Re: [asa] Our ASA name

Christians in Science began in the early 40s led by Oliver Barclay. It had
no name and was called Oliver Barclay's Group, it was later called the
Research Scientists Christian Fellowship (RSCF) and the name name was
changed to Christians in Science (CiS) in the late 80s.

Michael
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ted Davis" <TDavis@messiah.edu>
To: <asa@lists.calvin.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 7:08 PM
Subject: [asa] Our ASA name

> The following information comes courtesy of Mark Kalthoff, whose
> dissertation was about the history of the ASA.
>
> Determining a name for their new organization in 1941 occupied
> substantially more time than might have been anticipated. The five
> founders
> engaged in considerable debate of the merits and deficiencies of each of
> sixteen proposals. Although the name "American Scientific Affiliation"
> stood among the original candidates, it failed to generate unqualified
> enthusiasm. That it ignored the group's theological motivation stood as a
> genuine deficiency in the minds of some. On the other hand, Everest and
> others felt that an explicitly Christian name "would limit the broader
> influence of the organization." (Everest's words). Of the sixteen, all but
> three prospective names (American Scientific Affiliation, American
> Affiliation of Sciences, and National Affiliation of Scientists) made
> explicit the Christian connection, with ten including overt reference to
> the
> Bible. The lead candidate was "Bible and Science Investigation Society
> (BASIS)." Other near favorites included "Society for the Investigation of
> Correllations [sic] between Science and the Bible," "Society of Christian
> Scientific Men for Biblical Research," and "Bible and Science
> Interpretation
> Society." As discussion wore on at their founding meeting, it became
> increasingly clear that no consensus was forthcoming. The group adopted
> Peter Stoner's motion to have Everest render a final decision at a later
> date in consultation with Houghton and Moon. So it seems that Everest,
> Will
> Houghton, and Irwin Moon determined the name and probably chose ASA
> because
> of a belief that it would open more doors for the new organization.
>
> Ted (thanks to Mark)
>
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Received on Tue Feb 10 14:15:40 2009