Christianity, Science, and Honesty
Monday 17 October 2016
6:00-7:30pm
University of Waterloo (PHY 150, Physics Building)
Refreshments will be served.
In light of modern science, atheists like Richard Dawkins accuse Christianity of being dishonest. Instead of looking at evidence, he says, religious people have their conclusions “in advance” from a “holy book.” Is this criticism valid? Is there something intellectually dishonest about Christian faith? Drawing on Thomas F. Torrance’s “modalities of reason” for different objects of inquiry, this talk argues that we may be intellectually honest toward both God and scientific inquiry: science self-critically attends to the physical world, and theology self-critically attends to the divine Word–neither gets anywhere when it becomes skeptical about the existence of its own “object” of inquiry. Christian faith is no more dishonest about God than science is dishonest about the existence of the universe. Each enterprise simply finds itself encountered by its “object” and is self-critical in view of that object.
SPEAKER: Mark McEwan lives in Surrey, BC with his wife, Krystal. He is the Project Development Officer for the CSCA’s “Local Chapters Project,” and his office is at Trinity Western University, where he is working to complete a Master’s degree in Theological Studies. He has worked at TWU as an instructor, and he teaches classes occasionally in the areas of apologetics and Christianity & culture. In addition to being a certified Electrician, Mark is qualified to teach physical sciences and mathematics at the secondary level. His academic interests include epistemology, philosophy, apologetics, and the fruitful interaction of science and theology. He feels especially called to serve Christ by encouraging responsible thinking in matters of theology, science, and especially with respect to interactions between the two.
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