Let me add a voice in welcoming you, Christine! Even though I'm not a member of ASA officially, I still find it fruitful to visit the discussion list here from time to time, to ask questions, to express myself and to hear the views of other scientifically-minded Christians and even scientists who are religious persons. Given the polemics coming from some pockets of the academic landscape, one might think science and religion just aren't capable of co-existing.
Like David, I am one of the few non-natural scientists visiting this list. This brings with it the challenge of trying to re-balance the ownership of 'science' away from natural sciences-only, since it is obvious that there are many kinds of 'science' and science is not (despite even what those Christian naturalists on this list might argue) purely or exclusively about natural things. There are sciences of many things that natural scientists know almost nothing about; the same goes for the non-natural scientists sometimes not knowing a great many things about natural sciences. Thus, visiting this list demands a sense of humility, whereas other forums might tend toward spouting out personal knowledge as if all contributors are epistemic kings or queens of the world.
In regard to your hopefully recovering from 'crisis of faith,' you wrote in point 1.:
"God could use evolution"
This is an 'instrumental' (using this to do that) meaning of evolution, right; not speaking about a process-based theory at all, but rather about 'morphology' and 'natural history'?
"...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."
Feelings, emotions and consciousness are also part of theists' perspectives. One difference is that there are more atheists in social sciences and humanities than in natural sciences. 'Arising' and 'emergence,' you'll find, are still quite fuzzy concepts. Heads-up for the phrase 'the nature of' anything!
"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"."
First, I would suggest not 'conceptualizing' the soul at all, but rather thinking in terms of percepts and 'perception.' Being ensouled, just like faith, is a way of seeing, hearing and feeling; it is not just abstract concepts, as many atheists try to do with the 'divine,' the old man [sic] with the beard. As you are a Protestant (Lutheran) Christian, this may be more difficult to imagine than if you were a Catholic or Orthodox Christian.
Second, I wonder re: neurology and computer science if you might be looking and listening in places that are rather too 'mechanized' or 'specialized' than what is available in other more holistically-oriented disciplines. Why not consider anthropology, philosophy or sociology instead? What about cultural studies? Though they may seem somehow 'less scientific' or 'less empirical' (though not always, especially in physical anthropology, paleontology and quantitative sociology), the issue of understanding 'the idea of a soul,' of our souls, can be approached from a multiplicity of fields.
ASA, thankfully, accords 'equal' value to mathematics, physics, chemistry, geology, botany, biology, evo-devo, geography, ecology, zoology, comparative anatomy, neuro-physiology, socio-biology, cognitive studies, anthropology, psychology, sociology, economics, religious studies, theology, cosmology and other academic/scholarly/scientific fields.
The issue of what is 'science' and what isn't 'science' (i.e. the demarcation game) has gone through many hoops and over many hurdles since Kuhn, Popper, Lakatos, Feyerabend, et al., and scientists don't always like to admit that philosophers and historians are keeping track of them! A bit too reflexive for their self-pseudo-objective comfort!
Warm regards to you at ASA,
Gregory
p.s. please be very, very careful if you are ever inclined to mention the word(s) 'post-modern' or 'post-modernism' :-)
On 4/8/07, Christine Smith <christine_mb_smith@yahoo.com> wrote:
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 Tue Apr 10 17:38:57 2007
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