Re: [asa] Greetings from a new member

Welcome, Christine,

    It's great to have you on the list. We have a couple hundred silent
readers and a much shorter list of active contributors. These are not shy,
as you'll soon find out, and it's a great place to get answers to almost any
question you may have. We strive for a civil, respectful dialogue where all
views can be discussed without disrespectful comments. But since we don't
screen or edit responses, we don't always meet that goal!

    Regarding your specific questions, the topic of the biological basis for
the soul, behavior and belief is a rapidly growing issue. Malcolm Jeeves, a
plenary speaker at our annual meeting in 2004 on this topic, said it was
shaping up to be a much more controversial issue than creation/evolution.
You might be interested in perusing some of the abstracts of that meeting at
http://www.asa3.org/ASA/meetings/TWU2004/ Jeeves' abstract is on page 14.
Audio tapes are still available.

    As for the second question, there's certainly a spectrum of opinions in
our organization and on this list. In fact, I think we're all in a continual
mode of seeking to clarify our own understanding.

    Randy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christine Smith" <christine_mb_smith@yahoo.com>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 11:50 AM
Subject: [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 18:58:32 2007