Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith最新文献

{"title":"On Bernard Ramm, \"Evangelical Theology and Technological Shock\" (JASA 23, no. 2 [1971]: 52–56)","authors":"D. Gareth Jones","doi":"10.56315/pscf9-23jones","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56315/pscf9-23jones","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p />","PeriodicalId":53927,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135686696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Technē: Christian Visions of Technology","authors":"Gerald Hiestand, Todd A. Wilson","doi":"10.56315/pscf9-23hiestand","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56315/pscf9-23hiestand","url":null,"abstract":"TECHNĒ: Christian Visions of Technology by Gerald Hiestand and Todd A. Wilson, eds. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022. 236 pages. Hardcover; $49.00. ISBN: 9781666704228. *The product of their 2019 conference of the Center for Pastor Theologians, Technē consists of fourteen contributed essays that seek to articulate important elements of the relationship between Christianity and contemporary technology. *The book is organized into two sections: Theological Reflections on Technology, and Technological Reflections on Theology. However, while one might expect a section of articles by theologians reflecting on technology, and then a section of articles by engineers and scientists reflecting on the implications of theology for their work, this is not what the reader will find. Instead, the sections are best understood as \"theoretical,\" focusing primarily on questions about the nature of technology and its relationship to the church, and \"applied,\" focusing on specific technologies, fields of study, or theological methodologies. *The \"theoretical\" section of the book illustrates the divide between thinkers who are optimistic about the potential for technology to advance the faith (chap. 4) and those who are concerned about the impact that technology might have on the church or the Christian life (chaps. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6). The book is relatively one-sided. Douglas Estes (chap. 4) and Jennifer Powell McNutt (chap. 14) both defend the adoption of digital technologies by the church, and while she does not make the argument in these terms, McNutt's article suggests that pastors should begin developing relationships with engineers working in information technology. However, Joel D. Lawrence (chap. 1), Nathan A. Brendsel (chap. 2), Andy Crouch (chap. 3), Christopher J. Ganski (chap. 5), Jonathan Huggins (chap. 6), Karen Swallow Prior (chap. 12), and Felicia Wu Song (chap. 13) are all much more cautious about the adoption of technology. *Estes claims that \"the rot at the root [of Christian scholarship on technology] is the uncritical acceptance and appropriation of Martin Heidegger's ideas about technology\" (p. 66). Certainly, Estes is correct that the discussion is heavily influenced by Heidegger's thought. However, this still allows for an array of views ranging from Lawrence's claim that we need to learn from the Amish (p. 13) to Crouch's distinction between technē as \"the artful, cultural engagement in God's world\" (p. 58) and technology (though perhaps \"technologism\" would be better) as a dream for a life of total ease and complete control brought about by near-magical technological artifacts. Certainly, we do need to critically interact with the Heideggerian roots of much contemporary writing on technology, and Estes's critique of Heidegger's thought is helpful, but perhaps we do not need to simply \"exorcise Heidegger from our thoughts\" (p. 74). *There is also a significant divide between two approaches that authors take to thinking and writing about techn","PeriodicalId":53927,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135686697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Women in the American Scientific Affiliation: Past, Present, and Future","authors":"Janel M. Curry, Dorothy F. Chappell","doi":"10.56315/pscf9-23curry","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56315/pscf9-23curry","url":null,"abstract":"Roles of women in STEM fields, including social and natural sciences, have changed significantly since WWII. Studying the inclusion of women in the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) provides a distinctive gender-based case study related to Christian mission and the evangelical Christian community. Analysis of fifty years of news­letters, leadership statistics, and membership numbers illuminates the story of women over time. The history of women in the ASA parallels the larger advancement of women, while also illuminating unique challenges within the evangelical Christian context.","PeriodicalId":53927,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135686706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On James Patton Clark, \"Fact, Faith, and Philosophy: One Step Toward Understanding the Conflict between Science and Christianity\" (PSCF 46, no. 4 [1994]: 242–52); and Nate Olson, \"On Clark\" (PSCF 47, no. 2 [1995]: 148)","authors":"Lauren S. Seifert","doi":"10.56315/pscf9-23seifert","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56315/pscf9-23seifert","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p />","PeriodicalId":53927,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith","volume":"28 3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135686499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On Tony Jelsma, \"An Attempt to Understand the Biology of Gender and Gender Dysphoria: A Christian Approach\" (PSCF 74, no. 3 [2022]: 130–48)","authors":"Lynn Billman","doi":"10.56315/pscf9-23billman","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56315/pscf9-23billman","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p />","PeriodicalId":53927,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith","volume":"2013 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135686678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On Meredith G. Kline, \"Space and Time in the Genesis Cosmogony\" (PSCF 48, no. 1 [1996]: 2–15)","authors":"Tony Jelsma","doi":"10.56315/pscf9-23jelsma","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56315/pscf9-23jelsma","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p />","PeriodicalId":53927,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135686682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Of Maybugs and Men: A History of Philosophy of the Sciences of Homosexuality","authors":"Pieter R. Adriaens, Andreas De Block","doi":"10.56315/pscf9-23adriaens","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56315/pscf9-23adriaens","url":null,"abstract":"OF MAYBUGS AND MEN: A History of Philosophy of the Sciences of Homosexuality by Pieter R. Adriaens and Andreas De Block. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2022. 246 pages. Hardcover; $105.00. ISBN: 9780226822426. Paperback; $32.50. ISBN: 9780226822440. Electronic; $31.99. ISBN: 9780226822433. *Pieter Adriaens and Andreas De Block offer a substantive analysis of the science of sexual orientation as it relates to male homosexuality. As a psychologist who has been involved in research1 in the areas of sexual orientation and sexual identity, I found the concepts in the book helpful in thinking through the evidence for what I believe and why. For example, although I have critiqued animal models as inadequate to explain the complexities of human sexual orientation and behavior, Adriaens and De Block challenge the reader to think more deeply about such a response and how it matches up with existing theories and the scientific support for each theory. They are even handed and largely dispassionate in their accounting of both theories and evidence to support various theories. *The authors note in the introduction that the book will be about male homosexuality rather than homosexuality in general; that is, they purposefully exclude female homosexuality as it has been far less attended to in the scientific literature and what is known suggests female homosexuality appears to be different than male homosexuality in important ways.2 The introduction also frames the goals of the authors: speaking of homosexuality, to \"increase its familiarity\" and, by so doing, \"reduce homonegativity\" (p. 15). Interestingly, the word \"homonegativity\" is frequently used by the authors throughout the book although, surprisingly, not as carefully defined as many other terms. The authors prefer the term to \"homophobia,\" which they view as too clinical or psychiatric. Homonegativity captures other negative emotions apart from fear, \"such as disgust and anger\" (p. 196). This is perhaps a small point, but I find the term too imprecise and frequently wielded against any formed judgment about what is morally impermissible behavior. *Chapter one, \"Not by Genes and Hormones Alone,\" addresses the question of innateness. Psychologists such as myself tend to be rather casual in their use of terms like \"innate\" and the authors help all of us here by defining terms and examining key findings related to the etiology of homosexual orientation. They are measured and judicious in their treatment of twin studies, direct genetic evidence, the maternal immune hypothesis, and prenatal hormonal exposure. They conclude that male \"homosexuality is at least somewhat heritable and somewhat canalized\" (p. 41). Indeed, the complexity of the research here leads the authors to conclude that no one theory will account for the variety of experiences even among male homosexuals that exist today, let alone expressions noted throughout history and across cultures. I could not agree more with this concl","PeriodicalId":53927,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135686680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Who to Trust? Christian Belief in Conspiracy Theories","authors":"Nigel et al. Chapman","doi":"10.56315/pscf9-23chapman","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56315/pscf9-23chapman","url":null,"abstract":"WHO TO TRUST? Christian Belief in Conspiracy Theories by Nigel Chapman et al. Victoria, Australia: ISCAST, 2022. 164 pages. Paperback; $12.99. ISBN: 9780645067156. ebook/discussion paper. https://iscast.org/conspiracy/. *Conspiracy theories (CTs) have existed for as long as humans have been able to record them for posterity; however, due to the exponential growth of electronic media, the proliferation and popularity of CTs have made them ubiquitous. Western societies have been particularly affected by CTs in recent decades through our ability to communicate unfiltered diatribes at the speed of light, by the seductive influence of CTs as a form of mass entertainment, and by unabashed populists who use them to tar their political rivals. Though they still frequently draw ridicule, conspiracy claims are now a mainstream form of grievance, spread by people--rich, poor, weak, and powerful--across the political spectrum. This is largely why academics in the behavioral and social sciences, concerned by the harmful impact of CTs on public discourse and social behavior, have begun to treat them and the people who promote them as objects of serious study. *Sadly, committed Christians are no strangers to the conspiracy mindset, and not only those who belong to fringe communities obsessed with end-times prophecy and creeping authoritarianism. Hence, learning to identify the common elements of conspiracist thinking and guarding themselves, their relationships, and their faith communities against its corrosive influence, is a timely and urgent issue for those who claim to be followers of Christ. *This short book (or long \"discussion paper,\" as its authors describe it) is the product of fifteen science and theology authors who are committed Christians and associates of the Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Technology (ISCAST), an Australian organization that promotes dialogue on the intersection of faith and science. The central goal of this work is to harmonize the academic research on conspiracy thinking with biblical ethics in order to help Christian leaders and their communities address the phenomenon of conspiracism in a socially constructive and spiritually uplifting manner. *The book contains five main chapters--two of a theoretical nature and three of a practical nature. The first two summarize the ideas of leading academics (Barkun, Brotherton, Douglas, Dyrendal, Uscinski and Parent, van Prooijen, etc.), with a special focus on political polarization and populism, and the ways these shape, or are shaped by, conspiracy theories. The third chapter examines popular vaccine and COVID-19-themed conspiracy theories in Australia, North America, and Europe, and it highlights the exaggerated suspicions many Christians harbor toward government, media, academia, and other mainstream epistemic authorities. The last two chapters discuss the ethical, psycho-social, and organizational challenges that conspiracism poses on the way Christ","PeriodicalId":53927,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135686698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Theopsych: A Psychological Science Primer for Theologians","authors":"Justin L. Barrett","doi":"10.56315/pscf9-23barrett","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56315/pscf9-23barrett","url":null,"abstract":"THEOPSYCH: A Psychological Science Primer for Theologians by Justin L. Barrett. Blueprint 1543, 2022. 176 pages. Paperback; $19.15. ISBN: 9798985852004. Also, free download at https://blueprint1543.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/TheoPsych-PDF.pdf. *It is not often that one finds a book about construction written by a psychologist. However, Justin Barrett's TheoPsych is just that. The author imagines the theologian as a master palace builder in need of a collection of specialized materials and knowledgeable artisans to do specific modular work for the larger project. TheoPsych serves as a \"specs sheet\" for the potential contributions psychological science can bring to the project. The manuscript is designed not only to serve the interested contemporary theologian who already desires this input, but even more so, it seeks to convince the suspicious or disinterested theologian of the usefulness of the discipline. As such, \"bridge builder\" seems an equally fitting metaphor. In any event, intellectual efforts which suggest a unity of truth come freighted with hope for this reader because of the potential they hold to generate cross-disciplinary clarity. *Descriptively, the book features five chapters, the first of which argues for the theologian's need of psychological science, distinguishes it from the more general and potentially misleading term \"psychology,\" and seeks to help the inquisitive theologian identify the types of questions in which the psychological sciences will be useful. Here, as in other parts of the text, Barrett gives form to the points being made by posing insightful example questions. For instance, \"Why does it often seem so hard for people to grasp and hold onto the idea of Grace?\" (p. 13).1 *Chapter 2 further defines the psychological sciences by way of a quick trip through the history of experimental psychology, notes the mindset of the scientific psychologist (i.e., curious and skeptical), describes the demographically relevant features of this community of scholars, and briefly catalogs the various types of materials produced by its professionals. Additional care is taken to delineate the organizational structure of empirical papers and to clarify important discipline-specific terms such as evidence, hypotheses, effects, and effect sizes. *The third and largest chapter of the book maps out the many areas and subdisciplines the field has to offer. These include the biological basis for behavior, social psychology, personality psychology, cognitive psychology and cognitive science (it's more interdisciplinary cousin), developmental psychology, and a few others. The relative bulk of this chapter reflects space allotted within each area to draw out particular lines of research relevant for use in interdisciplinary collaboration. As in other sections, Barrett never strays too far from the book's stated aim, to serve the integrative needs of the interested theologian. *Interestingly, it is not until the penultimate chapter that im","PeriodicalId":53927,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135686701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Human Technological Enhancement and Theological Anthropology","authors":"Victoria Lorrimar","doi":"10.56315/pscf9-23lorrimar","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56315/pscf9-23lorrimar","url":null,"abstract":"HUMAN TECHNOLOGICAL ENHANCEMENT AND THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY by Victoria Lorrimar. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2022. 300 pages, bibliography, index. Hardcover; $120.00. ISBN: 9781316515020. *In her introduction, Victoria Lorrimar states that \"The goal of this book is to deepen our understanding of human creativity from a theological perspective, and to resource Christian theology (and more broadly the church) for reflecting on the possibilities for enhancing human capabilities through (plausible or far-fetched) technologies (p. 8).\" *Given the contemporary relevance of this topic, and that she writes \"within an (assumed) understanding of salvation as effected by God and not by us\" (p. 6), her work will be of special interest to a number of readers of this journal. *Lorrimar addresses the movement known as transhumanism and major themes associated with it: radical life extension, hedonic recalibration (replacement of pain and suffering by an abundance of \"good\" feelings), moral enhancement by technological or pharmacological means, and mind uploading. She notes that there is considerable diversity of aims within the transhumanist movement, and that not all those that endorse some of these enhancements would identify as transhumanists. *So how should Christian theology respond to technological enhancement of human beings? Lorrimar argues that the key is an understanding of human creativity in the context of the doctrine of creation, under the metaphor of \"co-creation.\" She rejects the view prevalent in many Christian circles that human technological enhancement constitutes \"playing God\" and should therefore be dismissed out of hand. Instead, she explores two broader models that might assist with developing an appropriate theological response. *The first model she discusses is the \"created co-creator\" model proposed by Philip Hefner. After explicating the model through citations from Hefner's works, she observes that \"his particular model contributes enormously to contemporary accounts that explicitly address questions of human technological enhancement\" (p. 133). Yet, while acknowledging the fruitfulness of Hefner's model, Lorrimar also notes a number of places where Hefner's model diverges from traditional Christian understandings regarding God and the nature of sin and evil. She also critiques his model for \"an overemphasis on rationality and neglect of the imagination\" (p. 134). *Lorrimar devotes a chapter to the importance of the imagination, and also refers to fiction works--especially science fiction--throughout her book. She contends that because \"the imagination takes a central place in ... transhumanist visions of the future ... a theological response will require attending to the imagination also\" (p. 135), and later states \"the central question of the present work is to consider how a greater focus on imagination might equip and expand current theological responses to the challenges of human enhancement\" (p. 169). *She the","PeriodicalId":53927,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135686712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}