[asa] Greetings from a new member

Hello everyone! I just recently joined ASA, and wanted
to take the time to introduce myself and my journey...

I've always been a Christian (Lutheran), as has my
family for generations; my scientific background
consists of a minor in geography (emphasis in
meteorology and environmental issues), a B.S. in
geology (emphasis in geophysics/seismology) and an
M.S. in Environmental Management (with main interests
in environmental policy). Right now, I'm working as an
air quality planner for a government entity, although
previously I did work seismology work as an
undergraduate researcher, and I did professional
environmental site assessements while I was still
working on master's.

I must confess that finding ASA seems to me to be an
answer to prayer. Just recently being out of school, I
decided to take some time to more thoroughly explore
my faith (not to say that previously I'd never thought
about it or studied it); in doing so, one of the books
I started reading was Lee Strobel's Case for a
Creator. Only into Chap. 3, I started to get the sense
that it didn't feel as rigorous as it should, so I
went on-line to find a critique of the book. I ended
up at infidel.org (I'm sure you all know that's an
atheist site), and from there, I started looking at
atheists' arguments more broadly. I had something of a
"crisis of faith" (read: complete meltdown) if you
will, and since then, I've been obsessively gobbling
down every (intelligent) book/website out there
discussing Christianity and Atheism. I've essentially
been living in the verses "I believe, help my
unbelief!" and "for we walk by faith, not by sight"
for the past 2 months as I've tried to come to a new
understanding of my faith in light of some of the
atheists' arguments. In the process, I've thoroughly
worn out my poor husband, to whom I then remarked -
"ya' know, scientists have such a unique mindset and
encounter such unique challenges to their faith,
wouldn't it be great if we had our own special
ministry/support group that helps to navigate both
science and religion in a rational, yet faithful
way?". God was listening to such prayers/needs I
think, and I not long after that, I found ASA. (Thank
you for being here!!)

Anyway, what it all boils down to, is that my "crisis
of faith" essentially stemmed from two primary
challenges, to which I would be grateful to any
thoughts/resources you could share with me regarding
these:

1. I long ago made peace with the idea that God could
use evolution to form our physical bodies. What was
new to me, from the atheists' perspective, was the
idea that the intangible aspects of us, like feelings,
emotions, consciousness, etc. (which I had equated
with the God-given, eternal soul) could also arise
(ala emergent properties) naturally. Thus, I've
acquired a new-found interest in the fields of
pyschology, neurology, and computer science as I try
to reconceptualize the idea of a "soul".

2. The historicity of Biblical events also remains a
challenge. Although I've never taken the Bible
literally, or have assumed that it was 100% accurate
in terms of historical events, the atheists raise good
questions (they claim that temporary burials were
common back in Jesus's time, and that Jesus could have
been reburied without his disciples knowledge), and
even some Christians seem to take the Bible much more
figuratively than I do (i.e. Jesus was in the desert
for a long time, not necessarily 40 days, etc.); thus,
I'm not quite sure through what eyes I should read the
Bible at this point.

Anyway, I have to get to church, but I look forward to
joining you all for discussions in the future. Happy
Easter!

In Christ,
Christine

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Received on Sun Apr 8 11:50:56 2007