NEWSLETTER
of the
American Scientific Affiliation &
Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation
VOLUME 34 NUMBER 6
DECEMBER 1992/JANUARY
1993
NEWSLETTER of the ASA/CSCA is published bi-monthly for its membership by the American Scientific Affiliation, P.O. Box 668, 55 Market
St., Ipswich, MA 01938. Tel. 508-356-5656, FAX: 508-356-4375. Information for the Newsletter may be sent to the Editor: Dr. Walter R.
Hearn, 762 Arlington Ave., Berkeley, CA 94707. Q 1992 American Scientific Affiliation (except previously published material). All rights reserved.
HELE KALIKIMAKA
We wish you a Merry - halfway
between Hawaii and Christmas. As usual, we're writing our annual
Greeting at an odd time (between
the World Series and Halloween).
Like trying to picture snowy Christmas symbols in this vista of a
cruise ship and billfishing boats
from our Kona lanai (GO Center
guest room balcony)-or realizing
that this is our 23rd year of editing the ASA/CSCA Newsletter-it
takes some imagination.
Even a bizarre 1992 U.S. presidential election has been
imaginable, though, after exercising
our imagination at the ASA Annual
Meeting. It always stretches the
mind to try to honor Jesus Christ
within the scientific community.
Thinking of how to care for God's
creation gets our own creative
juices flowing. And in seeking to
transmit the gospel faithfully we
grasp the radical contingency of everything we do, and of who we
are.
Scientific generalities should
never squelch our wonderment at
the individuality of every created
thing. With just 26 letters one can
write papers on physics and also
proclaim the gospel; a native Hawaiian can convey the same
information with a 12-letter alphabet. Yet each of us is specified
biologically in a unique message
written in 4-letter DNA.
"And the Word became flesh
and lived among us, and we have
seen his glory . . . full of grace
and truth." As you ponder the message of Christ at Kalikimaka, we
also wish for you in 1993 Hauoli
Makahiki Hou, in his name.
- Walt & Ginny Hearn
LOOKING TO SEATTLE
The forward-looking theme of our
Hawaii meeting seems to be taking effect. Planning is underway for
the 6-9 AUG 1993 ASA ANNUAL
MEETING at SEATTLE PACIFIC
UNIVERSITY. Biologist Joseph Sheldon, who moved from Eastern to
Messiah College this fall, will be
program chair. Official theme: CARING FOR CREATION: A
CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON
THE ENVIRONMENT. In addition
to its scientific and theological aspects, Joe hopes to bring political
and economic aspects of the environmental equation to ASA attention.
With churches waking up to the
environmental challenge, we have a
hot topic for our 1993 Annual Meeting, one that cries out for wisdom.
The 20 July 1992 issue of Christianity Today, for example, contained
1) a report of religious aspects of
the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit
by Loren Wilkinson of Regent College, and 2) "Ecoguilt," an essay
review of nine books (two of them
Wilkinson's) by Doug Bandow of
the politically conservative Cato Institute. The title of a new book by
Eastern College sociologist Tony
Campolo, How to Rescue the Earth
without Worshiping Nature (Nelson),
echoes the need for discernment
stressed by both Wilkinson and
Bandow, who might not agree on
'How.
At its 20-22 November meeting,
the ASA Executive Council will be
reviewing plans for Seattle, including two optional post-convention
ASA cruises to Alaska. Maybe the
Council will back the "Caring Research" awards initiated by the
Committee for Integrity in Science
Education. Even if the 1993
Awards remain a one-shot Committee experiment, think about
undertaking some kind of empirical
study with a heart for the needs of
the earth, of people, or of science.
Check the Oct/Nov 1992 Newsletter
for "contest rules" and some ideas.
LOOKING AT HAWAII
Something was identifiable in
about one tenth of the Weary
Old Editor's B&W photos from the
1992 Annual Meeting. Newsworthy
shots (of plenary speakers, say)
were mostly losers. (WOE is me. Ed.) Wheaton chemist Neal Brace sent us some color prints, with too
little contrast to publish. Maybe a
fuzzy collage can be put together
for Feb/Mar, when palm trees will
look so good that snowbound readers won't mind not being able to recognize anybody in the foreground.
Our scribbled notes are a bit
fuzzy, too, but contain at least a
highlight of each plenary "Future
lecture. Owen Gingerich of Harvard named some major problems
ripe for solution in the physical sciences but warned that changing
social conditions may put certain expensive solutions beyond our reach.
In a review of earlier predictions
by very distinguished scientists,
though, Owen noted that none of
them foresaw the discovery of computers or their impact on the way
science is now done.
ASA's own Bob Herrmann considered the future of biology almost
unimaginable, though he predicted
that knowledge of brain function, genetics, and development may grow
so fast that we'll have difficulty putting it all together. When we do,
our models for evolutionary processes will be much more complex
than they are now. Results of . the
costly human genome project and
other data will challenge the way
we think about human personhood.
Jay Hollman of the Ochsner
Clinic of Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
gave us a glimpse of the future of
medical science. He dealt with issues at the beginning and end of
life, definitions of mental health
and mental illness, increasing costs
of health care delivery (with sometimes up to half going to legal and
administrative expense), and the relation of public health policy to
personal responsibility (as in preventing AIDS and other venereal
diseases). With problems in each
area now confronting practicing physicians, Jay's talk made a somber
future seem already upon us.
Bob Kaita's plenary talk on "Obstacles and Opportunities for
Christian Witness" began with slides
and a description of the work at
the Plasma Physics Laboratory at
Princeton, where he is a principal
research physicist. He then told
how his fusion research has led to
scientific visits both to the former
Soviet Union and to the People's
Republic of China, and of his personal opportunities to present a
Christian testimony on such trips.
But as reported in Physics Today
("Their Most Productive Years,"
Feb 1991), even in the U.S. many
young physicists face a "dismal" professional situation. Younger scientists
are being forced to re-examine their
values and priorities. Bob hopes
such re-examination will engender
"increased receptiveness to the
claims of Christ."
Mark Hartwig, executive director
of Access Research Network, surveyed four healthy trends in science
education (such as teaching science
as a way of knowing rather than a
static body of knowledge, making
science relevant to students' lives,
etc.). Then he pointed out how
each trend can have an unhealthy effect if distorted by an education
community aiming for "scientific literacy" but dominated by a
naturalistic philosophy. He cited
some examples of how good ideas
can go wrong, from Invitation to
Conflict: A Retrospective Look at
the California Science Framework,
which he and Paul Nelson compiled. Copies of that 44-page
booklet, with a preface by Phillip
Johnson and an introduction by John Wiester, were available at the
convention book table. (Invitation to
Conflict can be ordered at $5 each
or at quantity discounts from Access Research Network, P.O. Box
38069, Colorado Springs, CO 809378069. - Ed.)
Thought-provoking contributed papers filled out the formal program.
Of course a lot went on in Hawaii
besides giving papers and listening
to them. ASAers prayed and sang
and argued and worshiped together.
The Executive Council met for several days before the meeting and
almost everybody stayed for two
days of varied field trips afterward.
Some stayed longer. We partied at
a big luau and some even participated in the hula. Since our
pictures didn't come out, those
vivid scenes deserve some colorful writing. We'll try.
WHEREVER GOD
WANTS US: 25.
0ne discussion group led by Stan Anderson and Paul Chien at the Annual Meeting covered
"Cross-Cultural Opportunities for ASA Members." The group made
four recommendations for quick action:
1. Encourage members to write
up accounts of any type of personal experience overseas (teaching,
lecturing, consulting) for the Newsletter or even for the Journal.
2. Establish a group of resource
persons for each major area of the
world, to alert members to opportunities for service. Several people
volunteered to take on such responsibility: Chi-Hang Lee (Asia); Bob
Kaita (Eastern Europe); Stan Anderson (Middle East). Africa, anyone?
Latin America?
3. Urge members with personal
contacts in certain countries to try
to organize lecture/workshop tours
of Christians with the desired technical expertise. Paul Chien hopes to organize a 2- or 3-week lecture
tour of China, possibly for the summer of 1994.
4. Survey the entire membership
to identify interests and expertise
for cross-cultural service, plus potential availability for future long- or
short-term opportunities; construct an
electronic database from this information. Fred & Elaine Hickernell in
Hong Kong are working with Stan
to design a suitable questionnaire.
(Talk about action: ASA members are already taking this group's
recommendation No. 1 so seriously
that it's hard to squeeze in all
your stories of cross-cultural service! But keep sending them to us
and they'll eventually get it into
print to encourage others.-Ed.)
KENYA/ASA UPDATE
A SA president Ken Dormer gave
a full report on what is now
named the African Institute for Scientific Research and Development
(AISRED). The Kenya/ASA connection began at the 1990 Annual
Meeting at Messiah College, when
University of Nairobi zoologist
George Kinoti told of his dreams
for such an organization under Christian auspices. George now directs AISRED.
Progress has been slow but definite. Seven Africans plus Bob
Herrmann, Martin Price, and Ken
Dormer serve on the governing
board. At a June 1991 planning conference in Nairobi, the three ASA
members were impressed with the
quality of the African members.
This year Ken Dormer represented
ASA at the board meeting in April.
AISRED has produced several attractive flyers describing the
Institute'
s
aims and governance. Until it can
become an autonomous entity recognized by the Kenyan government,
AISRED will continue to operate
under Daystar University College in
Nairobi, a respected Christian institution.
By now Americans are familiar
with the famine situation in Somalia, but Ken reported that conditions
are almost as bad in several other
sub-Saharan countries, such as
Sudan and Ethiopia. Kenya itself is
in a precarious situation, with refugees swelling its population. Over
half the cattle in the northern half
of the country died in the past
year. AISRED is devoting itself to
work on only the most immediate
life-saving problems: increasing crop
and cattle production and decreasing
the incidence of human parasitic diseases. Among the hundreds of
NGOs (non-govemmental organizations) trying to operate in East
Africa, AISRED provides a unique
model, a technical institute run by
dedicated African Christians.
ASA's role is not as a source
of funds, though we made a small
contribution to help get AISRED
off the ground and are providing
help in applying for grant funds
and in a number of other practical
ways. Primarily ASA can be a
source of networking and encouragemcnt. Politically, Kenya's former
dictatorial rule seems to be abating,
though corruption and red tape remain a problem when trying to
import research equipment, scientific
journals, etc. The time is ripe, Ken
said, for emergence of the kind of
Christian leadership AISRED seeks
to develop. Besides its board,
AISRED also has a group of elders
of the caliber of England's John
Stott to give it spiritual direction.
CSCA SCORES
The same Saturday the Toronto
Blue Jays made history by taking baseball's World Series championship home to Canada, the
Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation held its 1992 Annual
Meeting in the Willowdale suburb
of Toronto.
The theme of the one-day meeting on 24 October was "Hearing
Their Cries: Confronting Abuse in
Christian Families." The morning
began with "Hearing Their Cries,
a video from the Center for the Prevention of Sexual & Domestic Violence. Then
Bob Vander Vennen of Toronto's Institute for Christian
Studies outlined recent findings of
two research groups on abuse in
families in specific Christian communities.
After lunch, Mary Vander
Vennen of Christian Counseling Services in Toronto gave a counselor's
insights on certain causes of abuse:
patriarchy, power relations, and the
way males are socialized in society.
A pastor's insights were contributed
by Rev. John Groen of Community
Christian Reformed Church of Richmond Hill, Ontario. After a general
discussion, CSCA held its annual
business meeting. (Or at least all
this was scheduled to happen, before Toronto went baseballistic.Ed.)
CSCA president Norman Macleod had sent out a letter announcing the meeting and stressing the
need to encourage "young energetic
Christians with an interest in the sciences to pursue career paths which
will inspire them to continue the
work of organizations like CSCA."
He called attention to the question
asked by John A. McIntyre in
"It's Time to Rejoin the Scientific
Establishment" (Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, June
1992):
One hears Christians speak proudly
of their sons and daughters who
have married seminary students or
missionaries. But where is the
encouragement for our young
people to enroll in the graduate
schools of our great research
universities to enter a life of
scholarship?
Norm suggested a good way of
laying some important building
blocks in a young person's life: giving him/her a year's subscription to
Perspectives. (No doubt about it: Canadians are world class, eh?-Ed.)
BULLETIN BOARD
- For an article he is completing
on evangelist/apologete Harry
Rimmer, historian Ted Davis seeks
anecdotes from anyone who heard
one of Rimmer's debates or other
public presentations. Rimmer died in
1952, so Ted suspects that some
ASA members are old enough
(WOE is me.) to have attended
such debates. If so, please write
soon to Dr. Edward B. Davis,
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
17027, with this -kind of detail: where and when the debate
occurred; the topic; number of
people in attendance; what was
said; who opposed Rimmer-in
short, anything you still remember.
It is also important to state
explicitly that Ted may quote your
letter in print. (The Weary Old
Editor apologizes for delay in
posting this notice. He thinks he
heard Harry Rimmer lecture in the
First Baptist Church in Houston
between 1942 and 1944, on the
same occasion that Henry Morris
heard Rimmer. But since we forgot,
until a call reminded us, that Ted
had handed us this request in
Hawaii, we're not sure our memory
can be trusted.-WOE.)
- A call for papers for Vol. 6 of
Research in the Social Scientific
Study of Religion (JAI Press,
Greenwich, CT) is being circulated.
Series editors are Monty L. Lynn
of Abilene Christian University and
David 0. Moberg of Marquette
University. RSSSR is a refereed
annual publication of empirical
reports, research -oriented theoretical
studies, state-of-the-art surveys, and
reviews of literature (but no strictly
literary or historical studies). Sample
themes in Vol. 5 (forthcoming,
Spring 1993): measurement of faith
maturity; mental health & religion;
rates of religious conversion;
religious groups & politics; studies
of "Children of God" leader David
Berg. Queries about potential papers
can be addressed to either editor;
manuscripts (in quadruplicate) should
be sent to: Dr. Monty L. Lynn,
Dept of Management Sciences,
Abilene Christian University,
Abilene, TX 79699-8325.
- Ghillean T. Prance, director of
Kew Gardens in England, is among
those seeking to organize a
symposium on "Ecology & Ethics"
for the 6th International Congress
of Ecology (INTECOL VI), to be
held 20-26 Aug 1994. They
anticipate being able to invite a
limited number of speakers from
the broadest possible range of
perspectives and countries. Most
will be practicing scientific
ecologists but there will be room
for scholars from other disciplines,
including philosophy and religion.
The group hopes to have speakers
with various religious beliefs and
secular philosophies. Ideas for
potential speakers from an
evangelical perspective (and any
suggestions for sources of funding
for such a symposium) may be
sent to the group's secretary, Rev.
Nigel S. Cooper, The Rectory, 40
Church Rd, Rivenhall, Witham,
Essex, CM8 3PQ, U.K.
ASA GOES TO YALE
Two lectures on science and faith
were given on the Yale campus
on 12 Nov 1992, the seventh and
eighth of the Templeton/ASA Lecture Series II. In the afternoon,
Langdon Gilkey, Shailer Mathews
Professor Emeritus of Theology at
the U. of Chicago Divinity School,
spoke on "God and the Mystery of
Nature." In the evening Howard Van Till, professor
of physics and
astronomy at Calvin College, considered, "Is Special Creation A
Heresy?" Known for his authorship
of The Fourth Day, Science Held Hostage,
and Portraits of Creation,
Howard was president of ASA in
1990.
Cosponsoring the two lectures
were the Yale Faith & Science Colloquium, Yale Religious Ministry,
and University Lutheran Ministry. In
an advance press release, Templeton
lectureship publicist Joyce Farrell
(669 Grove St, Upper Montclair,
NJ 07043) quoted Gilkey: "There is
a mystery to nature that is denied
by scientism and religious fundamentalism alike." Van Till: Is
skepticism toward credibility of the
macroevolutionary paradigm driven
by "belief that Judeo-Christian theism cannot apologetically tolerate
the concept of genealogical continuity?" (It's been forty years since
the WOE's stint at Yale. Do they
still have "tables down at Maury's"
where students can argue such questions? - Ed.)
ASA IN PRINT
Not long ago it was hard to
find ASA's name anywhere except in our own publications. Now
it shows up in many places. Some
recent examples:
In Access Research Network's
booklet, Invitation to Conflict: A Retrospective Look at the California
Science Framework, John Wiester, author of the Introduction, was identified as chair of the "Committee
for Integrity in Science Education,
American Scientific Affiliation."
In a brief news story about Phillip Johnson in Christianity Today
(14 Sept 1992, "Gould Attacks
Critic," p. 63), Tom Woodward said Johnson had received evenhanded tretment in venues other
than Scientific American: "Most recently the American Scientific
Affiliation, meeting in August in Hawaii, hosted Johnson for a formal
discussion." In the same issue, an
obituary for theologian Bernard
Ramm (p. 76) ended with this sentence: "Ramm was influential in the
founding of the American Scientific
Affiliation, and he taught frequently
at Young Life seminars."
The 16 Oct 1992 issue of Science contained on pp. 487-488 a
major review of science historian
Ronald L. Numbers's The
Creationists (A. Knopf, 1992). The
book's scholarly treatment of ASA
is worthy of comment; here we
merely note a thoughtful review in
the AAAS weekly by historian J.
David Hoeveler, Jr. His review
listed the American Scientific Affiliation among organizations in "the
creation subculture" whose institutional histories Numbers detailed. A
whole paragraph pointed to the
book's account of how ASA, soon
after its founding in 1941, was
steered away from extreme positions
such as that of the then functioning
Deluge Geology Society.
A little piece by Walt Hearn, "On the Origins of Atomic Arithmetic," about a pseudoscientific book
he once reviewed appeared in the
Fall 1992 Skeptical Inquirer. The article and some responses to it will
make a good yam later on. Noteworthy here is the fact that the
author's self-description as "a former biochemistry professor who
edits the Newsletter of the American Scientific Affiliation, published
by a 'fellowship of Christians in
the sciences"' actually made it into
print-in an issue featuring tributes
to the late Isaac Asimov by well-known secular humanists Stephen
Jay Gould, Paul Kurtz, and Carl Sagan.
ASA IN SPANISH
A y, que' bueno! This year a Spanish translation of Teaching Science
in a Climate of Controversy, with over 20 illustrations from the 1989
version, has appeared as two-thirds of a small book, En el Principio: Una per
spectiva evanglica del debate sobre los orgenes. The first third is a Spanish
translation of Charlie Hummel's fine little pamphlet, Creation or
Evolution? (IVP, 1989). Translators were professors David Andreu (chemistry)
of the U. of Barcelona and Enrique Mota (statistics) of the U. of
Valencia, in Spain. Both are ASA members.
The 112-page booklet was published in Barcelona by Editorial CLIE (pronounced
"Clee-ay") as part of the Coleccin Andamio series sponsored by GBU (Grupos
Bblicos Universitarios), affiliated with IFES
(International
Fellowship of Evangelical Students). CLIE is evidently an acronym for
Comite'
de Literatura para Iglesias Evanglicas.
According
to Frances Polischuk of the Ipswich office and her psychologist husband Pablo,
both originally from Argentina, CLIE publications are familiar to
Spanish-speaking Christians throughout the Americas. Our usually successful
Berkeley reference librarian failed to locate an American office for CLIE, but a
phone call to a bookstore specializing in European books put us on the right
track. CLIE is represented in the U.S. by The Spanish Evangelical Literature
Fellowship (P.O. Box 8337, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl, 33310). Its acronym is pronounced
"T-self." It can be reached by dialing 1-800-3277933.
After coping with our faltering Spanish, the pleasant person at that 800-number
gave us the scoop in flawless English. She seemed surprised that CLIE had been
hard to find, and laughed when we told her not to worry, the ASA Newsletter was
about to make TSELF famous. En
el Principio sells
for $4.50 a copy, she said, plus a $2.95 UPS shipping charge for any number of
copies to the same address. To stock up for resale, ask for a colporteur's
discount. TSELF ships only on a prepaid basis, so give them your credit card
number over the phone or send a check with your order.
An easier way to get hold of En
el Principio is to
order it from ASA (P.O. Box 668, Ipswich, MA 01938; tel. 508-356-5656; fax
508356-4375). You get it for the same $4.50 a copy, plus $1.50/copy shipping
& handling. You don't have to pay in advance, but no s&h is charged on
prepaid orders. In any language, Enseando
Ciencia en un Clima de Controversia is helpful
to teachers and parents, no
es verdad?
We have to
take Chi-Hang
Lee's word
for it that the title
of his new book reads: The
Challenge of Science to Christianity. (in Mandaren)
Challenge of Science to Christianity. (in Mandaren)
Challenge of Science to Christianity. (in Mandaren)
Chi-Hang, director of
analytical services at the Del Monte Research Center in Walnut Creek,
California, is a former ASA president. For years he has contributed articles on
science and faith to a Christian periodical published in Chinese. Now, over 20
of those articles have been collected in a 1992 book from Christian Arts Press
(No. 3, Alley 51, Lane 269, Roosevelt Rd, See 3, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.).
Showing us the Table of Contents didn't help a bit, but Chi assured us that his
book mentions the American Scientific Affiliation many times. One long chapter
makes extensive reference to ASA's Teaching
Science in a Climate of Controversy. Since
many Chinese Christians have been taught a narrowly literal interpretation of
the Bible, Chi has dealt carefully with questions of creation and evolution. He
may have set a radical new precedent, though, by asking a husband-and-wife team
to contribute the preface. Dr. Yum-Tong Siu is a mathematics professor at
Harvard; his wife, Dr. Sau-Fong Wong, is an associate professor of sociology at
Wheelock College in Boston.
After having to hunt for the American distributor of the Spanish edition of Teaching
Science, we won't
try to find the U.S. representative of a publisher in Taiwan. We suspect,
though, that one can order copies of Chi-Hang Lee's book through the author (120
Brandywine Way, Walnut Creek, CA 94598; tel. 510-939- 8155). We don't know how
to translate the "NT$150" price into U.S. money, but Chi did sound out
the book's title for us: Ke
Xue dui Ji Du Jiao de Tiao Zhan. Evidently Ke Xue is "science,"
Ji Du Jiao "Christianity,"
and Tiao Zhan "challenge."
(In Mandarin, we presume-WOE.)
DIRECTORY ASSISTANTS?
For the
next Directory, all ASA/CSCA
Members, Fellows, Associates, and
"Friends" are asked to check the accuracy
of your listing in the latest (1990-91) Directory,
or on the mailing label of
this Newsletter. Send corrected in-formation on a postcard to: ASA Directory,
P.O. Box 668, Ipswich, MA 01938. Corrections received by 15 Jan 1993 should make
it into the 1993 Directory.
Has your telephone area code changed since 1990? Many metropolitan areas added
new area codes last year. If ASA has your correct name, address, telephone
number, membership category, and specialty, you need not send a postcard.
WITH THE LORD
Robert C. Frost of Escondido, California, an internationally known lay
minister and teacher, died on 15 Sept 1992 at age 66. While speaking at a
charismatic conference in Brighton, England, last December, he developed a
hoarseness which was soon traced to a thyroid malignancy. After chemotherapy the
cancer subsided, then came back beyond medical control. Many around the world
who loved Bob prayed for the Frosts through it all.
Bom in Vancouver, Washington, Bob graduated from Reed College in Oregon, earned
an M.A. and Ph.D. (1952) in biology at Rice, stayed on in Houston to teach
anatomy at Baylor College of Medicine. He later taught biology at Evangel
College in Missouri, Westmont and Southern California colleges in California,
and Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma, where he chaired ORU's Dept of Natural
Sciences. In 1970 he resigned to take up full-time writing and speaking. For
several years he also taught at Melodyland School of Theology in Anaheim,
California.
Bob contributed articles to a number of periodicals and was a contributing
editor to New
Covenant, a
Catholic charismatic magazine. He wrote about the "Spirit-filled life"
in a series of books from Bridge Publishing, Inc. (formerly Logos), Plainfield,
New Jersey. Aglow
with the Spirit (1971)
was followed by Overflowing
Life and Set
My Spirit Free (1973), The Mystery of Life (1975),
and Our Heavenly
Father (1978).
Inspired by Jesus' words in John 4:34, Bob finished revising Our
Heavenly Father the
week before his death. As his breathing became more difficult, he and his
wife Ruth, a nurse, were sustained
by Psalm 116.
Besides Ruth, Bob is survived
by four grown children and six
grandchildren. He was a Fellow of
ASA and active in Cathedral of the
Valley Church, where gifts may be
sent to the Robert C. Frost Memorial Fund, 927 Idaho Ave.,
Escondido, CA 92025. (As young
profs at Baylor Med in the '50s,
the two of us spent many lunch
hours in his lab or in mine praying or studying the Bible together,
sometimes with students. I've never
had a more "whole-hearted" Christian colleague. -Ed.)
Bob Frost will be included in a
memorial resolution to be read at
the 1993 Annual Meeting.
THE EDITOR'S LAST
WORDS: 24
After all that campaign talk
about "It's time for a change,"
I'm beginning to believe it. Just
think, in 1969, when I took over
editing this Newsletter from Alton
Everest, I was only 43 years old.
I should quit while I'm waning.
We need a new editor who
loves ASA, has some professional
and spiritual maturity, but is young
enough to stick around for awhile.
Writing experience, a light heart,
and a source of additional income
would come in handy. Even better
if the editor were big on modern
computers and electronic communications-and could take usable
photographs.
To make 1993 my last year of
meeting bimonthly deadlines, I'm
willing either to phase out gradually during the year or to sign
off abruptly if someone can jump
in all at once. If you could be the
replacement the Council is praying
for, contact executive director Bob
Herrmann at the Ipswich office.
Mostly this job has been fun, except for writing the obituaries of
cherished friends. And trying to be
funny occasionally. That's real work.
LOCAL SECTIONS
TORONTO
This fall the section is sponsoring
informal gatherings for the interchange of ideas, meeting at 7:30
p.m. at Hart House, U. of Toronto.
On 29 September, U.T. biochemist/physiologist Dan Osmond led a
discussion of Sir John M.
Templeton's concept of a Centre
for Humility Theology. On 24 November a Christian perspective on
"Time" was introduced by organic
chemist Eric Moore. (Some Toronto fans were probably still savoring the timing of Dave Winfield's
Series-winning, two-out, two-run double in game six.-Ed.)
NEW ENGLAND
For Jan 1993, Gordon College
chemistry prof Jack Haas is organizing a science/religion forum to
be held on the Gordon campus,
with the New England section as cosponsor. For details contact Jack at
Gordon College at 508/927-2300
ext. 4387.
METROPOLITAN NEW YORK
The fall meeting, held 21 November at The King's College in
Nyack, New York, followed the
section's usual pattern of keynote
lectures at 3 and 7 p.m., with business meeting and cafeteria meal in
between. This year the speaker was
Roy A. Clouser, professor of philosophy & religion at Trenton State
U. and author of The Myth of Religious Neutrality: An Essay on the Hidden Role of Theories
(Notre
Dame, 1991). The titles of his two
addresses were "What Is Religious Belicf'" and "A New Model for
the Relation Between Religious Belief and Theories." Clouser has
degrees from Gordon College, Reformed Episcopal Seminary, and the
U. of Pennsylvania (Ph.D. in philosophy). He also studied with Paul
Tillich at Harvard and with Herman
Dooyeweerd at the Free University
of Amsterdam.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN
0n 6 Feb 1993 the section will
hold its sixth meeting, in the
University Center (Columbine, Suite
A) of the U. of Northern Colorado
in Greeley, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Featured speaker Arthur F. Holmes,
chair of the Philosophy Dept at
Wheaton College in Illinois, will discuss "Revelation, Discovery, and the
Unity of Truth." Holmes' books include Christianity and Philosophy
(IVP, 1960), All Truth Is God's
Truth (Eerdmans, 1977), and Shaping Character (Eerdmans, 1990).
There will also be room on the program for contributed papers.
(Along with the meeting announcement from section secretary-treasurer Ken Olson of Greeley
came the sad news that Ken's 34year-old son Edwin died suddenly
of a heart condition on I I Sept
1992. Ken had already experienced
the death of his other son, Randall,
and his wife, Esther. Ed lived with
his dad in the family home and
they were very close. We express
our sorrow over so much loss,
along with our appreciation for
Ken's loyal service to ASA over
the years. -Ed.)
SAN FRANCISCO BAY
0n 7 November the section cosponsored a meeting at Stanford
U. with Stanford InterVarsity Graduate Fellowship, featuring R. David Cole,
emeritus professor of molecular & cell biology at U.C. Berkeley. While winding down his own
research program, Dave is serving
as consultant to an N.I.H.-funded interdisciplinary study of "The Theological and Ethical Implications of
the Genome Project" at the Center
for Theology & the Natural Sciences in Berkeley. The topic for
his talk at Stanford was "The Molecular Biology of Predestination."
(Yes, Dave is a Presbyterian. -Ed.)
PERSONALS
Bradley C. Bennett has accepted
a joint appointment in the Dept of
Biological Sciences and the Environmental Studies Program at Florida
International University in Miami.
He will continue ethno-botanical studies in Latin America and his
collaboration with the New York Botanical Garden's institute of
Economic Botany, his former employer. A report of some of his
work appeared in "Plants and Peo
ple of the Amazonian Rainforests:
The Role of Ethnobotany in Sustainable Development," BioScience
42:599-697, 1992. The Bermetts' welcome to Florida was somewhat
traumatic: they moved into a house
just five days before it was severely damaged by hurricane Andrew.
Joel Cannon has become professor of physics and engineering at
Centenary College (2911 Centenary
Blvd., Shreveport, LA 71104). Centenary has an extensive 3-2
engineering program that allows students to obtain a bachelor's in
physics from Centenary and an engineering degree from certain
universities (e.g., Washington, Columbia, Texas A. & M.) in five years.
Joel moved south "after spending
three enjoyable years at Calvin College" in Michigan. He wonders if
there is interest in forming a network of Christians teaching in
secular schools, particularly in liberal arts colleges (such as
Centenary). Joel has thought about
organizing a workshop around that
topic at some ASA meeting so people could hear other people's
stories.
Owen Gingerich, Harvard University professor of astronomy, was
mentioned in a 28 Sept Wall Street
Journal story, "These Astronomers
Bet Their Careers on Pie-in-the-Sky." WSJ reporter Ron Suskind
described a desperate attempt this
fall to promote enrollment in an undergrad course called "The
Astronomical Perspective." On the
first day of class, only 110 of the
6,600 Harvard students showed up
(a drop of about a third from last
year). To keep any of the five
teaching assistants from losing their
jobs, lecturer David Latham hired a
sky-writing company to send a biplane over Harvard yard pulling a
banner reading "SCI A- 17 NOON
MWF SCIENCE CENTER HALL
D - TRY IT!" The stunt didn't
work very well, though only one
T.A. was let go. Owen Gingerich
suspected that fellow professors considered it "a low-class thing to
do," adding that the experiment at
least taught astronomers that most
students "are not accustomed to
looking up."
Raymond E. Grizzle was on the
faculty of Livingston University in
Livingston, Alabama, when he submitted "Some Comments on the
'Godless' Nature of Darwinian Evolution, and a Plea to the Philosophers
Among Us," published in Perspectives on Science & Christian Faith
(Sep 1992). Now Ray is assistant
professor of biology at Campbell
University, Buies Creek, North Carolina.
Mark Kalthoff keeps working
away at his Indiana University dissertation on ASA's history while
teaching a full load as assistant professor of history at Hillsdale
College in Hillsdale, Michigan. On
Nov 8 he gave the lead-off lecture
of a five-day symposium on "Man
and Creation: Perspectives on Science and Religion" at Hillsdale
College, cosponsored by the Center
for Constructive Alternatives and
the Dept of Christian Studies. The
symposium program featured two
major films ("Tbe Creation of the
Universe"; "Quantum Universe") and
eight other speakers, of whom four
were ASA members: Calvin physicist Howard Van Till, Harvard
astronomer Owen Gingerich, Stanford materials scientist Richard
Bube, and biologist Donald Heckenlively, who is also v.p. for
academic affairs at Hillsdale College. The other speakers were Biola
philosopher J. P. Moreland, U. of
Michigan zoologist Richard Alexander, and, according to Mark, "two
of the hottest recent authors on the
creation-evolution scene": Phillip
Johnson (Darwin on Trial) and Ronald Numbers (The Creationists).
Andrew Levin is on leave from
U.C. San Diego, working as an
economist at the Federal Reserve
Board. He works in the International Development Section. (An
interesting time to be in the
nation's capital! Once the election
is over, maybe the Washington-Baltimore ASA section will launch a
bold new program. Anyway, Andrew can be reached at 522 21st
St NW, #405, Washington, DC
2006; tel. 202-223-2851.-Ed.)
Stephen V. Monsma, professor
of political science at Pepperdine
University in Malibu, California,
was one of four speakers at a day-long Round Table on "The Christian
Scholar & the Contemporary University" on 31 Oct. The Round-Table,
held at the Kellogg West Conference Center at Cal Poly, Pomona,
was sponsored by the C.S. Lewis
Foundation (P.O. Box 8008, Redlands, CA 92375). Although it is
unrelated to Tom Woodward's C.S.
Lewis Fellowship (P.O. Box 9000,
Holiday, FL 34690), a flyer from
the Redlands outfit indicates a similar concern over a decline in
"direct interaction between secular
and religious modes of thinking in
the late 20th century." The Foundation works toward "an informed,
constructive, and 'mere Christian' response" to produce "a more open
academic environment for thousands
of scholars of faith."
Allene Scott has moved to Valencia, Pennsylvania, from Norfolk,
Virginia. Allene, an M.D. with an
M.P.H. degree, has become assistant
professor at the U. of Pittsburgh
Graduate School of Public Health
and associate medical director of
the Occupational & Environmental
Health Program there.
T. Gordon Scott has moved
from Kentucky to Hawkins, Texas.
Gordon, a chemist, now chairs the
Division of Science & Mathematics
at Jarvis Christian College, near
Tyler and Longview in East Texas.
Charles Thaxton has settled in
with his family in a house in
Prague Czechoslovakia;
FAX/Tel 42-2-3123-319). The communists replaced most traditional
houses with high rises, but many
Czechs who still own houses crowd
into apartments with relatives and
rent out their homes to Westerners
at extremely high prices (often falsifying the rental contract to avoid
paying high taxes). The Thaxtons finally found an honest deal but
have to pay twice the rent they
budgeted for. When we heard from
him, Charlie was booking lectures
on science & Christian faith in several Eastern European countries.
Finding everything a hassle that
takes far too long has taught the
Thaxtons compassion for people
who've lived under such constraints
for two generations with no hope
for change. Carole "forages for
food" and home-schools their sons
C.J. and Todd, who amaze their parents with their ability to adjust and to learn Czech, "a seemingly
impossible language." (Support for
the Thaxtons' ministry should go
to: Konos Connection, P.O. Box
991, Julian, CA 92036.)
Robert T. Voss recently moved
from New Jersey to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when Bell Atlantic Mobile
Systems regionalized their staff. Bob
is general manager of Network Engineering for cellular and wireless
communications systems. After being
a mainstay of the Metropolitan
New York ASA local section for
20 years, Bob wonders if there are
enough ASAers around Pittsburgh to
stir up some ASA action. (The
1990-91 ASA Directory lists five
members in Pittsburgh itself, not
counting Allene Scott, above, who's
just moved there.-Ed.) Bob Voss
can be contacted at 624 Karrastyn
Court, Gibsonia, PA 15044-6018;
tel. 412-444-0018.
PEOPLE LOOKING FOR POSITIONS. Chemistry:
Richard W. Schaeffer (Penwick Drive #51C, Lititz, PA 17543) seeks tenure-track
post in inorganic or solid state. Has Ph.D. in inorganic (Temple, 1991), with
publications in J. Superconductit4ty, J. Materials Res., Chem. of Materials,
J. Chem. Ed.. Currently visiting prof of chemistry at Franklin & Marshall
College, Lancaster. Biblical studies/physics: John A. Bloom (60 West
Broad St., Hatfield, PA 19440; tel. 215-362-6007 or 215-362-8062) seeks
appropriate teaching position, possibly in O.T. history & languages;
apologetics; plus physics, chemistry, biochem, or computer science courses as
needed. Available for Jan or fall 1993, John has a B.A. in physics &
chemistry (Grinnell, 1974); M.S. & Ph.D. in physics (Cornell, 1977 &
1980; biochem minor); M.A. in biblical studies & M.Div. (Biblical
Theological Seminary, 1983); M.A. & Ph.D. in Near Eastern studies (Dropsie
College, now Annenberg Research Inst., Philadelphia, 1986 & 1992). Besides
the biblical languages, he handles Akkadian, Sumerian, Ugaritic, and literary
Arabic. He has lectured in physics at Ursinus College; served as computer
consultant; publ. in such journals as Biophys. J. Fellow and board member
of Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Inst., Hatfield, PA; author of three IBRI
Reports; Baptist background, elder of Bethany Bible Fellowship Church in
Hatfield.
POSITIONS
LOOKING FOR PEOPLE. Science/math:
Fall 1993, dean of School of Natural & Mathematical Sciences, with Ph.D. (or
equivalent) plus teaching & research experience in one of the school's
disciplines: biology, chemistry, computer science, elec. engineering, human
environmental sciences, math, physics. Should have passion for both science and
Christian faith; understanding of special needs and contributions of each
discipline; leadership in promoting integrated teaching program, personally
teaching at least one course each year while guiding & advising some 500
students and 36 full-time, 12 part-time faculty, planning, supporting University
Advancement programs. TIAA, medical insurance. Human environmental science
majors include food & nutrition, textiles, clothing, interiors, family life
education. Women & minorities encouraged to apply. Send cover letter, c.v.,
names of three references by 1 Dec 1992 to: Dr. Samuel Dunn, Vice President for
Academic Affairs, Seattle Pacific University, 3307 Third Avenue West, Seattle,
WA 98119-1997; tel. 206-281-2125. Physics: Ph.D. to teach calculus-based
genl. physics sequence; advise pre-engineering, physical science majors;
participate in integrating science & Christian faith; for Aug 1993. Contact
by 1 Feb 1993: (ASA member) Dr. James Rynd, Chair, Physical Science Dept (tel.
310-903-4862), or Dr. Dwight Jessup, Dean of Arts & Sciences, Biola
University, La Mirada, CA 90639 (tel. 310-903-4713).