late husband's ordeal with AIDS in a new book in IVP's "Saltshaker" series. The Irvines are praying that In Sickness and in Health, co-authored with writer Greg Lewis, and a CBN videotape of the story will bring God's love to many people living in the shadow of AIDS.

Fred Jappe, chemistry professor at Mesa Community College in San Diego, has returned from a very satisfying six-month leave at Daystar University College in Nairobi, Kenya. Fred highly recommends Daystar, Africa's only liberal arts college, as a place for Christians to invest a sabbatical. Its undergraduate curriculum is accredited by Messiah College and its graduate work by Wheaton. Daystar does research on improving ways of communicating the gospel. Fred took several graduate courses while teaching there and met some outstanding faculty members. Daystar needs help with its science facilities so Fred urges us to send them science textbooks and equipment. Even better, take experiments and lightweight equipment with you when you go to teach there. Right now an unpaid position in physical science and/or bio-ecology needs to be filled. Contact Dr. Godfrey Nuguru, Daystar University College, P.O. Box 44400, Nairobi, Kenya. (Never mind the pay: Fred went on five safaris and saw Egypt and Israel on his way back to the States!)

Glenn 1. Kirkland was one of six persons elected to the Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame for 1989, which rated him not only a Certificate of Recognition but a congratulatory letter from the White House signed by Barbara Bush. A physicist retired from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Labs, Glenn is also known as the founder of the Alzheimer's Disease Association of Maryland in 1979, and the "best supporting actor" in two award-winning films starring his wife Grace, a victim of Alzheimer's.

Andrew Levin received his Ph.D. in economics at Stanford this year and is now an assistant professor at U.C. San Diego, with interests in macroeconomics and economic development. Andy lives in La Jolla and when we heard from him this summer he was looking for a church home.

James E. Logan is a student at the U. of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita. So is his wife Donna, whom he married in July of this year.

Mary Jane Mills of Galveston, Texas, is a historian and wife of biochemist Gordon Mills, recently retired from the U. of Texas Medical Branch. This year Mary Jane is chairing a committee to plan a 1990 celebration of the sequicentennial of the founding of their local church. In 1989 the church celebrated the centennial of its present church building. After the celebration, she's thinking about going on the 1990 ASA Middle East Tour.

Douglas Pittman is a Ph.D. candidate in biology at the U. of Iowa. He has a B.A. from Mt. Vernon Nazarene College (OH) and M.S. from Marshall University (WV), both in biology. Doug taught at Mt. Vernon before moving to Iowa City. The transition was made smooth for Doug and his wife by helpful folks at "a neat little church" in Iowa City.

Pattle P. T. Pun, Wheaton College biology professor and author of Evolution: Nature & Scripture in Conflict? (Zondervan, 1982), had an opportunity to publicize ASA and Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy recently. On October 12 and a subsequent evening, the call-in program "Open Line" (8-9 p.m. Central Time) on the Moody Radio Network (WMBI in Chicago) featured a discussion between Pattle and Ken Ham of the Institute for Creation Research. The number of phone calls received indicated an enthusiastic audience response. Pattle felt that the atmosphere was cordial despite implications that he elevates science over Scripture. He appealed for unity in presenting the gospel to the secular world in place of contention over details of creation.

Bradley A. Roth is a geneticist with the Pioneer Hybrid Com Company in Des Moines, Iowa, after spending several years in the Plant Gene Expression Center of the USDA Regional Lab in Albany, California. Brad received his Ph.D. in 1987 at Iowa State in Ames, where he worked under corn geneticist Don Robertson.

Alan E. Van Antwerp of Big Rapids, Michigan, retired last year from Ferris State University, where he and his wife had a long history of advising the IVCF chapter. Since retiring, Alan has lined up a temporary teaching job through May 1990, teaching physics and BASIC programming at Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes, Kentucky. Geologist Neill Nutter chairs the Natural Sciences & Math Division at the college.

Lois Visscher is a retired (?) missionary doctor in Thailand who discovered ASA through a visit to John & Betsy Guyer in Chiang Mai. Lois was attracted to ASA's Journal because its articles present "both sides of controversial issues with intellectual honesty while showing respect and Christian love for those with contrary opinions."

As a Presbyterian (USA) missionary, she worked in Christian hospitals in north India for 36 years, plus a year in a government hospital in Sudan before retiring. Doubting that God "had withdrawn his call to serve him in a third-world country," Lois found work in Thailand. She worked in the hospital of a Khmer (Campuchean) refugee camp, then in the (Baptist) Kwai River Christian Hospital (where she passed the Thai government medical licensing exam) and a Hmong refugee camp. Now she does general practice and a little obstetrics in the Christian Hospital at Manorom run by the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. Since the Thai government no longer allows foreigners to take government licensing exams and it is hard to attract Thai Christian doctors to that small-town environment, Lois expects to stay on for a few years and then
11 really retire."

Richard Wildanger has moved from Los Altos, California, to Berkeley, where he is now a student at New College for Advanced Christian Studies. Rich's degree is in English, but he is interested in science and has been doing technical writing.

Kurt A. Wood, whose adventures teaching chemistry in the Muslim world have been followed in these pages, is now at Rohm and Haas Company in Spring House, Pennsylvania, where he is a senior scientist in powder coatings. Such coatings are sprayed on electrostatically as a powder, then heated to form a smooth coat. Kurt says they're nonpolluting because no organic solvents are used and because any powder that doesn't stick is recycled. Kurt and Debbie live in Wyndmoor, participate in a small group conducive to spiritual growth.

Frank E. Young, U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner in Washington, D.C., is frequently in the news these days, mostly over FDA's new policy for speedier approval of therapeutic agents for AIDS and 
other life-threatening diseases. A trustee at Fourth Presbyterian Church of Bethesda, Maryland, he was recently appointed to the board of World Vision. In an interview in the Sept 8 issue of Christianity Today, Frank spoke of ethical issues faced by public officials, of how he as a Christian copes with the pressures of his job, and of the effect on the Young family when son John was paralyzed in a wrestling accident three years ago: "Wefelt the power of prayer, the upholding presence of God as we never did before." Frank has felt little animosity toward his Christian commitment, but wouldn't let it bother him if he had. After all, he says, "life is a parenthesis with eternity on either side."

PEOPLE LOOKING FOR POSITIONS: Psychology: Robin Wentworth (301 S. 30th Ave, Hattiesburg, MS 39401) seeks position in industrial or organizational psychology (Ph.D., U. of Southern Mississipi, Jun '90); background in research design & quantitative methods, experience in public & private sectors; some teaching. Sociology: Douglas B. Kennard (2201 Riverside Dr., Apt. #108, Columbus, OH 43221. Tel. 614-486-3506) seeks full-time teaching in academic environment with emphasis on community service. He has a B.A. in political science (Denver, 1971), Ph.D. in rural sociology (Ohio State, 1987), plus a Masters in International Management (Amer. Grad Schl. of Internfl. Mgmnt., 1975) and experience in Peace Corps in Senegal, economic analysis in Birkina Faso, community development in Mali, West Attica; taught sociology at Warner Southern College (1983-85). Now visiting lecturer or adjunct faculty in international studies at Ohio State, sociology at Columbus State Community College, macroeoonomics at Franklin U.; consultant to Mercy Corps Intemational. Speaks French, gets by in Wolof (Senegal). Active interest in integration of biblical truth & social science; teaches in adult Sunday school and the Anselm Institute for the laity (course on "Christians and Developing Nations"). See Doug's paper on development perspecWes, JASA, Sept 1983. Management; education; or(?): Francis B. Mascaro (3422 W. Hammer Lane, #J-115, Stockton, CA 95209. Tel. 209-476-0160) is ready to begin a new career. He has a B.S. in physics (UCLA, 1954), Masters in administration (1972) and Ph.D. in education (1973, both from LIC Riverside) plus many years lecturing on administration for LIC Riverside, Cal State San Bernardino, U. of Redlands, Golden Gate U. In 20 years at The Linfield School (Temecula, CA) he has been director of business services, headmaster, and president. Francis and his wife are open to the Lord's leading, vocationally and geographically.

POSITIONS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE: Chemistry: tenure-track for fall 1990, Ph.D. in physical, inorganic, or analytical to teach physical, other chem courses, experience preferred; contact Dr. Douglas Ribbens, VPAA, Dordt College, Sioux Center, IA 51250. Chemistry: tenuretrack in organic or physical plus intro courses, Aug 1990; application from Dr. James Rynd, Chemistry Dept., Biola Univ., La MWada, CA 90639. Engineering: chair for Div. of Engineering & Engineering Technology, with doctorate, experience teaching in an ABET-accredited program, research and administrative ability, beginning no later than I July 1990; applications in by 31 Jan, to Dr. Frederic J. Carlson, Chair, Engineering Search Committee, P.O. Box 7001, LeToumeau University, Longview, TX 75607-7001. Physics: temporary 12 yr. position in teaching beginning 9/90. Ph.D. preferred. Contact: Dr. John Van Zytveld, Chairman, Physics Dept, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI 49506, tel. 616-957-6340. Clinical Psychology: tenure track position beginning 1/90. Competency in administration & interpretation of intelligence & objective personality tests, projective techniques, behavioral assessment methods, & ability to train students in "an integrative approach to assessment." Needs strong report writing skills. Will also advice students in Psy.D. program. Contact: Dean, Graduate Sch. of Psych., Fuller Theological Seminary, 180 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101.