NEWSLETTER

of the

American Scientific Affiliation & Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation

Volume 38 Number 3                                               MAY/JUN 1996

ASA Annual Meeting In the Works

This year's ASA Annual Meeting in Toronto, Ontario is taking shape as program chairman David 0. Moberg is working hard to make it attractive. David says, "Don't miss what arguably will be the greatest ASA meeting ever!" For those who have never attended, this is the year to come. Here's why.

As the stability and future of our society are increasingly on people's minds nowadays, keynoter Robert Linthicum will give three talks entitled "The 21st Century City: The Shaking Apart of Civilization's Foundations? ... .. The City as God Proposes and Humanity Disposes: A Biblical Perspective," and "How Christians Can Make a Difference in the Emerging City." He is currently the Executive Director of Partners in Urban Transformation and formerly the Director of the Office of Urban Advance of World Vision. He has worked on six continents and has written eight books.

Meeting sessions are now taking shape and two of them will address biblical principles and methods of research used in the natural and social sciences ' Richard Christy, mayor of nearby Kitchener, will preach the Sunday sermon.

Other topics of the upcoming meeting are: how chaos theory applies to organizations, the "Toronto Blessing," the New Age movement in medicine, "Third World Los Angeles," limits of multicuturalism in urban Canada, geological evidences for the biblical flood, linkages between urbanization and human disease, land ethics, and "Is science a religion?" Enjoy browsing through book exhibits, taking a field trip to Chinatown, meeting old and new friends, and joining an ASA commission's activity. Plan your family summer vacation with a purpose. Is an intro to Christianity and ASA (for nonASAers and students) or a spiritual quest part of God's plan for your summer?

In his Monday devotions at the Meeting, Walt Hearn mentioned some ASA members wounded in World War 11, including Deryl Johnson, Stan Lindquist, and Larry. 

Montreat C., the site of last year's ASA Annual Meeting, sits on the edge of North Carolina's deep woods. The history and lore of those woods is told by Laurence C. Walker, a retired dean of forestry at Stephen F. Austin State U. in Texas in The Southern Forest: A Chronicle (Austin U. of Texas Press, 1991). Larry has consulted on forest management all over the world.

Asheville's Biltmore Estate, visited by some at the Meeting, employed the first professional forester in the U.S. and housed the country's first forestry school. The Montreat C. chapel was paneled with American chestnut (Castenea dentata) from trees logged from Blue Ridge forests as the blight Endothea parasitica was wiping out that majestic species.

Scene one of the drama involved a couple of teachers who were using (or providing for use) recent creationist materials which aroused a complaint. Now the complainant, Susan Jordan, has told her story in the NCSE Reports (p. 20, Fall, 1995), the newsletter of the National Center for Science Education of Berkeley, CA. In an update, "Hemet Hedges on Evolution," Jordan complains further of a district with a "Religious Right" school-board majority. Jordan and her husband, a physics professor at a local community college, requested clear policy guidelines from the district in their complaint, thereby setting in motion the events told in the ASAN brochure.

The Jordans' proposed school policy amendment was a single sentence "requiring that all classroom resources be based on research published in reputable scientific journals." John Wiester and others recognized that this failed to address the key issues of the creation/evolution dispute. Whose idea of "reputable" shall prevail? More significantly, the word evolution has a wide range of (continured)

The winter was an ongoing saga in the Northeast. Almost every area set a record for snow. The previous high recorded for Boston was about 96 inches of snow and as of this writing it had received over 100 inches. The 1995/96 snow budget for the state of Massachusetts was $12 million but they have already spent over $66 million. It was a great winter for skiers and all the melting snow will help spring growth.

The next big event of the ASA/CSCA year is the annual meeting in Toronto. I hope that you are planning to come. David Moberg and Dan and Faith Osmond have put together an informative, fascinating meeting. We look forward to the sessions with Dr. Robert Linthicum. Bob and I and our wives were classmates at Wheaton C. It will be nice to see them again. Some other exciting events include a field trip for all to the Yonge Street Mission, talks by Dr. Richard Christy, who is the Mayor of Kitchener, a dramatic presentation and special music after the banquet, a symposium, and much more. The city of Toronto has so many attractive places to visit that you may want to bring the whole family and come early or stay late. The Osmonds gave us a list of over two dozen attractions that they recommended. Best of all ' we will be able to fellowship with our CSCA brothers and sisters and that alone is worth the trip.

Have you subscribed to the ASA Listserv yet? There are some fascinating questions and tentative answers coming across the net daily. I read or scan every one and look for people who are not ASA members. Several have joined the Affiliation through this method. Listserv members are honing and educating each other. It is great when a new Christian or one who is seeking God stops lurking and comes out with some basic but important questions. I notice that people are learning to be gentler with one another.

That brings us to an ASA need. A few years ago we received a grant to update our computers but of that gift only a little maintenance money remains. Are you buying a new computer with a pentium chip and do not know what to do with your old one? Is it IBM compatible with at least 486K? Would you like to donate it to the ASA? Call us and we can talk. Jack Haas, our journal editor, works in the office part-time. Recently his monitor literally blew up and he has no way to retrieve his material. Furthermore, he needs a newer computer so that he can be on our network. We cannot afford the pentium generation right now but we can do our best with the previous generation. Are there people with suggestions or hardware that can help9 You may be God's answer to our computing needs.

Thanks to Leon Dennison, ASA had a presence at a display table at the AAAS. Many people stopped by to chat and took our brochures. We were received with respect and interest and some expressed joy that we were there. A few checked us out to be sure that we were not trying to denigrate science because of our faith. At the AAAS meeting there was something new. A luncheon meeting called "A Dialogue Between Science and Faith" was scheduled on the program through Audrey Chapman, who is an AAAS employee. The luncheon was supported by the Templeton Foundation. To the surprise of the sponsors, the room was packed and many people were not able to sit around the table. Interesting conversations ensued and I was given time to introduce the ASA to those in attendance. Several ASA members were scattered among the crowd including Robert Herrmann, our immediate past executive director. All agreed that this dialogue should continue through the year and at the next AAAS meeting. It is an important start.

We accomplished one of our 1996 goals recently. With a last minute push all of our commissions have at least five members who are excited about participating. I thank you for agreeing to serve so enthusiastically and with little hesitation. The various commissions are in different stages of working on their goals and many will want to share those with you at the Toronto ASA/CSCA meeting this summer. There will be a one hour session for presentations and brainstorming. Most of you have signed up for both a primary and secondary commission or affiliation membership. If you have forgotten which one you chose, we will have the list at the meeting. If you did not sign up yet, you can let us know your choice at the meeting or even better send in the original request. The commission system has the potential for great outreach for both the education of the Church and the edification of our peers.

Who will write for us? The Newsletter, the Listserv, and several individual letters have all discussed the need for literature about origins for children, those in middle school or high school, and adults in our churches. There is special emphasis on the needs of home schoolers. We all know the lack and the ASA Press is seriously beginning. The staff meets almost every week to move things along. Several people have expressed interest in helping us to edit but they may not be the same people who should be doing the scientific writing. Some of y6u must have a vision about what could be said in a simple, straightforward manner and yet be scientifically meaningful and spiritually uplifting. Talk to us about it. We are working on and think that we have a good start with the second edition of the book by Robert Fischer, God Did It, But How?

Thank you for your generous financial gifts. Please keep them coming. If God can provide extra finances through you, then we do not have to raise dues. If we do not have to raise dues, then we do not lose people who cannot afford to pay more. Also, more of the additional money you send can be a tax deduction. Since I just worked on my taxes, I appreciate all the legitimate deductions that I can find. We are counting on the ASA family to see us through.

Don.....

meanings requiring more explicit wording for a functionally useful school policy. The key issue of evolution as science versus evolution as a materialistic world view in the category of religion (or evolutionism) was unaddressed by the complainants' proposed amendment. Both meanings of evolution are in use in the scientific literature, often without distinction.

The definitions of evolution, as given in the alternative and approved board policy (see brochure) reflected the statements in ASA's resolution on teaching evolution, attributed to Keith Thomson. Kevin Padian, President of NCSE's Board of Directors and David Resnick of U. C. Riverside were brought in by the complainants. Padian, a professor of paleontology at U. C. Berkeley and former student of Thomson's "pointed out that the definitions paraphrased Thomson inaccurately and suggested that either Thomson should be quoted directly or that his name and any reference to him should be removed from the policy."

When asked about the alleged inaccuracy, Wiester said, "Padian has yet to point out any difference between Thomson's article, 'The Meanings of Evolution' from the American Scientist, and the Hemet regulations." Wiester has had lengthy correspondence with Padian on the issue and has also written to Thomson about the alleged inaccuracies. He has not yet received a reply.

Jordan opines that the approved policy is "a vague document that leaves teachers open to personal complaints and lawsuits. Teachers aren't sure what to teach." Apparently, the very problem the more definitive policy statement was intended to settle has not satisfied everyone involved. El Walt Hearn, John Wiester

The Nation Center for Science Education (see article on "Hemet") has published a revised edition of their list of Voices for Evolution with a new Part One on legal background, Molleen Matsumura, a frequent contributor to the NCSE newsletter NCSE Reports, edited the revised edition.

Across the page from the Mission Statement excerpt of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, which mentions scientific naturalism as a scientism at the opposite extreme from scientific creationism, is ASA's resolution, "A Voice for Evolution as Science," as found in ASA's book Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy (available from ASA office). The background of the resolution was not included. Instead, Walter Hearn contributed a footnoted paragraph summarizing background information on the resolution and the book.

Under Acknowledgements in Voices, Executive Director Eugenie C. Scott recognizes the particular exegesis of Genesis behind "scientific creationism" and that "the Biblical literalist view is not the only view acceptable to religious people." The book can be a useful resource document for those interested in the issues of evolution. Contact the NCSE at: P.O. Box 9477, Berkeley, CA 94709. Walt Hearn

Jim Crichton is on spring-term sabbatical from Seattle Pacific U. to sit in on courses in physics at U. C. Berkeley where he earned his doctorate, and on theology at the Berkeley Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) at the Graduate Theological Union. What makes him an "ASAer in Action" is that Jim gave a Public Forum lecture on "Does Theology Make any Sense? Reflections of a Physicist" the evening of March 13. Jim's point, as expressed in the lecture announcement, was that in the 20th century, physical science achievements have vastly expanded the boundaries of human knowledge and in comparison, traditional theologies seem to make little sense. Yet beyond these boundaries, in both achievement and method, science needs the broader interpretation that theology must provide.

In the audience was another ASAer Walter Hearn, who noted Jim's use oi Donald MacKay's map-making analogy for scientific research. Walt says, "Jim spoke of doing theology as what we do when we can't locate ourselves or figure out 'how to get home' by looking at one of our maps: 'we climb to the highest point we can find, to get our bearings,' a sort of 'practical transcendence' of the landscape."

Meanwhile, inveterate textmeister Hearn has just two more Sundays to go teaching his New College course on Scripture & Science. He is ready for it to end so that he can better focus on THE BOOK (Walt's capitalization). [Ed. note: Last correspondence it was merely "the Book."] THE BOOK is ASA's On Being a Christian in Science, the draft of which is completed and is being refined to high standards for the edification of Christian graduate students in science. Go, Walt!

As ASA makes a push to reach churches and help grad students, Walt's example of teaching a church sci/Xny class is an excellent way to help fellow Christians understand more clearly the spiritual implications of scientific progress, pronouncement, and popularist propaganda of various kinds.

Dan Simon recently taught a sci/Xny course in his church in Phoenix, AZ but lost some attendees when he failed to deliver recent creationism. ASA fellowship sometimes offers needed encouragement and support to ASAers on the missionfield of their local church. And as ASA endeavors to reach students, public lectures such as Jim's can help clarify the often muddled relationship between science and theology. The Editor would like to hear of your recent experience in church or in reaching the public with a Christian message involving science. Z Walt Hearn, Dan Simon

Carnegie-Mellon U. physicist Robert Griffiths went to Texas A&M to talk about "Understanding Quantum Mechanics" at the Physics Dept. Colloquium, and at the Quantum Optics Seminar on "Quantum Mysteries and Toy Models." Prof. Emeritus John A. McIntyre invited him to speak at the Colloquium after reading about ASAer in Action Glenn Kirkland in the NOV/DEC 1995 ASAN. At the same time, Jack was reading The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics by Onmes, who recognizes Bob as one of the four originators of a new description of physical reality, called the "consistent histories" approach. The author asserts, Jack says, that this is the interpretation of quantum mechanics and that the resolution of the Bohr-Einstein controversies is now understood.

What is of particular significance about this development for ASAers is the underlying philosophical shift back to the view that nature is independent of the observer, in contrast to Bohr's assertion that "no elementary phenomenon is a phenomenon until it is a registered phenomenon." McIntyre adds that "Bohr's interpretation is uncomfortably similar to Bishop Berkeley's view that a falling tree makes no sound unless the sound is heard." Bob presents the new interpretation of quantum measurement in summing up one of his articles [American Journal of Physics, Vol. 55, pp. 11-17 (1986)]:

"As for philosophical conclusions, it would, of course, be going much too far to assert with complete confidence that there is indeed a real world outside ourselves, independent of our choices and observations, or that particles do indeed cease to interact with each other, or interact only very weakly, when they are far apart. Suffice it to say that these two ideas have been part of a picture of the world which has done much to nurture the development of physical science up to the present time, and if the consistent history procedure represents a coherent and satisfactory approach to quantum interpretation, quantum theory by itself provides no obvious reason for abandoning them."

Jack McIntyre learned during his visit that Bob also had been elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1987, thereby doubling the number of such ASAers thus far identified in the ASAN. Jack appreciates the Newsletter function of "maintaining the community of the ASA. As Christians," Jack writes, "we are not just independent scientists, but are brothers and sisters in Christ who share a common heritage." F~ Jack McIntyre

Over the past four years, Joe has incurred over $30,000 in personal costs and has spent over 3000 hours of personal time, prevailing twice in whistleblower reprisal appeals. Such is the cost of righteousness. The result? Joe gets to keep his job but no corrective action has been taken against DOE managers who are "still lining the pockets of their friends with taxpayer money while earning about $100,000 and more a year themselves."

Despite persecution for righteousness's sake, Joe has been blessed with a positive vision for the ASA. As employment contracts and employee-employer loyalties fade, professionals will increasingly be on their own and have a succession of jobs in their careers. Professional standing and societies will consequently take on greater importance.

Joe believes that ASA, by its mission statement (Mission 1, Goal 11; Mission 11, Goals I and 111) should address this situation. He e-mailed:

ASA is a unique professional society in America and has about 10 million eligible members - there are about that many self-identifying evangelical Christians who have the requisite professional training. With about 2500 members, ASA has achieved, in fifty years, a ,'market penetration" of 0.025%- about I in 4000 eligible ASAers are members!

Carson thinks that the approximately 350 professional societies that comprise about 85% of ASA current and potential members should allow the formation of significant interest groups among their evangelical Christian members and that ASA should guide and encourage this initiative. ASA would operate as an "umbrella7 organization like the National Assoc. of Engineering Societies for the ASA SIGs and "I think the ASA SIGs would 'bear fruit a hundredfold' in advancing Kingdom values in America's professions."

For example, a few years ago the idea of taking professional action against divorced or deserting parents who don't pay child support was awful to those who control the editorial page of Engineering Times. But Joe says, "If you don't support your children, you're a bum and I don't want you in my profession. ... I think if the NSPE had an ASA SIG, there might have been a somewhat different 'party line' in this instance."

Joe welcomes discussion of this idea, both on-line and off. (This sounds like a project for the Industrial Commission to consider.) Joe can be reached on e-mail at: 73530.2350@compuserve.com or at his home address: 10953 Twin Harbour Dr., Concord, TN 37922. And please copy the ASAN Editor for coverage of ensuing discussion. M Joe Carson

The National Assoc. of Biology Teachers has issued a strong position statement aimed at curbing the incursion of "creationism" in science courses.

As reported in their NSTA Reports! newsletter (Sep. 1995), "NABT is adamant that 'creation beliefs have no place in the science classroom."' The "Statement on Teaching Evolution" accepts "evolution" as established scientific fact while decrying dogmatism and confusion, declaring that "Modern biologists do not debate evolution's occurrence."

A 20-point endorsement of what should be affirmed in biology classes comprises the bulk of the document. The Cambrian explosion and punctuated equilibrium are mentioned, but none of the significant problems challenging Darwinian theory are recognized, in spite of frequent approbation of the general approach of science, "characterized by asking questions, proposing hypotheses, and designing empirical models."

The first endorsement demonstrates the failure to distinguish between science and religion. In this case, it is the usual form of naturalism, or evolutionism, an incompatible alternative to the biblical viewpoint that development of life on earth was not accidental but the personal intention of its Creator. Evolution is defined in the endorsement as: "an unsupervised, impersonal, unpredictable and natural process of temporal descent with genetic modification that is affected by natural selection, chance, historical contingencies and changing environments." The fifth endorsement elaborates: "Natural selection has no specific direction or goal." This accidentalist view is not limited to present lack of knowledge within science (or chance), but is allowed to remain as an unqualified absolute - a religious affirmation that no intent lay behind the development of life.

In affirming a religious viewpoint in the guise of science, the Statement brushes aside the essence of the creationevolution controversy - religion masquerading as science - by declaring that "Evolutionary theory, indeed all of science, is necessarily silent on religion and neither refutes nor supports the existence of a deity or deities." In making such a statement, one wonders what all the fuss is about. The religion issue is flippantly dismissed: "Students can maintain their religious beliefs and learn the scientific foundations of evolution." As defined by the Statement, they can as long as they believe they are cosmic accidents. The Statement offers a prime example of how a religious viewpoint is passed off as science by redefining the categories of both science and religion.

And how does the Statement define creationism? Without distinction, it lumps together "creation science," "scientific creationism," "intelligent-design theory," and "young-earth theory" as creation beliefs having no place in the science classroom.

In opposing "creationism," the Statement appears to be a step behind where the controversy actually has gone. Young-earth creationism, as an alternative to Darwinism, has legally been ruled as religion, but the Statement appears oblivious to current challenges to the es-

1996 ASA

Annual Meeting
Registrations due
June 1. 1996

Science, Christianity, and the
Urbanization of Planet Earth

Keynote Speaker:

Robert C. Linthicum
Executive Director
Partners in Urban Transformation

Victoria University

in the University of Toronto

Toronto, Ontario

July 26-29, 1996

tablished religion, evolutionism, which is what the fuss is really about. In spite of its repeated attempts to associate itself with good science ("Science does not base theories on an untestable collection of dogmatic proposals."), its dogmatic acceptance of the deity of accident is the unspoken exception.

The rhetorical strategy of the Statement is to associate the reliability of its claims - both scientific and religious - with "science," which includes those more empirically established fields not related to evolutionary biology, Darwinism, naturalism, or accidentalism.

The Statement takes a position that at least leaves the NABT open for discussion of what is and is not science. It acknowledges limits to science: "valid scientific principles clearly differentiate and separate science from various kinds of nonscientific ways of knowing, including those with a supernatural basis such as creationism." Now it is a matter of recognizing those limits as applied to the naturalistic religious outlook within the NABT.

This year's ASA Annual Meeting theme on science, Christianity, and urbanization is also this year's theme of Editor Oskar Gruenwald's acclaimed Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. The call for papers on the city and urban affairs, Volume VIII, has the theme "The City In the Twenty-First Century: Drugs and Crime: Christian Alternatives." It is described in the Volume's announcement:

"To Daniel Boorstin, the American skyscraper came to celebrate the technology that was bringing the world together into a global village. Yet, the modern city has become virtually unlivable due to pollution, traffic congestion, unemployment, homelessness, drugs, and crime. The modern city dweller is typically uprooted from familial and community ties, cast adrift in a secular culture inimical to moral, esthetic, or religious considerations. How can the city become livable again in the twenty-first century?"

Submit papers (please hurry) as 3 two-sided copies of 15 to 25 pages with a 125-word abstract, typed, doublespaced, with in-text citation, and author identification on a separate sheet only (with postage for return or SASE) to: Dr. 0. Gruenwald, JIS Editor, 2828 Third St., Suite 11, Santa Monica, CA 904054150. Prepaid ($15 U.S.) samples of JIS are available, such as 1995's Vol VII on restoring the family. The journal was nominated to the International Social Science Honor Society in 1991.

On a related note, Oskar's International Christian Studies Assoc. is also calling for papers for the interdisciplinary ICSA IV World Congress on "The Quest for the Holy Grail: Transcendence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam," to be held in Jerusalem, Israel July 20 through Aug 3, 1996. With both the social and natural sciences converging on an interest in basic questions about values and the universe, how do the three Western religions represent the Holy?

A field trip option for Israel is planned. Papers are due June 1, 1996 and fully-developed papers will be considered for JIS IX (1997) publication. Contact ISCA, c/o Oskar Gruenwald at the above address.

I was immediately enthralled in this unique fellowship' Alongside college, this organization provides me with the encouragement that Christians are free to be intellectuals, and vice-versa - a sense of acceptance, solace, existing between and above those two often antithetical camps.

As ASA reaches out to churches and students, John has shown us a good example of what this can mean in practice. Thanks, John, for caring about the next generation and the future of ASA's mission!

Donald P. Davis, a general surgeon, has retired to Winston-Salem, NC. He is now an emeritus clinical professor of surgery of the Medical C. of Wisconsin.

Kathryn A. Nelson became Cataloger last July in the library of Millikan U. in Decatur, IL. She still retains an interest in biology and its relationship to her Christian faith, though she is not now associated with the biology department.

Jeff Regier completed his doctora e in genetics at Michigan State U. in 1993 and took a teaching position at Spring Arbor C. that fall. While teaching a broad range of biology courses, he enjoys directing the new biochemistry I'ma . or" at SAC and leading student research. His wife, Marty Regier also completed her doctorate in biochemistry at Michigan State before the Regiers moved to Spring Arbor. Jeff s e-mail address is: jregier@admin.arbor.edu

Keep an eye on Alabama Textbook Committee member Norris Anderson of Cornerstone Ministry. The Alabama State Board of Education adopted that an insert be placed in all biology textbooks used in the State of Alabama and also adopted the videotape of the debate between Phillip Johnson and William Provine (Darwinism: Science or Naturalistic Philosophy) for use as supplementary material in government schools.

The insert, entitled "A Message from the Alabama State Board of Education," labels evolution a controversial theory, not a fact. It also notes that, "The word, I evolution' may refer to many types of change" and distinguishes between micro and macroevolution. It also says that "Evolution also refers to the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced a world of living things."

The last half of the insert raises unanswered questions, such as those surrounding the Cambrian explosion (sudden appearance of major animal groups in the fossil record), lack of subsequent appearance of new groups and transitional forms, and the origin of the informational aspects of complex life. The page ends with the advice to "study hard and keep an open mind."

The insert idea was first suggested by conservative Christians, according to the Birmingham Post-Herald (Nov. 10, 1995 front page). Instead of attempting to have creationism taught in this six-year textbook cycle, the Eagle Forum and several members of the Textbook Committee instead objected to the way evolution is presented in biology books, claiming that they did not conform with the science course of study the Board previously approved. It stated that evolution is to be taught as a theory, not as fact.

Gov. Fob James came to the meeting in which the issue was discussed, good naturedly expressing his belief that humans did not evolve from animals. The representative of the Alabama Academy of Science argued that "If science is to be taught, the textbooks should contain science and only science. There is no scientific evidence that evolution has not occurred."

Anderson's "1995-1996 Science Textbook Analysis" (Draft 2) offers a detailed commentary on the major high school biology textbooks on the market. He recognizes the kinds of problems the ASA resolution and Science Education Commission has identified. His analysis provides groundwork for activity at the local high-school level.

The Access Research Network is offering a related document by Anderson, Education or Indoctrination? Analysis of Textbooks in Alabama. (ARN, P.O. Box 38069, Colorado Springs, CO 809378069; tel.: (719) 633-1772.) Some of the wording of ASA's "Voice for Evolution as Science" has found its way into the text, as spotted by Walt Hearn, who wrote: "Maybe ASA's middle way is on its way." ~~ Walt Hearn, Norris Anderson, John Wiester

Christianity Today (Jan 8, 1996, p. 42) reviewed Berkeley law professor Phillip E. Johnson's new book, Reason in the Balance (IVP, 1995), calling it "Naturalism on Trial." This book answers the question: "So what?" in reply to his earlier book, Darwin on Trial. Johnson argues that Darwinism functions as our culture's dominant creation story and, as a lawyer and not a biologist, he is concerned with the social and world view-related aspects of an idea that has implications well beyond the understanding of biological development. Five scientists once had the same concerns and started the ASA.

While a spectrum of opinions can be found within the ASA on how God did it (and Johnson's views on this have stirred ASA discussion), Johnson's willingness to take on the more basic issue of naturalism-as-religion in science (and in his fields of education and law) is a motivation shared within the ASA from its inception.

What has Phil done lately? In The New Criterion (October 1995, p. 9), he reviews philosopher of mind "Daniel Dennett's Dangerous Idea" which is given in Dennett's book, Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life (Simon & Schuster). Dennett goes after big-name Darwinians such as Noam Chomsky, John Searle, and Stephen Jay Gould for flinching from the full implications of Darwinism. According to Johnson, Dennett believes that "the neoDarwinian theory of biological evolution should become the basis for what amounts to an established state religion of scientific materialism."

One new development in this article is that Johnson extends his discussion of "the best we've got" argument for Darwinism. He assumes arguendo (he's a lawyer!) that the policy is justifiable within science; but the question of interest to him is whether non-scientists have some obligation to accept Darwinism as true. Johnson gives examples, such as "Christian parents, not necessarily fundamentalists, who suspect that the term ,evolution' drips with atheistic implications. The whole point about Dennett's thesis is that the parents are dead right about the implications ... " Johnson is trying to force the issue of the connection between Darwinism and naturalism by drawing attention to pro-Darwinists who are most explicit in making this connection. William Provine of Cornell U. and Daniel Dennett are unabashedly among them.

In Academe (Sep-Oct 1995, p. 16 ffi, in the article, "What (If Anything) Hath God Wrought?: Academic Freedom and the Religious Professor," Johnson summarizes the legal situation for religious expression by university professors. The key issue in law is the fuzziness of the meaning of religion. Christianity is always identified as religion, but not naturalism. Johnson argues that "the important question is not whether creation by God is 'religious' but whether it is true."   Phil Johnson

As for the ARN (see "Alabama" snip), a new quarterly peer-reviewed journal, Origins & Design, is now available, a renamed and redesigned version of ARN's previous Origins Research newspaper. Its charter is to be an open forum for examining "theories of origins, their philosophical foundations, their bearing on culture" and "all aspects of the idea of design." Edited by Paul Nelson, Bill Dembski, Steve Meyer, and Jonathan Wells, the diverse and distinguished editorial board includes such scholars as William Land Craig, Michael Denton, Phillip E. Johnson, J. P. Moreland, Siegfried Scherer and Hubert Yockey. The premier issue includes articles on the RNA world hypothesis, the design of the vertebrate retina, and the thinking of paleontologist Colin Patterson. Annual subscriptions go for $15. ARN's Internet Web address is: http://www.arn.org/arn

Michael Polanyi's Personal Knowledge stands as one of the classics in the epistemology of science, and though he died in 1976, he retains a following. Polanyi showed that science does not lack human passion. Neither does Drusilla Scott, a long-time friend of the Polanyis, who wrote Everyman Revive& The Common Sense of Michael Polanyi (Eerdmans, 1985). The book is a commentary on Polanyi's ideas, good for those who became too bogged down in Personal Knowledge but are willing to try a different style of explanation. It is now available in its 1995 edition. Thomas Torrance found the book to be a "very faithful, clear and elegant discussion of Michael Polanyi's thoughts." Order from: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 255 Jefferson Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503; tel.: (800) 253-7521.

Templeton Science & Religion Courses

The John Templeton Foundation is again offering $10,000 awards to colleges, universities, and schools of theology for teaching the best courses in science and religion. The amount is split between the institution and the course instructors. A fourth of the 1995 awards went to non-U.S. schools. 

Intended to serve the constructive interaction of science and religion, the Foundation also offers a series of "workshops" directed by academic leaders in science and religion, offered at North American sites in Berkeley, Boston, Chicago, Tallahassee, and Toronto. Workshop faculty include ASAers Robert J. Russell, Howard Van Till, Jack Haas, Owen Gingerich, Ted Davis and Dan Osmond. A registration fee of $100 US is required.

For more information about the award program or workshops, contact: Robert Herrmann, Gordon College, 255 Grapevine Road, Wenham, MA 01984; tel.: (508) 927-2306 ext. 4029; fax: (508) 524-3708; and e-mail: heffmann@gordonc.edu

Geography: tenure-track position beginning Fall, 1996. Contact: Davis A. Young, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Ml 49546; (616) 957-6374*; youn@calvin.edu

Geology: one-year term position, 1996-7. Contact: Davis Young. (See above posting.)*

Sociology: tenure-track, beginning Fall '96; experience in undergrad. teaching rsch. methods and statistics, gender, popular culture, social psych., the environment. Contact: Dr. Ann Palkovich, Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology, MSN 3G5, George Mason U., Fairfax, VA 22030.*

Chemistry: faculty position beginning Fall '96. Must have teaching and rsch guidance abilities in organic chemistry; commitment to evangelical orientation of college. Contact: Dr. Tricia Brownlee, Dean of Academic Programs, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN 55112.*

Biology: faculty position beginning Fall '96. Ph.D. with ecology/environmental science emphasis to teach biology, environ. sci., ecology, undergrad rsch; commitment to evangelical orientation of college. Contact: Dr. Tricia Brownlee. (See above posfing.)*

Human Physiology & Anatomy: full-time, one-year faculty position; Ph.D., teaching, rsch experience preferred; starts Fall '96. Contact: Dr. Lee F. Snyder, VP & Academic Dean, Eastern Mennonite C., Harrisonburg, VA 22801; (540) 432-4000*

Paul B. Mauer of Rochester, NY is both a scientist and writer of short poems. That's good, because we don't have room in the ASAN for any epic sagas. Furthermore, his booklet of poems, "A Few Words" ("God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few." Eccl. 5:2) harmonizes with this approach. So let's begin with a

QUESTION if I Evolved, Was God Involved?

Now that our most reported topic has been touched upon in verse, we turn to a confessional poem on the popular topic of

DINOSAURS

They were here

Before we were

They aren't here

Anymore.

God was here

Before they were

He is here

Forevermore.

Revealed Glory

Well, maybe "revealed glory" sounds a bit grandiose, but it is uplifting to see ASA members honored by their colleagues in science and technology for their contributions and achievements in academia and industry. Though to some God is merely an abstraction, his glory is revealed through the faithful efforts of those who do their work as members of God's "new world order." Among them are scientists interested in the creation, in all its revealing glory.

9 Ed Yamauchi was recently recognized for his 25 years of service as faculty advisor to the Miami U. (Ohio) Intervarsity chapter. From an interview with "Dr. Y," as students call him, and from former students' letters, Intervarsity has compiled a "Model of Ministry for Faculty Advisors." Students were thankful for Ed's regular prayer partnering with a student - a different one each year. He also led a weekly Bible study for faculty and graduate students and kept in touch with many students after graduation, encouraging them, and visiting them on travels. Ed took great pleasure in connecting people who were able to help each other in various ways. Many have viewed him as a model faculty advisor. (Intervarsity Faculty Newsletter, Fall 1995.)

1994 ASA President Fred S. Hickernell is an electronics engineer at Motorola in Arizona. The Institute for Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society (UFFC-S) presented Fred with the 1995 Achievement Award at their annual symposium in Seattle, WA on Nov. 8, 1995. It is the highest society-wide award presented to a member in special recognition of outstanding contributions. Fred was presented this award for his comprehensive R&D of dielectric and piezoelectric films for acoustical and optical microelectronic devices and for editing the UFFC-S newsletter since 1977, with enthusiasm and vision.

Fred's films are interesting new materials that convert between electrical and mechanical or acoustic energy, as audio speakers or microphones do. Made as thin films, they can be used in ways older-style transducers cannot - presenting opportunities to form images with sound for medical, robotic, or sonar applications, optical computing, and for high-performance signal processing for the 1990s, the "decade of communications technology."

Former Westmont C. president Roger Voskuyl and his late wife, Trudi, were honored for their 18 years of service to the college by a commissioned portrait of the couple, unveiled in a ceremony in the Roger John Voskuyl Library in August 1995. From 1950 to 1968, Roger built a strong faculty and staff, increased enrollment from 200 to 800 students, and added 17 major buildings to the campus. . Alton Everest

Robert C. Newman is president of the Evangelical Theological Society this year. In December, he gave a presentation to the Christian Educators Association. He is also the new chairman of ASA's Creation Commission. His organization, IBRI, is offering the book of another ASAer, John Warwick Montgomery, Evidence for Faith: Deciding the God Question, an outgrowth of the 1986 Cornell Symposium on Evidential Apologetics (366 pages, $16.45 total). IBRI is at: P.O. Box 423, Hatfield, PA 19440-0423.